In hospitality, a consumable is the finishing touch to a main product, just like packaging or gift wrapping.
Consumables are defined as a unit of input required to facilitate or add value to a process. For example, a coaster is a consumable – you need to consume a coaster as part of the final presentation of cocktail.
As such, a consumable is not a considered item, but rather a cost of doing business, tending to be cheap and disposable with little or no thought required?
Some example of consumables are napkins, coaster, garnishes and pour spouts.
So what happens when an expense is considered so unimportant, that it’s not measured, will there be potential negative impacts on a business?
The answer is a resounding yes…when management doesn’t measure the cost of something, then staff won’t care either.
The message sent/received "when it doesn’t matter to you then why should we care."
Have you ever seen a bartender toss an empty liquor bottle with a pour spout still attached. It’s fairly common.
If the speed pourer costs $2 each, over 1 year, what will the bottle/pourer toss add up to?
The moral of the story - care about the cost of consumables!
Failure to factor the impact of consumables on profitability will have negative impacts.