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How we're waging the war on bar waste

How long should your customer wait for a drink? PART TWO

The one question you should ask for 2019? How long should your customer wait for a drink?
Like many people getting back down to business this January, you're probably looking at the how, what, why, when of the year.
But there's one simple question, that may help you answer a lot of those other questions....
How long should a guest wait for their drink?

The point of pour paradigm: How to guarantee the best cocktail experience

When it comes to keeping customers, consistency is key
A cocktail requires consistency through carefully measured ingredients and should be delivered, to the customer, with no variation in volume, taste, or appearance. All without wastage!
'Easier said than done,' we hear you cry!

Liquor wastage: spot the signs and save serious money!

Five simple ways to make your bar sustainable
One in three consumers now prefer eco-friendly options. And the hospitality industry is no stranger to this demand, with many bars becoming more eco-friendly. Here are our top sustainability tips for bars.
TOO LITTLE TOO MUCH!
Recently I went to a diner and ordered a hamburger for lunch. The traditional square napkin holder was on the table, dispensing single square folded napkins.
By the end of the meal l'd unintentionally used 4 napkins, and felt a little embarrassed.
Did I just make far too much mess?
After the initial guilt trip, some semblance of logic kicked in: on one hand I thought, who cares how many napkins I've used, they’re cheap! On the other I thought isn’t there a financial cost and environmental impact of what I had just done?
The average person isn’t going to be consumed by these thoughts, however on further reflection - who's really to blame? The customer or the manager?
Understand l ordered a messy burger, and was going to make a mess, however the provided napkins were very small when opened, brittle and not well absorbing.
Would l have used as much as l did if the napkins happened to be thicker and higher quality?
Bingo...the answer in one: management presumably wanted to save money buying napkins. Napkins are consumable, rarely thought of, yet still part of a customer experience.
Buyers mandate are built around saving money/reducing costs and do not usually consider end results and consequences.
By opting for the cheapest napkin, the diners still need to get the job done, but at what extra cost in terms of purchase quantity, extra labor and disposal costs?
On face value who'd argue with the righteousness of saving a buck? Yet in practical terms using 2, 3 or 4 times the necessary amount of paper will probably end up costing far more than having purchased a higher grade quality of napkin to start with!
The point: failure to properly invest ends up costing more when the cheapest option tends not to be the best, requiring more time, effort and usage to get the job done.
So isn't this a case of too little costing far too much?
What do you think!?
SHOULD YOU FOLLOW COCKTAIL TRENDS?
Each incoming new year overloads us with information on the latest cocktail trends - what's fading, popular and what will be popular.
Whenever these reports surface, there’s lots of chatter and interest amongst bartenders and bar owners hoping to gobble up and then commercialise the latest trends:
However, the resulting consequence is less exciting than one hoped to imagine - with bars around the world following the exact same trend and offering similar concoctions with little to no differentiation.
Here’s some things to consider the next time you’re reading (and hoping to implement) about the latest cocktail trend.
Trends are the talk of the town. Whilst it’s great to know what’s happening away from your bar, do you really want to follow a trend that too many others close by will soon follow?
Some trends are irrelevant. Trends tend not to account for nuances such as culture, demographics and geographic differences and can prove to be irrelevant to your customers.
Trends should be symbolic only. Trends should be seen more as an indicator, rather than something that’s definitive, to represent the theme and taste relevant of your bar and its guests.
Who is reporting the trend? Can the information reported be trusted? Is the trend promoted by a liquor company or its reps with a vested interest?
When it comes down to reality, the bar world is competitive with everyone looking to gain an edge...and following a cocktail trend seems like a good idea!
Therefore, while a bar can start crunching profits early on by adopting a trend, the question of a trend's longevity must be taken into consideration. Is investing in the trend worthwhile? Will it provide sustainability for the business? Rather than answering these questions, we can focus our energy on creating a craft bar experience - who are better served being beacons of creativity while offering inspiration, art and experiences rather than slavishly following cocktail trends of dubious or possibly irrelevant provenance.
FIRE THE ASS OUT OF YOUR SPEED POURERS!
Imagine that really bad hire, the one refusing to pick up their game, is consistently late, sloppy, unhygienic and worst of all doesn’t care about waste or your business!
For most managers the decision is an easy one…fire the “ass” out of that guy!
Ok, we mostly agree that that’s the solution for a human being, so should it be different with bar tools guilty of the same transgressions as a really bad hire?
Many believe so, as anything that can potentially reduce quality, efficiency, consistency, speed, accuracy and profitability cannot be good for business!
One industry stalwart routinely re-buying generic speed pourers says: “I wouldn’t keep a bartender that fails regularly…so why wouldn’t l get rid of speed pourers for doing the same thing!”
A trade tool that occasionally fails, is bad luck, however when bad luck happens weekly and monthly then its time for management to step in!
Any failure to perform is bad for business potentially impacting, morale, quality and ultimately the guest experience.
If you’re continuously replacing your speed pourers maybe it’s time to fire the ASS out of them!
Add Value...Avoid Discounting
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THE PRODUCT PARADOX: BUY, USE, DISCARD, REPEAT
Alex Kretena recently was attributed to this quote:
“Bartenders are fed up with the rapid purchase cycle: buy, use, discard, repeat, the new generation wants products with sustainability and purpose."
We call this the Product Paradox.
Since modern means of manufacturing evolved, deliberate obsolescence/product failure was inbuilt into all design to encourage on-going product consumption..meaning breakage, wastage, fatigue.
The result of hidden product design failure: customers having to buy more.
Over the last 75 years it’s been generally accepted that product failure was just a normal part of life, greeted with an accepting shrug of the shoulders.
Aided and abetted by oblivious customers, lining up to rebuy what they’d just bought.
So why then would any right thinking manufacturer design or produce anything better when customers agreed to pay less for progressively worse products?
Überbartools founders by Michael Silvers and Sam Tam, in the early part of this century conceived the guiding principles of the Company, built around 21st century design innovation with quality and sustainability a key to unlock the ground hog day of the Product Paradox.
Ironically bar tool technology seemed to be forever locked into a vortex of failed prohibition inspired design, creating the space for the: buy, use, discard and replace paradigm to exist.
Today’s Millennials think of resources in terms of being limited and therefore requiring careful thought based on the sound principles of sustainability, ergonomics, comfort, speed and efficiency.
The rise of premiumisation has ushered in a new age of design re-thinking where, quality, sustainability and the elevation of craftsmanship are heralded, eschewing the ethics associated with the Product Paradox.