News
Looking to elevate your cocktail game, streamline your bar operations, or simply unlock the secrets of the perfect pour? You've come to the right place!
At Überbartools™, we're passionate about all things bar-related, and we're dedicated to sharing our knowledge and insights with you.
The 4 C's to Employment Success
Wine... Is it time to measure?
You might ponder if you're getting as much as you've paid for when drinking wine at a bar or restaurant — and rightly so. How does a consumer know when they are receiving the correct volume serve?
What's not measured is not valued
Bottle Necks... Bottle D'OHS
The Back Bar Pricing Pyramid
WHAT DETERMINES A SUCCESSFUL DRINKING EXPERIENCE! (WINNING AT THE POINT OF POUR)
Shattering the Glass Myth: 3 Flaws that no one talks about
ASIAN TIGERS: THE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN OF PROHIBITION ROAR!
There’s a quiet revolution, it’s a silent tsunami of talent gathering force and if not careful will sweep the arrogant and complacent away!
What we’re referring to is the explosion of knowledgeable bartenders from all parts of South East Asia (SEA), now seeking greater experience and new homes in the developed cocktail markets of the world.
Photo credit: Antonio Lai - Quinary Hong Kong
Significant investment by liquor companies over the last 5-8 years in training, outreach, competition and ambassadors has transformed the marketplace to equip a new breed of passionate SEA bartenders with knowledge and skills... what they now seek is wider experience, maybe at your expense!
Sadly many SEA countries are poor… bartending, mixology and cocktail culture has been for many a way out of poverty and hardship as individuals leap frog futures with no horizons, to land on professions with endless opportunity!
Successful SEA bartenders build and support their families and local communities... funding education, housing and other worthy endeavours, with their success brings hope, safety and smiles to those at home!
Unencumbered by arrogance, a poor work ethic, lack of respect, this cohort appreciates everything. It may very well be that Asian culture is better suited to providing superior hospitality experiences to help, serve and transform thirsty and hungry guests sitting patiently throughout the developed world!
Powered by emotional and economic drivers that many western bartenders fail to understand… the new breed are eager for success; ready for the challenges and rewards that hospitality brings!
The future impact on bartenders in other countries is yet to be felt! But let's be very clear, complacency will be rocked as the competition gets decidedly harder, more willing and infinitely more flexible!
Locals not at the top of their game may one day be felled by the Great Grandchildren of Prohibition; beware the crouching tigers ready to pounce!
KITCHENS VS BARS: THE STORY OF WATCHED VS WASTED
The kitchen and bar, in a modern hospitality business, operationally speaking pull in different directions, creating a paradigm rather than a clearly defined singularity of purpose and outcome!
This paradigm we refer to is a tug of war created unknowingly between the Kitchen/Bar.
The contrast boils down to:
“What’s WATCHED in the kitchen tends to be WASTED in the bar”.
The WATCH versus WASTE paradigm pivots around 2 different philosophies each altering individual operational imperatives, training and arising metrics.
Kitchens are tremendously expensive enterprises, with tight margins. Produce, protein and labour costs are finely balanced in an economic pas de deux, whereby the slightest hiccup, mis-costing, mis-portioning may very well blow any profit on a meal out of the water!
Bars seemingly operate differently: what costs so little per serve/shot is sold at very high multiples, requiring far less time and energy to produce a profitable result.
Given the economics, management is very focused on closely watching what’s valued the most… things which are undervalued are more likely to be taken for granted and wasted!
The issues between the Kitchen and Bar Operations can be broadly contained to 6 key differences:
- Chefs tend to be formally trained (scientifically) at culinary schools, whereas bar/beverage people tend to learn on the job.
- Structure, measurement, precision are vital to operating a profitable kitchen. Consistency is the outcome sought... yet flip this to a bar and measurement is not critical, drink balance and inconsistency is rife.
- Bars can be notoriously lax compared to strict chef imposed process and controls. A lobster tail goes missing in the kitchen and a wild chef is on the hunt... a bottle of booze goes missing there’s a grunt or huh!
- Kitchens invest in tools which save, assist and control; whereas bar spending is confined to guest facing serve ware. Bar consumables are not compared, cross checked for value, quality and performance; whereas in the kitchen, kitchen consumables are.
- Chefs do inventory daily or multi-times a week, in well run bars this may be done weekly, mostly monthly (if at all).
- Accountability in the kitchen is extremely high... every scrap, drop, grain is watched and accounted for, whereas it’s more laissez faire behind the bar.
If you are an independent or multi-unit operator the news is not all bad as there are specialist inventory control companies such Barmetrics and Bevinco offering intensive on-going management control systems to help.
Compare your kitchen and bar operations... once the analysis is done, it makes sense to impose kitchen discipline in your bar. Try it... what do you have to lose, other than money, inventory and reputation!
ÜBER REVERSE SELLING TO JAPAN
Japanese inspired barware has captured the imagination of bartenders throughout the world.
The spirit of Zen mastery, now infuses tool-ology in a way we refer to as BarShido™... (see BarShido™, the way of The Bartender).
Tool-ology we define as: the mythology, mastery and mimicry of tool design based on unchanged historical cues.
Ironically many Japanese tool re-sellers love the tools, yet hate the prices and mostly now offer Japanese “style” or “inspired” alternatives sourced from other Asian countries!
Some unwitting buyers feel somewhat cheated when their investment netted tools “inspired by” rather than “originating from”, Japan! The difference measured in terms of quality and longevity, as inevitably you pay for
what you get!
Über has always believed in innovation based on the evolution of human centred design thinking. What this means, as our understanding of workplace need, efficiency and ergonomics improves, so too should the empowering tools used to underpin that work.
It would come as no surprise that Über's re-imagining of Japanese tools such our new Ice Forks, Picks and Jiggers would become the pieces in a reverse selling process back to Japan… the equivalent we think of of selling “ice to the Eskimos!”
Consider Jiggers without a meniscus… ice tools where safety (eliminating hand slippage), modularity (replaceable parts to allow for indefinite tool life) and comfort grips were key elements of our design!
Australian based Japanese bar tender Chiharu Tomizawa… kindly lent her ice mastery talents to the Japanese speaking demo of our new ice tools... it’s worth checking out here... even if you don’t speak Japanese!
As the voyage to reverse sell Über design back to Japan evolves, join us on this journey... if nothing else, it’s guaranteed to be interesting.
5 FATAL FLAWS THAT US CHAIN OPERATORS DON'T ALWAYS GET
The closing of Target recently in Canada is just the most recent example of a US based chain misunderstanding the size, value or opportunity of a foreign market!
Ironically a foreign hospitality operator has a far better chance of operating profitably in the US, than the same US Company trying to operate in a foreign market.
The issues for US Chain Operators can be narrowed down to 5 Fatal Flaws:
1. A Buck is not worth a Dollar
It’s surprising how many people overlook that a US $1 may be worth more or less in another market. A US $10 cocktail in Canada must sell for 25% more purely based on exchange rate values, assuming Canadian input costs and gross margins are the same as the US, which they’re not.
2. Perceived and Received Value
Perceived value in one market may be considered fantastic, yet in another the Received value may be considered meagre. There's a very fine line distinguishing Perceived and Received value.
3. Cost blow-outs compare A.L.Ps (Alcohol, Labour, Produce)
Alcohol - is far cheaper per Oz or mL in the US than almost any other major market in the world... how easy to assume that the cost of alcohol in Canada is the same as that in the US or the UK.
Labour - many US hospitality businesses pay minimum hourly rates yet the costs of the same labour in another country such as Australia, Germany etc. can be 2-5 times more expensive.
Produce - costs are considerably lower in the US compared to other markets... a starter valued at US$9.95 may have to sell for CAN $14.95 just to maintain the same value, margins based on local cost conditions.
4. Unrealistic mandated COGs
Higher COGs outside the US drive operators in other markets to be continuously cost vigilant, looking to drive operational/cost improvement.
In the US a 20% COGs is nominated as the benchmark for managing spirit costs, however in another market that same cost could be 25% or more.
In Australia with double the costs of alcohol with similar retail price points as the US, how can alcohol mandated COGs also be 20%
The answer here is pretty scary, US operators operate on super normal margins i.e. low costs and relatively high price points. For averages to fall down to a 20% COGs , would indicate that either heavy discounting via give-aways, over-pouring, floor tips, or worse are occurring ... these losses are hard to see when hidden in the valley between large profits and low costs.
To uncover untoward losses in the US, we’d suggest reducing COGs mandates to 15-17%, whilst many will baulk at the number, the truth would quickly reveal itself.
To better understand averaging issues, sending businesses broke read "The Claw of Averages" blog here.
5. Ignorance is Arrogance
A failure to do due diligence at the deepest level can account for most of the major blow-outs that either better planning and tighter operational mandates would have eliminated.
International hotel groups tend to find domestic partners when opening in new markets, nevertheless whilst this helps, it may not overcome some of the difficulties flagged above.
Some years ago a US Nightclub Operator opened a large property from scratch in a new country using a local partner, discovering after signing the deal that Alcohol and Labour costs were double that of the US, ouch... the question was asked “How do you guys make money in…?”
There's are no easy ways out of opening up outside the US… suffice to say understanding the 5 Fatal Flaws is a great start to not getting caught.
EYEBALLS & ACTIONS: LOOKING GOOD VS BEING GOOD
The old adage: seeing is believing holds true still today!
Drinking and dining experiences are heavily influenced by what we see
(eyeballs)... hence if a venue or restaurant looks good... or served food looks great the chances are we’ll give it a go (actions).
On the other hand if a bar or restaurant doesn’t look good, then it takes lots of convincing to get us to act and who’s got the time for that!
The rush to open the very latest in drinking and dining offers creates an avalanche of great looking places. Most have design elements, ambiance and other visual cues acting as the invitation, yet the action moment occurs once the experience has been delivered.
Newbies sometimes forget important steps, where drill down mapped into process and execution is completely overlooked!
We understand that a minimal viable product is an opening gambit to be refined after opening... yet nowadays unforgiving consumers with no time, patience or appetite for anything less than very good, care not... so newly minted business beware... being unprepared to be good on DAY 1, creates one-time customer visits only!
Ambiance and design are terrific however the moment of truth rests on innovative offerings, brilliantly and consistently executed. Focusing more on being good (actions) rather than looking good (eyeballs) wins hands down!