Liquid assets: when a gallon of beverage alcohol can represent $300 worth of sales, it pays to keep an eye peeled

Cheers, June, 2005 by Cheryl Ursin

RELATED ARTICLE: Beverage Inventory Control Systems: A Buyer's Guide

AccuBar: This system uses handheld computers equipped with scanners to make taking a physical inventory as quick, easy and painless as possible. Open bottles are measured using a technologically enhanced version of the "tenth method:" the user draws a line on a picture of the product's bottle on the screen and the software calculates how much product the open bottle still contains. AccuBar can be integrated with many point-of-sale and back-office systems, including InfoGenesis, Micros, Aloha and Restaurant Magic. A standard system costs $3,000 plus $75 per month for use of AccuBar's web services, which includes processing reports, updating the software and backing up the user's inventory information. An "unplugged" version, without the web service, is available at $5,000 and no monthly fee. For more information, visit www.accubar.com or call 1-800-806-3922.

Alcohol Controls, Inc.: This Atlanta-based company sells a wide range of alcohol-control and beverage-inventory products, from $3 portion-control spouts to $99 inventory software to complete inventory systems equipped with handhelds, scanners and scales, priced at $4,500. It also sells a range of dispensing systems, some of which can identify what is being poured, by brand, and can ring sales automatically in the establishment's point-of-sale (POS) system as soon as a bottle is poured. Under a section entitled "Valuable Resources," the company's website provides a loss-analysis calculator for operators to "do the math" using their own cost and sales figures. For more information, visit www.AlcoholControls.com or call 1-800-285-BEER (2337).

Azbar America: In the most complete systems from Azbar America, when a cocktail order is rung up, it is either automatically dispensed from a cocktail tower or programmable spouts on the appropriate bottles allow the spirits to be poured in the proper amounts. Up to 255 signature drink recipes can be entered into the system. Each recipe can contain up to 16 different brands of liquor, in any of four portion sizes. If a bartender forgets how to make a cocktail, a push of a button will display the recipe. When a drink order is entered--by a push of a button--into the system, three things happen: the order is recorded in the establishment's point-of-sale (POS) system, the ingredients used--by specific brand and amount--are recorded by the inventory-control system and the ingredients are dispensed in automatically measured amounts. The company offers a variety of configurations, including systems that do not have the portion-control or dispensing devices, depending on the needs of the establishment. For more information, visit www.azbaramerica.com or call 214-361-2422.

Bar Beverage Control: Developed by bar owners, Bar Beverage Control is an inventory-management system that focuses on bartender performance. The system, which includes a handheld computer, a scale and an external modem, is designed to allow an operator to inventory the open bottles behind the bar in minutes. This allows the operator to perform an audit every day or every shift, providing information about the value of what was poured during one bartender's work time. That information is then compared to sales. In addition to the hardware and software, the system also includes web-based services from the company, such as the ability to place beverage orders online, the processing of reports, back up of information and support. Prices for the system itself start at $1,000. Generally, the company comes to the site to install the system; fees for this vary. The web-based service costs $159 per month. For more information, visit www.barbevcontrol.com or call, toll-free, 877-444-8765.