Beverage Production Data Your Team Needs

Who said number crunching was just for the front of house (FOH)? For craft businesses trying to scale, beverage production requires thoughtful strategy informed by data. 

Your wallet will thank you, too. Grist Brewing reduced pour costs and now saves $20k per week! More on that to come.

For now, let’s see specific POS reports your back of house (BOH) should rely on.

4 Reasons Beverage Production Teams Need Strong POS Data

Seasoned beverage producers know that making the good stuff isn’t about flying by the seat of your pants and experimenting however you see fit. These are the 4 primary reasons production teams need POS data:

1. Data In The BOH Reduces Waste

Your team’s time is money, and so are the ingredients they use. Data informs what beverage producers should be making and when, which ultimately saves your business resources, labor, and therefore costs. Reducing waste is also sustainable of course!

2. Data In The BOH Saves Storage Space

Your BOH team may be working with limited space. Data supports strategizing your highest priority products first, so running out of room isn’t a worry.

The husband and wife team at FoxDog greatly values their POS reporting. Historical data helps them forecast guest demand so they know what they need to have in stock in their limited space. 

“It helps me with my planning because our cooler is smaller. We have to be strategic with what we put in it,” Co-owner John shares.

3. Data In The BOH Ensures Superb Product Quality

Beverage production is a science, and the most precise way to ensure your products consistently taste as intended—i.e. delicious—is with data. 

A little diacetyl-testing pint in the BOH is never discouraged, either. 😉 

4. Data In The BOH Dazzles Your Guests

Your FOH and BOH teams work closely together, and both have a significant impact on the guest experience. Data tells you what your guests like the most and therefore informs production schedules. That way, your guests’ favorite brews are always on tap!

Specific Beverage Production Data That Helps Scale Your Business

Now that you know the benefits of good POS data, here are 4 particular data points that your team should regularly reference to support business growth.

Sales By Category Tracks Liquid By The Ounce

A Sales By Category report summarizes your sales broken down by category, item type, quantity, and size. For beverage-heavy businesses, you can filter by item size and use ounce-level tracking to track your liquid by the drop! 

Three Hands Mead Company, a small batch meadery in Florida, ensures product consistency using this report. It’s difficult to make each batch identical, so when a particular product dips in popularity according to their Sales By Category report, the Three Hands Mead team knows to check that batch.

“We try to be as consistent as we can, but is there something off with a batch or has it been sitting too long and the flavors have changed?” Cody, the Co-Owner and Mead Maker says. He leans on POS data to make sure each glass served is as mouth watering as the last.

Best Sellers By Volume Informs Your Guests’ Favorite Products

Beverage producers love to experiment, and we all love to taste the fruits of that labor! But you’ve got a business to run, and a Best Sellers By Volume report holds your BOH team accountable for making the best selling products first.

Importantly, this POS report tracks volume of liquid. Your team may be pouring tasters of your ABV-heavy DIPA all day, but when it’s all said and done your Lager is leaving taps at the highest volume. Now your BOH team knows they need to make more Lager to keep that easy drinkin’ going.

Hourly Total Sales Identifies When Traffic Is Highest

See which hours are your busiest with an Hourly Total Sales report. This data from your POS is helpful both for staff and production scheduling purposes: Now you can appropriately prepare for high traffic.

Raíces Brewing Company relies on this hourly data to determine a traffic-inspiring event and production schedule. When a busy day is approaching, the Raíces production team gets brewin’!

Inventory Management Integrations Account For Everything On-Hand & Sold

Your POS system integrates with savvy third party softwares, and inventory management integrations are incredibly important data divulgers for your BOH team. Having an automated system that tracks all of your inventory sold and on-hand is key to efficient beverage production. Then your team can accurately create production plans and ensure everything they need is out of storage. 

Inventory management solutions are also handy if you sell on-premise in addition to off-premise and online. Your inventory is then depleting from several sales channels, so it’s helpful to have those numbers update in real time and in one place. 

BarTrack’s beverage inventory management and Smart Draft system served as a “guaranteed return on investment” for both Apocalypse Ale Work and Grist Brewing. Both beer businesses use the BarTrack and Arryved integration to identify pour inconsistencies and improve quality. Apocalypse reduced their pour cost 5% in 3 months, and Grist is saving nearly $20k per week on their pour costs! 

What do all these data-driven craft businesses have in common? They trust Arryved POS to provide accessible, easy-to-read reports that help inform and inspire profitability. See Arryved’s entire suite of industry-tested tools in action in a free, custom demo.