Menu engineering your drink menu is like tuning an orchestra – every beverage needs to play its part in your profit symphony. Most restaurant owners focus so hard on food margins they completely ignore the goldmine sitting in their drink menu. You analyze which drinks are both popular and profitable, then organize your menu to push the winners.
The basics of drink menu engineering
Just like with food, you divide your drinks into four categories based on popularity and profitability:
- Stars: Popular + high margin (promote!)
- Plowhorses: Popular + low margin (raise price or improve margin)
- Puzzles: Unpopular + high margin (promote better)
- Dogs: Unpopular + low margin (remove)
💡 Example drink analysis:
You sell 100 wines per week:
- House wine: 40 glasses, €2.50 cost, €8.50 sale (70% margin) → STAR
- Prosecco: 30 glasses, €3.00 cost, €9.00 sale (67% margin) → STAR
- Expensive Burgundy: 5 glasses, €8.00 cost, €18.00 sale (56% margin) → PUZZLE
- Cheap rosé: 25 glasses, €2.00 cost, €7.00 sale (71% margin) → STAR
Calculate pour cost for drinks
Pour cost is the drink version of food cost. You calculate the percentage of your selling price that goes to the drink itself.
Pour cost formula:
Pour cost % = (Cost price / Selling price excl. VAT) × 100
⚠️ Note:
Alcoholic drinks have 21% VAT, not 9%! A beer at €3.00 incl. VAT is €2.48 excl. VAT.
💡 Example beer calculation:
Heineken on tap:
- Cost price: €0.65 per glass
- Selling price: €3.20 incl. 21% VAT = €2.64 excl. VAT
- Pour cost: (€0.65 / €2.64) × 100 = 24.6%
This is a healthy pour cost for beer.
Standard pour cost percentages
Different drink types have different margins. Here's what you should aim for:
- Beer: 20-28% pour cost
- Wine per glass: 25-35% pour cost
- Spirits/cocktails: 15-25% pour cost
- Soft drinks: 10-20% pour cost
- Coffee: 15-25% pour cost
But here's something you only learn after closing your first month at a loss: these percentages mean nothing if you don't track them weekly. Your beer supplier raises prices, your bartender over-pours, or you run a promotion – and suddenly your margins are shot.
Organize your drink menu strategically
Just like with a food menu, you can organize your drink menu to promote certain drinks:
- Top of the menu: Your Stars (popular + profitable)
- In a box: Puzzles you want to promote
- Specials board: Seasonal drinks with high margin
- Bottom: Plowhorses (people will find these anyway)
💡 Example menu layout:
Café with 40 drinks:
- Top: House wine, special beer, signature cocktail
- In box: "Wine of the month" (high margin, low sales)
- Middle: Other wines and cocktails
- Bottom: Basic beers and soft drinks
Cocktails and mixed drinks
With cocktails, you count all ingredients in your pour cost:
- Alcohol (rum, vodka, gin)
- Mixers (juice, tonic, syrup)
- Garnish (lime, olives, mint)
- Ice cubes
💡 Example Mojito cost price:
- 5cl white rum: €1.20
- 2cl lime juice: €0.15
- 1cl sugar syrup: €0.05
- Mint + lime: €0.10
- Soda water + ice: €0.05
Total cost price: €1.55
At €9.50 sale (€7.85 excl. VAT) = 19.7% pour cost
Track drink margins digitally
Managing your drink menu manually gets messy fast. You need software that shows you which drinks generate the most profit so you can adjust your menu accordingly. Tools like KitchenNmbrs let you track pour costs in real-time and spot problems before they kill your margins.
How do you apply menu engineering to drinks? (step by step)
Analyze popularity and margin per drink
Note how many of each drink you sell per week and what your pour cost is. Use cash register data from the past month for reliable figures.
Divide drinks into four categories
Create a cross-table of popularity (high/low) versus margin (high/low). This shows you which drinks are Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles, or Dogs.
Adjust your drink menu layout
Place Stars prominently at the top of your menu. Promote Puzzles with specials or recommendations. Consider removing Dogs from the menu.
✨ Pro tip
Run a 30-day analysis on your top 8 drinks that make up 70% of beverage sales. If 6 out of 8 hit your target pour costs, your drink menu is profitable.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a healthy pour cost for wine?
For wine per glass, aim for 25-35% pour cost. Wine bottles can go lower since there's less labor involved. But don't get too aggressive – customers notice when you water down quality for margins.
Should I include VAT in my pour cost calculation?
Never include VAT in your pour cost calculation. Always use the selling price excluding VAT. Alcoholic drinks carry 21% VAT, so that €3.00 beer is actually €2.48 for your calculations.
How often should I update my drink analysis?
Check drink popularity monthly and revise your menu quarterly. Seasons hit drink sales hard – your summer rosé star becomes a winter dog. Stay flexible or watch profits disappear.
Can I use different pour costs per drink type?
Absolutely, and you should. Beer runs 20-28%, wine 25-35%, cocktails 15-25% because of labor costs. Don't force everything into the same box – each category has its own economics.
What if my most popular drink has terrible margins?
That's a classic Plowhorse situation. You can't just remove it because customers expect it. Try raising the price gradually or promoting a premium version alongside it.
Do I need to track every single drink ingredient separately?
For cocktails, yes – track every ingredient including garnishes and mixers. For simple drinks like beer or wine, just the main product. The 80/20 rule applies here too.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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