Here’s How Much Bars Make on Beer, Wine, and Mixed Drinks
As a Kool FM listener, you've probably noticed that I do TONS of happy hour parties (or 'remotes' as we call them). I actually do 4 per week! You would think by now I'd be an expert on everything bar-related. I assure you I'm not.
Last Wednesday night I was talking to my buddy Dane who owns Rosco's and I was asking him about markups and beer prices and whatnot and he told me some pretty interesting stuff about the bar business. Then today I came across an article from Business Insider that pretty much summed it all up in close-to-exact numbers.
Check it out...
1. With beer, you get the most for your money if you order an import in a bottle. Premium bottled beers have an average markup of 300%...other bottled beers are around 400%...for a regular draft beer it's 456%...and for premium drafts it's 355%.
2. With mixed drinks, again you actually get more for your money if you order GOOD liquor. Drinks with expensive booze are marked up about 300%, compared to drinks with well liquor at 456%.
3. If you buy a shot, they're marked up about 400%, regardless of the brand.
4. And with wine, the markup is 350% if you buy it by the glass...203% if you buy a bottle...and 150% if you buy a GOOD bottle.
So a good bottle of wine has the SMALLEST markup. And the BIGGEST markups are on cheap draft beers and mixed drinks.