The Perfect Pour: How a Great Drinks Menu Can Double Your Profits

As a restaurant owner, you are obsessed with your food costs, your kitchen payroll, and the price of your core ingredients. But if you treat your drinks menu as an afterthought—a simple list of sodas, house wines, and standard beers—you are walking past a goldmine every single day.

A well-designed, strategically-priced, and enthusiastically-marketed drinks menu is not just an add-on; it is your single most powerful profit centre. In many successful restaurants, beverages can account for over 30% of total revenue but an even higher percentage of profit.

A great food menu might win you awards, but a great drinks menu is what pays your bills. Here's how to ensure yours is working as hard as you are.

1. Understand the Margins: It's Not All Equal

The profit potential in liquids is staggering. While your food cost of goods sold (COGS) might hover around 25-35%, your beverage COGS is a different story:

• Fountain Sodas: 90-95% profit margin.
  

• Coffee & Tea: 85-95% profit margin.
  

• Beer (Draught): 80-85% profit margin.
  

• Wine (By the Glass): 70-75% profit margin.
  

• Spirits & Cocktails: 75-85% profit margin.

The person who orders a $14 craft cocktail and the person who orders a $14 appetiser are not equal. The profit on that cocktail is likely more than double the profit on the food item. Your primary goal, therefore, should be to encourage every single guest to order a drink—and then a second one.

2. Stop Selling; Start Curating

A lazy menu is a long list of brands. A smart menu is a curated collection that tells a story and makes ordering easy and exciting.

• Ditch the "House Wine": The term "house wine" signals "cheap." Instead, create a "Featured" or "Sommelier's Selection" of your high-margin, great-value wines. Give them a one-line description that sells an experience: "A bright, zesty Sauvignon Blanc, perfect for seafood or a sunny afternoon."
  

• Create "Hero" Cocktails: Don't have 50 cocktails. Have 6-8 signature "Hero" cocktails that you do exceptionally well. Give them unique names that reflect your restaurant's brand. Make them visible, make them "Instagrammable," and make sure your staff can recommend them passionately.
  

• The Non-Alcoholic Goldmine: The single most significant opportunity on most menus is the non-alcoholic section. Don't just list "Juice" and "Soda." Create a dedicated "Zero-Proof" cocktail list with the same care and creativity as your alcoholic ones. A "Spiced Apple & Ginger Fizz" using premium ingredients can be sold for $10 with a COGS of under $1.50. This market is exploding, and it's almost pure profit.

3. Train Your Staff to Be "Tour Guides"

Your staff are not order-takers; they are salespeople. A guest might not know what they want, but a well-trained server can guide them to a profitable decision.

• The Power of the Pairing: Train every server on two or three perfect pairings. "The robust flavour of the ribeye is fantastic, but it's even better with a glass of our Malbec—it really brings out the smoky flavours."
  

• The Pre-Dinner Ritual: This is a crucial moment. The first question should never be "Can I get you some water?" It should be, "Can I get you started with one of our signature cocktails or a glass of sparkling wine while you look over the menu?" This one question can instantly add $15-$30 to a table's check.
  

• The Post-Dinner Upsell: The meal is over, but the sale isn't. Instead of just "Anything else?" train your team to suggest an extra, high-margin item: "Would you be interested in an espresso martini, a digestif, or a lovely dessert wine to finish the evening?"

The Final Ingredient: Marketing Your Drinks Menu with meed

A perfect drinks menu only makes you money if people come in to try it. This is where a smart loyalty tool can bridge the gap between your best products and your best customers.

You've created a new, high-profit "Hero" cocktail. How do you get people in the door to try it?

With a simple digital loyalty platform like meed, you can send a targeted coupon directly to your entire membership base.

"It's Cocktail Week! Come in and try our new 'Spicy Pineapple Margarita,' and get 50% off a side of our guacamole. This week only for our loyalty club members!"

meed's rewards and coupon abilities are the marketing engine that activates your menu. You can use it to:

• Drive Off-Peak Traffic: Send a "Wine Wednesday" coupon for a discount on bottles, bringing people in on a traditionally quiet night.
  

• Incentivise Repeat Visits: The customer who came in for that cocktail coupon is now one stamp closer to their "Free Appetiser" reward, giving them a compelling reason to come back again soon.

A great drinks menu increases the profit of every guest. A smart loyalty tool like meed increases the number of guests who walk through the door, ready to be delighted by your most profitable items.

You can set your program up today on meed. Just visit the meed Portal and click "Sign up".