5 Ideas to Increase Brewery Profits

5 Ideas to Increase Brewery Profits

Brewery conferences are a great opportunity to network and learn new ideas from peers in the beer industry.

Recently, I attended the NC Craft Brewers Guild BrewSmart Taproom event held in Greenville, NC.

Let me tell you, the ideas for increasing brewery profits were really flying.

Here are the 5 top takeaways from the event that can help you increase brewery profits:

1. Sustainability and Social Impact Crash Course. Emily Neville, Beer to Bags
   1. Take advantage of incentive programs to make your brewery more sustainable.
   2. Talk to your local utility provider to determine programs in your area. Think lighting and cooling to start. These can be big expenses for breweries.
   3. Look into a company like NRM, National Resource Management (I’ve used them to save tens of thousands of dollars).
2. Supporting and Employing Persons with IDD. Sam Baker, Four Saints Brewing Co.
   1. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a Federal tax credit available to employers for hiring and employing individuals from certain targeted groups who have faced significant barriers to employment.
   2. You can learn more about the tax credit here
3. Strategies for Adding Food to Your Taproom. Andrew Coplon, Secret Hopper
   1. Andrew’s data shows that tabs are 88% higher when food is offered.
   2. When staff asks a guest if they want beer to go, 49% of the time they buy (compared with only 9% if staff doesn’t ask).
   3. Using the data above, multiply YOUR to-go beer sales from last year by 5x. If it’s a meaningful number, train and incentivize your staff to ask guests if they want beer to go.
4. Building Successful Internal Education Programs. Aaron Gore, Arryved
   1. Guests come to the taproom and come back again because they love YOUR brewery story and YOUR beer
   2. Internal education is all about training staff to tell your story, and talk about the beer, to sell more of it.
   3. Keys to good training: keep it relevant, simple, and fun.
5. How to Build Your Taproom Key Metrics Dashboard. Kary Shumway (that’s me), Craft Brewery Financial Training
   1. Start by identifying the most important thing you should measure, then use scorecards to keep track.
   2. Here’s a link to a free course on how to build your brewery key metrics scorecard.

P.S. One of the best parts of brewery conferences is networking with brewery peers and meeting new people. Now, you can join the Beer Business Finance Association and network with your peers all year round. Get the details here, or book a time for a 15-minute talk to learn more.