Pour cost is a key metric in the industry that measures the cost of the ingredients to make a drink as a percentage of the selling price. It’s calculated by dividing the cost of the ingredients by the selling price then multiplying by 100. For example if a cocktail costs £2 to make and sells for £10 the pour cost would be 20%.
Pour cost is a vital tool for any hospitality business to manage profit. By tracking pour costs managers can see which drinks are most profitable, spot waste or over pouring and adjust prices or recipes as needed. A low pour cost means higher profit margins, a high pour cost means you need to adjust pricing or portioning.
Let’s say you’re a bar manager at a busy club. You notice your mojitos have a pour cost of 30% which is above your target of 20%. You investigate and find the bartenders are over pouring the rum. You decide to do a training session on measuring techniques and introduce jiggers to ensure consistent pours. A month later you re-calculate the pour cost and it’s down to 22%, much closer to your target. This has increased your bar’s profit without changing the drink’s price or quality.'