Brewing Efficiency | Cost Cutting Strategies for Craft Breweries

In the fast-paced craft beer industry, finding ways to save money without compromising the quality of your brews is crucial. As the brewing industry changes, it's becoming more important than ever to find ways to work more efficiently and boost your brewery's profitability. In this article we'll explore opportunities for controlling costs, including:

• Easy to implement ways to improve internal communications
• The importance of data driven decision making
• Ways to cut costs through effective supply chain management practices

Let's dive in!

Effective internal communication practices can significantly strengthen any business, but what does this look like for craft breweries? Many breweries operate with small teams of people who wear multiple hats. When well organized this can be hugely beneficial and reduce operational expenses. A great place to start is by putting standard operating procedures in place for routine tasks. Some of the things you might want to document include:

• Cleaning processes
• Return and refund processing
• Delivery workflows

Think about things that any of your staff could handle if given clear instructions. This can reduce blockers and make it much easier for people to step in and help out with tasks outside of their regular responsibilities when necessary.

While cross training can be beneficial, it's important to recognize the expertise required for some roles. For example, protecting the time and focus of your brewer ensures that they can devote their full attention to the brewhouse and all that is involved in making great beer.

A well managed supply chain is essential for ensuring you have the malt and hops you need ready to use when you need them. Implementing sustainable practices for managing your inventory could reduce production costs and improve cashflow since you won't be tying up excess capital and shelf space in supplies that you don't yet need.

Use historical sales data to identify trends and plan your production schedule and unlock just in time inventory management. This can prevent overstocking and help ensure that you receive the materials you need from your supplier, right when you need them.

Managing your finished goods inventory effectively is important too. Allowing sales forecasting tools to guide your production schedule lowers the risk of spoilage while ensuring that you can meet customer demand.

One of the most effective ways to keep your business thriving is to regularly track your performance. Consider the benefits:

• Easily identify areas for improvement
• Minimize time spent on tedious tasks like tax reporting
• Make effective business decisions quickly, with more confidence

This can be simple - start by looking at the data you're already collecting as part of your day to day brewery operations. Look to your point of sale system and accounting program to see what data is already available to you there. Tracking things like labor costs, water usage and energy consumption could help you to uncover some easy ways to reduce costs throughout the brewing process while also managing your brewery's environmental impact.

Are you tracking keg locations and deposits? According to Brewer's Association, the average brewery spends between $0.47 and $1.36 per barrel produced in keg loss costs each year. Introducing a keg tracking program could be a great way to plug your leaks and enjoy thousands of dollars in annual cost savings.

Brew Ninja customers experience annual revenue growth of 33% on average.

Interested in how Brew Ninja brewery management software can help improve operational efficiency and reduce costs? Click here to schedule a personalized call with a member of our team.