Glossary
Glossary: pour cost, beverage cost, markup, BTG, gross profit
Operator definitions in dollars: pour cost, beverage cost, food cost, contribution margin, BTG, markup, true cost, sales tax. A restaurant wine glossary.
Written by Marco Azzari on
Short definitions for people who run restaurants and bars. Operator term first, then the words you will hear from distributors, sommeliers and your CPA. Formulas are sketches. Your accountant wins arguments.
Beverage cost
Cost of drinks sold as a share of drink revenue. Specify wine, beer, spirits or total beverage. A bare "bev cost" in a meeting is how people talk past each other. Also called cost of goods sold (COGS) for beverage.
BTG (by the glass)
Wine sold in a glass, not a bottle. Often the highest gross profit engine if costed and rotated. Pages: price, program.
Contribution margin (gross profit per item)
What is left on a line after the true cost of that line. In dollars, not only in %. On a menu engineering sheet it is often just called item gross profit. Markup versus margin.
Covers
Guests served, usually per service or per day. Not the same as checks if one check is a whole table.
Dead stock
Wine that does not move for weeks or months. Cash on a shelf. Dead stock.
Food cost
Ingredient cost as a share of food revenue. Not the same target % as wine. Food cost and wine cost.
House wine
The default pour when the guest does not choose. Sometimes called the well wine or pouring wine. Price house wine.
Markup / multiplier
Selling price relative to cost. A tool. Not the same as contribution. "3× wholesale per bottle" and "one glass pays for the bottle" are habits, not laws.
Menu engineering
Reading a menu as popularity × contribution, then placing plates (or wines) on purpose. Menu engineering.
Pour cost (wine)
Cost of wine sold as a share of wine revenue. 25% pour cost is 75% margin. Useful; dangerous if one % is used to strangle glasses.
Sales tax
State and local tax added on top of the menu price at checkout. US menu prices are normally pre-tax, so sales tax never touches your margin math. Rates vary by state, county and city, and some places tax alcohol at a different rate: check your state's revenue department or your CPA.
True cost
Distributor cost rebuilt with the discounts you actually get, delivery charges, and the pour you actually serve. Price a wine list.
Wine list
The guest-facing page of the program. Not the distributor catalog. Design.
About the author
Marco Azzari
Founder of Wine CFO · Wine List Engineer for restaurants
I help restaurants, hotels and bars earn more from the wine they already sell. I price lists wine by wine, cost by-the-glass programs on their real yield, rebuild selections around the food menu, and rewrite lines so guests understand what they're ordering. Every Wine Profit Checkup goes across my desk personally.
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