Where Do Bars Buy Liquor? And How Much Do They Pay?

Some businesses like brewpubs and brewery taps produce their own alcohol-for a personalized liquor bottle display. Other businesses like pubs, bars, and restaurants typically purchase from a local beverage distributor or a brewery. Of course, all those businesses have to learn how to get a liquor license and how to do liquor inventory.

Where Do Bars Get Their Alcohol?

Bar owners, bar managers, and beverage directors get their alcohol from a beverage distributor or wholesaler. That's because the wholesale price (see: what is wholesale) is much cheaper than the retail price for stocking a bar. This helps lower a bar’s liquor cost and increase a bar’s profit margin. Most bars maintain a consistent bar supplies list that they restock each week. They also carefully select liquor bottle sizes so they can get more value for their money.

The bar will also outline the source of their supplies in their restaurant business plan. If they're looking for particular vintages, they can also buy them through private online liquor sales.

How Do Bars Buy Their Alcohol?

Two ways. One is picking up a phone or firing up a computer and contacting a sales rep for a distributor or wholesaler directly. It's the same process for ordering Bar Keepers Friend for your bar and restaurant glass and surface cleaner supplies. Or buying bar glasses and mixing tools from a vendor.

The second way is using a bar and beverage ordering platform, where all orders are placed directly to distributors through subscription-based software.

To use BinWise Pro as an example, you can place all your alcohol orders through one easy-to-use interface. That's the benefit of liquor inventory software. It'll give you complete insight into vendors, order creation date, delivery date, and more.

How Much Do Bars Pay for Alcohol?

When buying from a beverage distributor or wholesaler, bars typically pay 70% to 80% less than what they charge their customers. We reached out and asked an experienced beverage program manager how much bars can expect to spend acquiring alcohol from vendors.

They said small bars tend to spend around $2,500 to $6,000 per month on alcohol, while mid- and large-sized beverage programs can spend anywhere from $6,000 to $13,000 per month. But it's very dependent on inventory turnover and order minimums. It's also dependent on concept, such as running a speakeasy with wood furniture and vintage style.

We work with many high-end concepts with extensive wine collections and higher price points (see: average price of wine). Our internal data shows a median alcohol spend of around $30,000 per month before the pandemic, and around $10,000 per month after, for bars and restaurants like that.

Most bars will mark up their drinks four or five times more than its cost to cover the expenses. For example, if a bar pays $1 for a single 12-ounce serving of beer, they should charge their guests between $3.33 and $5 for it.

The same goes for beers in kegs, you just have to figure out how many beers in a keg to get your pricing numbers. Keep in mind that this number varies based on many factors.

The bar or pub layout, what kind of bar it is, and what prices their competitors have, for example. And even who their customers are, what type of liquor they're selling, and what their liquor pour cost is.  Which, conveniently, they can find out with a pour cost calculator. You'll certainly be paying more if you buy through a high-end wine negociant.

How Do Bars Price Their Liquor?

When pricing specific liquor types and qualities, most bar owners and managers divide their liquor into three tiers based on quality: well, call, and top shelf. It's very much related to the bar layout. Then they price accordingly. Sometimes using psychological pricing, believe it or not. We'll also touch briefly on how bars price wine.

Well Liquor

Well liquor is what bartenders use when a guest doesn’t name a specific brand in their drink order. It is typically the most inexpensive liquor at the bar.

Call Liquor

This is what bartenders use if a guest requests a specific brand for an order, like Tanqueray. Call liquor usually has higher name recognition and quality—and thus a higher price. But they're still not the most expensive ones. A few more examples of typical call liquor are Smirnoff Vodka, Beefeater Gin, and Bacardi Light Rum-one of many types of rum.

Top Shelf Liquor

Top shelf liquor is also called premium. These are usually the most expensive items in a bar, as they carry a more refined reputation. Most bars will have these on display to pique guests’ interest, such as Tennessee Whiskey, Crown Royal Whiskey, or Jose Cuervo 1800 Tequila.

Wine

Wine by the glass programs typically price a glass of wine at the wholesale cost of the entire bottle. While wine bottles are marked up between 200% to 400% of their wholesale cost.

Note to bar managers: Don’t feel like you’re being greedy if you have to charge your guests four to five times what the drink actually costs. You have many things that you need to cover aside from just the cost of your liquor. Things like ice, garnishes, glassware, rent, your staff’s salaries, and even more. The list goes on and on.

How to Choose a Liquor Wholesaler

When it comes to B2B sales, price is not the only factor. Instead, businesses choose distributors based on their flexibility, trustworthiness, the range of products they offer, and other features. Thus, there are many factors to consider when choosing a liquor wholesale supplier. Here are some of them.

1. Products offered. Most businesses aim to work with wholesale alcohol suppliers who can also offer other products such as soft drinks, wine, beer, glassware, and other bar supplies.
2. Price. Offering different pricing levels and discount options can be a successful strategy for liquor wholesale distributors to find new customers. Bars and restaurants usually consider price as a major factor when choosing vendors.
3. Delivery options. Flexibility in deliveries is important for businesses. Therefore, when choosing a wholesale drinks distributor, make sure they can offer fast and reliable logistics.
4. Technologies and innovations. Nowadays, automation and software integration is the difference between a successful business and an inefficient one. When picking a wholesale alcohol supplier, check out the different technological solutions they offer. They can significantly improve the ordering process, payment process, and other aspects of the relationship between suppliers and their customers.

Other Products Offered by Liquor Wholesalers

Most suppliers of wholesale liquor also offer other products needed by bars and restaurants. Here are a few examples.

1. Wine. Some distributors also offer different wine options. 
2. Beer. As one of the most popular beverages in the US and worldwide (see: can beer go bad). Beer is a common product offered by liquor wholesale suppliers.
3. Soft drinks. Suppliers often sell soft drink concentrates or bottled soda beverages.
4. Non-alcoholic and hard seltzers. Many customers enjoy their refreshing taste. As such, they can be found in the catalogs of liquor wholesalers.
5. Glassware. Some distributors also offer different types of glassware to their customers.
6. Bar equipment and tools. From shakers and mixers to cocktail decorations and racks, there are various types of bar tools that are offered by some liquor wholesale vendors.
7. Supplies. Napkins and straws are great examples of supplies that are sold by beverage wholesalers.

Frequently Asked Questions About Bars Buying Liquor

If you're planning to start stocking a bar, there are a few more things you should know. These common questions include:

Do Bars Get Discounts on Liquor?

The answer is: Yes. Most beverage distributors and wholesalers will have discounts for buying liquor in bulk or for frequent ordering. The reason behind it is quite simple.

Distributors want to sell more, but they don’t want to break up cases. Therefore, in order to encourage you to order more products, they will either charge breakage fees or offer bulk shipping discounts.

As a bar owner or manager, this is sometimes the best buying option to keep liquor costs down. The less bars pay for products, the lower their pour cost will be. However, this should not be applied to more expensive products that don’t fly off the shelves quickly.

Where Can I Buy Liquor For A New Bar?

If you're just opening up a bar in your location, the best way to start buying liquor is to look into liquor distributors in your area. A Google search will help, but you can also reach out to other bar owners. If there isn't a distributor right in town, there's sure to be one nearby!

How Much Pricing Control Do I Have?

When you start buying and selling liquor, you may be tempted to do your own calculations and run away with pricing to work on your bar profits. While there's nothing wrong with controlling your costs and sales points, don't get too carried away. Be sure to use the liquor cost formula and other strategies to keep your profits and cost points under control.

Ah, So That's Where Bars Buy Liquor!

Keep in mind, if bars overprice drinks, they'll have no business. And if they underprice, they'll make no money. Bars should strive to strike a balance with their alcohol pricing. And be open to making changes when certain things no longer fit. This is just a small part of learning how to open a bar.

Another note to bar managers: Maybe you're spending a lot on liquor and not making enough profit to cover it. Before increasing menu prices, work with your distributors for a better deal. Or do your own research to find an alternative liquor option.  

If you found this article helpful, contact us to learn more about BinWise Pro. It’s a liquor inventory system and bar inventory app that helps save time in taking your beverage inventory and running your bar more successfully. It can help set par levels (see par level definition), curb variance, and more.