About GOP Varieté-Theater München
At GOP Varieté-Theater München, the bar is part of the evening at the theatre. Stock is spread out accordingly: across the main bar, the front area and the storeroom in the basement. Responsible for it are head bartender Robert Karveckis and Alfonso Taranto, deputy F&B director, together with a team of six to seven bartenders.
The starting point: pen, paper and estimated fill levels
For a long time, the stocktake at GOP was done the classic way with pen and paper. It took a lot of time and was error-prone. The consequences showed up in the analysis at the end: the cost of goods didn’t match what had actually been used.
“What was annoying back then was that it took us forever, and there were lots of mistakes too. The cost of goods didn’t add up.”– Robert Karveckis, Head bartender, GOP Varieté-Theater München
The biggest uncertainty lay with opened bottles. How much was left in an open bottle could only be estimated on paper. At a bar with lots of opened spirits, such estimates add up quickly – and it’s exactly these variances that later end up in the cost of goods. For the team, that meant after every stocktake: hunting for errors instead of being able to work with the figures.
The rollout: fill level via slider, counting as a team
Today, the team counts directly on their smartphones with BarBrain’s digital stocktaking app. For opened bottles there’s a slider: the fill level is read off the bottle and set in the app instead of being roughly estimated.
The second big lever is counting in parallel. Instead of a few people working through all areas one after another, the team splits up: two bartenders count in the storeroom downstairs, two in the front area and two behind the main bar – at the same time. All counts come together in the same stocktake.
Then there’s data security. Everything is recorded and stored digitally instead of sitting on sheets of paper. According to Robert Karveckis, the files can even be downloaded when the network goes down.
The result: two and a half hours at most – and a cost of goods that adds up
With six bartenders in three areas, the stocktake at GOP is now finished in two to two and a half hours at most. At least as important: the figures add up again. Because fill levels no longer have to be estimated and no sheets need to be evaluated, the cost of goods is right. The team no longer has to hunt for errors after the stocktake, and the results can be presented cleanly to management.
“What I particularly like about BarBrain is that we need less time for it. The cost of goods adds up again. I have fewer problems with my employer because I no longer have to hunt for errors.”– Alfonso Taranto, Deputy F&B director, GOP Varieté-Theater München
The app also goes down well day to day – Alfonso Taranto specifically mentions how it’s structured.
Conclusion
For Robert Karveckis, it’s clear: anyone still counting on paper today loses time and accuracy – and with them the basis for a reliable cost of goods.
“It’s time for a change, I’d say. If you’re still counting with pen and paper.”– Robert Karveckis, Head bartender, GOP Varieté-Theater München
The feature overview shows how stocktaking with BarBrain works in detail. For venues with several bars and areas, it’s worth taking a look at Groups & hotels.
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