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Wine dead stock, bottles that have not moved, cash that has

Wine sitting 30 to 90 days is cash in the dark. Move it to glass, re-pair it, or cut it. Do not train guests to wait for a discount.

Written by Marco Azzari on

A bottle that has not moved in 30 to 90 days is not a collection. It is working capital on a shelf, plus a spoilage risk you will notice late. F&B managers already know this in theory. In practice the list was inherited, the busy season started, and nobody counted.

This is a process, not a character flaw.

Find it

You cannot manage what lives in a spreadsheet you open twice a year. Date of last sale, quantity, true cost. Even a crude export from the EPOS plus a walk round the cellar beats "we know the stock."

If you have no date, start the clock today. Everything currently sitting is day zero. In 60 days you will have a real list.

Three moves (in this order)

  1. Glass. A stalled bottle that can be poured honestly belongs on BTG for a fortnight. Programme.
  2. Re-pair. Put it next to a dish that actually sells, with a sentence the floor can say. If it never had a dish, that is why it sat.
  3. Cut. Staff sale, a one-night wine event, return to the supplier if the terms allow. Taking it off the guest page is allowed. Leaving it at a silent discount forever trains the regular to wait.

Do not inflate markups on the rest of the list "to cover" dead stock. That is insurance against a solvable pile, paid by the guest who did nothing wrong.

Stop the pile from returning

Shorter lists. Buying against the three plates, not against tastings. A cull on the same rhythm as the food menu. List size. Pair to the menu.

Independence from the wholesaler matters here. Their leftover is not your identity.

If you want the numbers live, instead of in a spreadsheet you open twice a year, Cavekey puts by-the-glass, the list, inventory, and true cost (VAT included) on one screen. The base version is free.

About the author

Marco Azzari

Founder of Wine CFO · Wine List Engineer for UK restaurants

I help restaurants, hotels and bars across the UK earn more from the wine they already sell. I price lists wine by wine, cost by-the-glass programmes 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.

More about Wine CFO

Read next

List size No magic number. A wine list should be short enough to explain, pour, and turn. Oversized lists freeze, confuse guests, and tie up cash. BTG programme Stop leaving BTG on autopilot. Rotate slow bottles onto glass, test styles, keep the list alive through the Christmas rush. Sister page to BTG pricing. Price a wine list Stop guessing wine prices. True cost in pounds with 20% VAT inside, starting with house, best-selling glass, and best-selling bottle. Glossary Operator definitions in pounds: pour cost, food cost, GP, cash margin, BTG, markup, true cost, VAT 20%. UK hospitality wiki.