Glossary
Glossary, pour cost, GP %, cash margin, BTG, markup
Operator definitions in pounds: pour cost, food cost, GP %, cash margin, BTG, markup, true cost, 20% VAT. A UK hospitality glossary for wine.
Written by Marco Azzari on
Short definitions for people who run rooms in the UK. The term first, then the shorthand you will hear from your accountant, your supplier and your head chef. Formulas are sketches. Your accountant wins arguments.
BTG (by the glass)
Wine sold in a glass, not a bottle. Often the highest contribution engine if costed and rotated. Still wine by the glass is sold in 125 ml, 175 ml or multiples of those, and a 125 ml glass must be available. Pages: price, programme.
Cash margin (contribution)
What is left on a line after the true cost of that line. In pounds, not only in %. Also called cash GP. Markup versus margin.
Covers
Guests served, usually per service or per day. Not the same as bills if one bill covers 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, ex VAT. Most UK kitchens talk about the other side of it, food GP. Not the same target % as wine. Food cost and wine cost.
GP (gross profit) / GP %
Net revenue after VAT, minus the cost of the goods sold, usually quoted as a share of that net revenue. Specify food or wet, and say whether you mean pounds or percent. A bare "GP" in a meeting is how people talk past each other.
House wine
The default pour when the guest does not choose, often the cheapest red and white on the list. Price house wine.
Markup
Selling price relative to cost. A tool. Not the same as contribution. Three times cost is a habit, not a rule.
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. The mirror image of wine GP %. Useful; dangerous if one % is used to strangle glasses.
True cost
Supplier cost including duty, rebuilt with the VAT logic of the sale, the discounts you actually get, and the pour you actually serve. Price a wine list.
VAT
In UK restaurant service, 20% on food and drink served on the premises. Cold takeaway food is often zero-rated. Alcohol never is. VAT page.
Wet and dry sales
Pub and bar shorthand: wet is drinks, dry is food. Keep wine apart from beer and spirits when you read wet GP, or a good draught margin will hide a weak wine list.
Wine list
The guest-facing page of the programme. Not the merchant's price list. Design.
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.
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