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Sep 19, 2023

Backbar Aims to Increase Hospitality Profit Margins by Optimizing Its Highest

Pictured is the Backbar Deluxe machine that created two cocktails in under 20

Pictured is the Backbar Deluxe machine that created two cocktails in under 20 seconds.

SAN DIEGO (PRWEB) June 08, 2023

Backbar launched in 2019 with groundbreaking technology to reshape the beverage and hospitality landscape. With a simple yet powerful solution, Backbar brings you an automated beverage dispenser accompanied by advanced beverage-management software. The product was born from a desire to help restaurants and other venues improve their profitability in a notoriously difficult sector. As the first-to-market solution of its kind, Backbar is pioneering a path for venues to dispense and serve outstanding beverages in all categories.

The beverage industry currently faces major challenges including, poor net margins, scarcity of specialized labor required to create high-quality drinks, high wastage, bandwidth to serve a wide variety of beverages, and the inability to predict staffing requirements. The December Business Conditions Survey from the National Restaurant Association revealed that 89% of operators considered labor costs a significant challenge, with 62% reporting insufficient employees to meet the existing demand. Furthermore, the industry loses an estimated $10 billion annually due to theft, shrinkage and overpouring in the cocktail segment alone, and many venues miss out on potential revenue by not offering a wide variety of beverages due to space and labor constraint.

However, Backbar believes that there are solvable challenges within this space that can significantly impact profitability in the industry. The company draws inspiration from historical examples of innovation in the beverage industry, such as the Coca-Cola machine introduced in the 1950s and 1960s. Backbar's novel hardware design uses reliable beverage dispensing components to automate the production of complex beverages, with a particular focus on areas where traditional beverage dispensers fall short, such as cocktails, iced coffees, lattes, and juices. The result? Bartenders and non-bartenders can easily create a refreshing Moscow mule or an indulgent iced vanilla latte with the same ease as pouring a simple soda or a beer. With the capacity to make approximately 350 drinks per hour, the dispenser can handle large rushes effectively. This versatility empowers venues to serve best-in-class offerings in every beverage category regardless of venue type or labor availability.

Today, Backbar's flagship product is paired with analytical software that can track peak times, beverage popularity, average drink completion time, ingredient levels, and more. These insights provide Backbar users greater visibility into their beverage program such as staying informed about their beverage operations and better predicting ingredient run-outs. The company intends to roll out an AI-component to the software that can suggest new beverages with a high probability of increasing revenue, as well as an automatic ingredient ordering functionality.

"One mixologist at a Michelin guide restaurant was very resistant to our hardware since he takes great pride in his craft. He even brought in a focus group to do a blind taste test on the cocktails made by a mixologist versus the Backbar machine," said Backbar Solutions Co-Founder Rishabh Kewalramani. "Much to his surprise—and chagrin—the focus group couldn't tell the difference. He was impressed and started using the Backbar dispenser to save on spillage costs, improve drink consistency, and most importantly solve a major staffing shortage."

Backbar entered the market less than a year after developing its first dispensing product, defying industry standards. This rapid prototype to market approach gave the founding team experience, expertise, and a unique edge that not many companies have accomplished in the hardware space. After receiving positive feedback from their customers, it fueled the team's drive to expand the product line to three distinct dispensing machine options: Lite, Premium and Deluxe. Each machine is capable of storing both shelf stable and non-shelf stable ingredients (in a refrigerated unit) and comes equipped with 8 bag-in-box hookups for concentrated syrup lines (i.e. Coke, Sprite, etc). The infrastructure of the machine allows you to take your current ingredients at the bar and plug them directly into the machine, making it incredibly easy to start using the Backbar machine.

"In many ways, my partners and I have been building towards something like Backbar for the vast majority of our lives," said Kewalramani. "Backbar is the culmination of different experiences, passions and insights, and it empowers us to know that we are bringing innovation to a sector that has been deprived by the pace and scale of innovation seen by other industries." In less than four years, Backbar has made a significant impact on its customers in the beverage and hospitality industry: reducing the need for specialized labor by ~50% and cutting liquor/mixer loss rates by 90+%. The machines have been installed in over 25 locations across the United States from renowned restaurants to bustling stadiums, and are projected to be in ~100 locations by the end of 2023.

With each installation, Backbar moves closer to its vision of a world where venues can take complete ownership and control of their beverage programs. Through its innovative dispensing solutions, Backbar not only empowers the hospitality industry but also creates a new standard of excellence, forever changing the way beverages are prepared, served and enjoyed.

For more information, visit backbar.com.

About Backbar Solutions: Launched in 2019, Backbar offers an automated beverage dispenser solution born from a desire to help restaurants and other venues in the hospitality industry improve their profit margins. Even the lowest volume Backbar customers see a ~150% monthly ROI through the optimization of their highest-margin category: beverages. Inspired by the custom soda fountains of the 1950s and 1960s, Backbar elevates beverage programs by empowering them to deliver best-in-class beverages in every category, from cocktails and mocktails to specialty drinks and coffees. The integrated hardware and software solution also helps venues track and analyze beverage data to further optimize and expand their beverage offerings based on peak hours, drink performance, etc. For more information, visit https://www.backbar.com/.

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