The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian inventory control and bar services firm is aiming to help clients ncrease their profitability by eliminating wastage, its founder telling Tribune Business it is already saving some more than $1,000 a week in liquor revenues.

Alex Holden told Tribune Business that BahaBar, the first Bahamian ‘Bar Rescue’ company, which began operations some two months ago, offerd the “full gambit” of consultancy and bar inventory services.

He added that most bars in New Providence sufferfrom point of sale inefficiencies, resulting in inventory losses of up to and beyond 50 per cent.

“BahaBar in inventory control and other bar services. It’s one of a kind in the Bahamas right now,” Mr Holden said. “We have had four clients come on board in the past two months, and four more are looking to come onboard very soon.

“We anticipate that this will blow up very large, very quickly. We are already saving some of our clients up to $1,000 a week. That’s not the norm, however, It depends on the volume. We have found that most bars in Nassau have inefficiencies, leading up to and beyond 50 per cent inventory loss.

“For instance, out of 100 bottles of Bacardi A�ejo, bars are only seeing money for 50 of them. The margin on liquor has certainly diminished, and so it’s highly important for everyone to tighten their belts to remain profitable.”

Mr Holden saidBahaIntel, the company’s flagship product, streamlines the inventory control process. He explained that the company performs physical audits and offers proprietary software that tracks inventory.

“The software is written especially for Bahamians. The product is accurate up to 1/10 of an ounce. Clients receive analytics on their bar’s performance comprising of inventory consumption, liquor sales and pour accuracy,” Mr Holden said.

“BahaIntel, another offering, enables bar owners and managers alike to easily review spillage, theft and other forms of shrinkage. This, in turn, empowers them to take the appropriate steps to improve bartender performance, simultaneously reducing liquor cost and increasing drink standards.”

Mr Holden added: “What our service also does is it saves time managing inventory, which is really like a full-time job. No one in Nassau has this type of accuracy or reporting, and it’s at a very affordable cost.

“Ultimately we hope that this will lead to an overall increase in bar service standards here in the Bahamas.”

Mr Holden further added that the company’s BahaSage offering is a streamlined bar strategy to improve the quality of service in individual establishments.

“We do the full gambit. It’s a 100 per cent full-scale bar service with menu creation, staff training, bar analytics, sales analytics and cost control. We have been developing our system for about a year and we just got it into our first club,” said Mr Holden.