NATIONAL REPORT—Illinois-based PourMyBeer is making it easy to eliminate beer waste while significantly increasing sales and profits at the same time. The company has developed a tap wall system that frees up space in a bar and puts the pouring in the hands of customers who can social distance while choosing up to more than 100 beers on tap. Taps are sanitized between use but customers can choose to use gloves if they wish.
“It is about making people feel comfortable,” says Josh Goodman, Founder and CEO of PourMyBeer. “The act of showing customers that you sanitize the taps or provide a glove as an option, puts a layer of protection that eliminates the concern.”
Taps are connected to an easy to use screen that allows the owner and the customer to see exactly how much they are pouring and how much they are being charged for it. Customers can seamlessly pay with their credit cards. As many as four taps can be controlled from one screen. PourMyBeer is the only commercial draft system on the market to use ethernet hardwiring instead of WiFi.
“While most other self-pour tech companies use direct current (D/C) power sources that need to be close to the taps, our alternate current power lets you set up your flow meters and valves up to 50 feet away—which frees up your space and cleans up your look,” the company says. “Another amazing benefit of our A/C power setup? No frothy foam. Putting our valves and flow meters farther from the taps lets the beer settle before dispensing—giving your customers a smooth, clean pour.”
Every Ounce Accounted For
Josh Goodman, Founder and CEO of PourMyBeer, says traditionally, there is an accepted amount of loss that takes place in beer pouring—pilfering. “If you buy four kegs of beer, you are accepting 25 percent loss. With our system every ounce that leaves the keg is charged. For any liquid to leave the tap it has to be an open tap and connected to a credit card.”
Goodman says a self-tap room can run with as little as one employee because it costs so little to support it. “Twenty to thirty percent of the cost of a traditional restaurant is tied up in staffing—ours is 11 percent,” Goodman says.
PourMyBeer has secured a major investment from CCEP Ventures, the investment arm of Coca-Cola European Partners. By 2021, single-use plastics will be banned by 27 countries in the European Union. CCEP Ventures sees a lot of opportunity for PourMyBeer technology in Europe. Europe for example, will be getting rid of soda machines in schools. “They are putting in our machines,” Goodman says.
With 200 current active locations in the United States (270 worldwide), Goodman says the PourMyBeer system is the “future of the beverage industry.”
Glenn Hasek can be reached at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
