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revenue from tasting room


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In california it seems like the laws are soon to change, which will allow california distilleries to sell bottles out of our tasting rooms, I am trying to estimate how much revenue could come from a tasting room selling soft goods and bottles direct to the consumer.

If anyone out there is willing to share I would like to hear how much revenue your tasting room generates on a monthly basis.

Thanks,

---KB

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In california it seems like the laws are soon to change, which will allow california distilleries to sell bottles out of our tasting rooms, I am trying to estimate how much revenue could come from a tasting room selling soft goods and bottles direct to the consumer.

If anyone out there is willing to share I would like to hear how much revenue your tasting room generates on a monthly basis.

Thanks,

---KB

Give me your daily number of likely walk-in customers and I will give you a range of revenue estimates.

I would estimate that 90% of the people that walk in the door buy something. I know our average sale, which would likely be similar for you. So the only thing we need to know is how busy your location is. Some distilleries are in the middle of nowhere. Others are in prime tourist locations with hundreds of walk-ins per day. Some are in seasonal locations where it is good only a few months per year. Others are steady all year. What is yours?

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+1 to Teton. I deal with a ton of distilleries in almost ever state of the union and their tasting room revenues are as vast as the products they are making. I have some that truly are in the middle of nowhere that will do $300k to $400k a year because of their product and marketing. Then I have others that are in big cities who just do not have a ton of walk in traffic that will only do $100k to $200k just because they don't "have it out there" as well as some of the other distilleries. Then there are those who are in big cities with a lot of traffic and they will do $800k or better depending on charging for tour/tastes, swag, etc.

At the end of the day, it has a lot to do with marketing, product uniqueness, and distillery swag that you are offering. I agree that a very high percentage of folks that walk through the door are going to buy something; they are there because they want to be. They either have had some of your product, heard of your product, or saw something about your product that caught their eye. One of my distillery friends who can only sell limited product (a bottle per visitor) makes most of his money on his t-shirt and hat sales due to his catchy and popular logo design. It has really taken on a life of its own among locals and out of towners/staters alike.

In my experience talking and dealing with people all over, it seems like it is a reverse "Field of Dreams" scenario. Get them to come and they will build it. Meaning, if you can get the folks in the door they will buy and the more they buy the more you have to work with to continue to build your brand.

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Being on Main Street we see a lot of foot traffic, but our region is tourist driven, the season is April to December. Last quarter we sold 300 plus bottles per, month. Our tasting fees vary from $7.50 to $20.00. It depends on the glass they wish keep. So we are very

excited for the upcoming season.

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Teton, my walk in numbers are difficult to estimate as we are very new and do not yet have a tasting room so its difficult to estimate. We are in a city of over 100,000. the location in an industrial lot.

Insuranceman, thank you for tossing those numbers out there, I understand there are many factors that drive these numbers, I am merely trying to get a ballpark number to start planning for the financial side of a retail/tasting room operation.

Mash thank you for some numbers as well.

Im going to start with an estimation on the low side of 120k in revenue per year from the tasting/retail room

Can anyone give a ball park on what percentage of walk in visitors buy a bottle, or an average dollar amount of goods sold per visitor?

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...

We are in a town that gets a lot of tourist traffic and has many part-time residents. It has a full time population of 60,000 or so (not counting other close by metro areas). We somehow manage to get somewhere in the range of 15 - 20k visitors per year through the tasting room. Many are repeats who bring in out of town guests. Many are from out of town but have found us online when looking for what to do in the area. Many come out and line up for special releases. It has taken several years to get the traffic to this point.

Average sale (excluding special edition release days) is about $60. Our best selling rums are priced relatively low at $25 per bottle. Special editions don't go over $50.

Develop a good tour with plenty of education and humor. Encourage online reviews. Get as much local press as possible. Don't hire just anyone for the tasting room. You need to spend time in there because people want to meet you, the distiller, and hear about making the rum first hand. You should be giving as many of the tours as possible at least while you get the traffic built up.

All of those things have been a big part of how we get people out to our tasting room in a scary old industrial park far from the tourist areas. During the busy half of the year our tours are often booked solid. We allow 60 registrations max per tour but often end up with more showing up during the busiest times of the year.

Our tours are free. Tastings are free. Most who visit will buy. You might want to showcase some samples of mixed drinks if your laws allow so people know what to do with it. Not everyone likes to drink alcohol straight. We always serve it straight up as well as in samples of drinks.

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2 minutes ago, Silk City Distillers said:

On that note - you guys running a double retort?

Yes. Unfortunately it spends most of it's time as a stripping still to keep up with current products right now. We get to run for barrels on a limited basis.

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  • 6 months later...

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