Plato Beverage Consulting
Smarter Operations. Stronger Margins.
We help Breweries, Brewpubs, Cideries, and Beverage Manufacturers gain visibility, clarity, and control of their Financial and Operational processes to improve and protect their margins, business, and improve profitability.
The High Price of Inaction on Costs and Waste
Brewery Survival Risks: The Real Costs of Ignoring Financial & Operational Health
Production Inefficiencies Compound Losses
Hidden Expenses Accumulate Silently
Ignoring Pricing Strategy Updates leads to Margin Erosion
Eroding Margins can lead to a Cash Flow Crisis for your Business
Overall Financial/Operational Neglect puts your Business at Risk
One Bad Month can Erase a Year of Modest Profits
Brewery Finance Backed by Real Brewery Experience
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We've Been in Your Shoes
We have over 15 years of direct brewery operations and management experience. We have built, commissioned, and managed breweries; both on the floor and in the books. We speak brewery operations, understand the chaos, know what moves the needle, and deliver solutions that actually work.
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Cut through the Chaos
We track and distill dozens of metrics into high-impact actions that are easy for you and your management to understand and track over time. We utilize these data points to observe trends, protect margins, streamline operations, and proactively improve profitability.
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Part Time COO, Full Time Impact
As your Fractional COO you get ongoing data analysis, aggregation, strategic insights, and regular meetings to discuss and implement solutions to improve your brewery business operations and profitability. Get the expertise of a full-time analyst without the overhead.
Plato Consulting Services
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Step 1: Business Health Assessment
High-level snapshot of financials (margins/COGS), sales (top performers/pricing), and production (volumes/yields/losses) to baseline health and flag initial issues.
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Step 2: Detailed Sales Review and Analysis
We dig deeper to reveal detailed trends and variances in financials, sales, and operations; create custom executive KPI dashboards for real-time and ongoing monitoring (e.g., margins, yields, revenue per barrel).
Contact Us for Assistance in Reviewing and Improving Your Sales and Profitability
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Step 3: Operational Optimization and Implementation
In-depth product costing, production efficiency analysis, across brewery/kitchen/service/distribution; bi-weekly meetings throughout engagement, onsite visit for observation, validation, and tailored recommendations.
Contact Us to get to Work Improving Your Operations and Efficiency
Derek Wasak - President and Managing Director of Plato Beverage Consulting
Fractional COO Services
Our Fractional COO (Chief Operating Officer) Service embeds a seasoned brewing operations and finance expert to work with your team on regular, ongoing, part-time basis. We meet with you bi-weekly to review, discuss and deliver sustained, ongoing, strategic, oversight of business, sales, and operations metrics without the cost of a full-time COO hire.
Building directly on insights and improvements found in our Initial 3-Step Review Process, we work with you to continue to track aggregate, analyze, and improve your sales and production data. Providing ongoing recommendations to improve efficiency, margin health, cost management, and underlying processes. Our Fractional COO Service also assists with your annual budgeting and forecasting plan for your brewery and tasting room/restaurant.
Part Time Operations Finance Analyst Services
Ongoing monthly reviews of your financial statements, sales reports, and operational logs to deliver clear margin trends, variance alerts, and actionable cost-saving insights. We meet with you on a monthly basis to review each monthly report and provide actionable recommendations to improve your brewery business.
This is an alternative to our Fractional COO Service and does not include items like budgeting assistance, forecasting assistance, quarterly onsite meetings with management.
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Brewery Equipment and Facility Appraisals
Our Brewery Purchase Inspection & Asset Appraisal equips prospective buyers of breweries, brewpubs, cideries, or beverage facilities with a thorough onsite evaluation of equipment, infrastructure, and tasting room assets. This combination hybrid/on-site inspection service delivers detailed condition assessments, fair market valuations, and repair insights. Know exactly what you’re buying, negotiate with leverage, and potentially save big versus the listing price. Make your investment with clarity and peace of mind.
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Business Plan Writing
Expert guidance to craft a professional, investor-ready business plan tailored for breweries, brewpubs, cideries, or beverage manufacturers. We collaborate remotely to translate your vision, operations, and financials into a compelling narrative that supports funding, expansions, or strategic pivots, focusing on business model, brand, market positioning, and profitability.
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Brewery Pro Forma Financials
Customized, data-driven 5-year forecasting models for breweries, brewpubs, cideries, or beverage manufacturers. We review your business model and build Base Case and Worst Case scenarios to project sales, production volumes, costs, margins, and profitability, integrating industry benchmarks and operational realities for clear growth insights, funding needs, and risk mitigation.
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Business Plan Audit
Expert, objective audit of your existing business plan draft, ideal for breweries, brewpubs, cideries, or beverage manufacturers. We evaluate your current business plan structure, content, strengths/weaknesses, missing info, red flags, and provide targeted recommendations to boost clarity, feasibility, and investor appeal, aligned with industry realities.
How to Work with Plato
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Book a Free Initial Consult
Schedule Your Free 30-Min Consultation. We listen to your biggest pain points: margin improvement, cost management, production optimization, or cash flow to determine how we can best assist in improving your business.
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Receive Your Custom Scope & Proposal
Within two business days, we draft a Scope of Work Proposal tailored to your business needs ready for your review and approval. Whether it is just getting your feet wet an initial Business Health Audit, the full Plato Profitability Improvement Bundle, you are ready to get serious with our Fractional COO Partnership, or anything in between. You can review, adjust, and ask any questions before we finalize our Scope of Work and get started!
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Approve, Sign & Launch
Once we have all the details of your scope finalized we will send the final Work Agreement over for you to sign via DocuSign. From there, We roll up sleeves and get to work with you to gather the necessary documents and get to work on our end to review, analyze, and improve your business!
Let’s work together.
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly! We can't wait to hear from you!
About Us
With over 15 years of brewing industry experience as a Head Brewer and Director of Operations, our President and Principal Consultant: Derek Wasak brings unparalleled expertise to Plato Beverage. Specializing in Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) for breweries, brewpubs, cideries, distilleries, and beverage manufacturers. Derek helps owners and managers gain visibility into their business to optimize profitability and efficiency through an operational and financial lens with data-driven insights.
Derek leverages his deep operational management background to deliver financial reviews, operational audits, custom KPI dashboards, and actionable recommendations for improvement. His proven, data-focused strategies have driven cost reductions, enhanced margin health, and increased production efficiency. Often leading to double digit gains in efficiency and profitability for clients.
After years spent professionally brewing, planning and opening breweries and brewpubs, managing daily operations, designing facilities, and making award winning beer, Derek transitioned into full-time consulting by founding Plato Brewing and Consulting Inc. in 2019. Now, he empowers brewery owners nationwide with Financial and Operational Planning, Business Planning, and Operational Improvement services, turning complex data into actionable growth and improvement plans. Passionate about profitability and efficiency, Derek is committed to helping your brewery thrive with expert financial and operational guidance.
