Plato’s Proven Profitability Improvement Process

Business Financial Audit & Margin Analysis

A comprehensive review of your overall business, financial statements, sales reports, and product pricing. Uncovering your current margins and health, benchmarked to local and industry metrics to reveal opportunities for improved margins, operational efficiency, and cost savings.

• Average Gross Margin Improvement: 14.25%

Brewery Operational Efficiency Review

Analysis of brewery, production, kitchen, and service costs and processes. Including batch yields, production loss, COGS, BOM rollups, and labor optimization, to enhance efficiency and reduce overhead in your beverage operations.

• Average Efficiency Improvement: 12%

• Average Cost Savings of 8.1%

Your Financial and Operational Business Partner

We work with you on a regular basis to provide monthly reviews and reports of financial, sales, and operational metrics to ensure data-driven, unbiased insights, forecasting, and custom KPI dashboards. This establishes consistent management, visibility, and provides the basis for proactive profitability improvement monthly, quarterly, and annually over time.

We offer a variety of other brewery consulting services as well, including:

Brewery business planning

A robust financial plan is critical for brewery and beverage business success, driving profitability through precise budgeting and forecasting. At Plato Brewing and Consulting Inc., we specialize in crafting detailed pro forma financial plans tailored for breweries, brewpubs, cideries, and other beverage manufacturers. Our remote FP&A services deliver realistic sales, COGS, and operational cost projections to guide your daily, monthly, and long-term decisions. Whether launching a new venture or refining ongoing operations, our expertise ensures your financial plan drives sustainable profitability and operational efficiency.

Brewery Equipment Selection and procurement

Choosing the right equipment for your brewery or beverage business is critical to aligning with your production goals, space constraints, and budget. At Plato Brewing and Consulting Inc., we leverage over a decade of direct brewing industry experience to provide expert equipment selection services for breweries, brewpubs, cideries, distilleries, and other beverage manufacturers. Our process ensures you select optimally sized and configured equipment like brewhouses, fermentation tanks, chillers, boilers, grain milling, packaging, and tasting room setups, while saving time and costs.

We collaborate with manufacturers and architects to tailor solutions that fit your business model and facility, whether you're planning a startup, managing construction, or expanding your operation to meet demand. Our data-driven approach ensures your equipment investments maximize profitability and scalability.

Brewery equipment Appraisal and Acquisition Assistance

Considering acquiring or purchasing a brewery that is for sale? We can help inspect, assess, and appraise the brewery and/or equipment in question. This will ensure you are equipped with the proper information and valuation to make a decision to purchase and negotiate effectively. Our on-site inspections evaluate production equipment, inventory, tasting rooms, and facility infrastructure. We provide comprehensive reports detailing asset condition, age, and valuations (Fair Market, Current Market, and Forced Liquidation Value) to support sales, M&A, or expansion.

There are multiple reasons why having a brewery consultant on your side would be beneficial. We will be there to guide the way and offer our expertise to help you achieve your vision. Here are some of the reasons why:

Knowledgeable expert on your side

Our consulting firm will guide you through each part of the process to get your brewery started. We are able to give you tried and tested advice that will help you avoid any pitfalls and develop plans that will lead you toward your goal. You could go ahead and try to learn everything from the internet or other sources, but why not have someone that you can always turn to? Get a step ahead our services.

A solid addition to your team without the major cost

Instead of having to find and train someone for your in-house force, let us be the best resource you can rely on. We will be there to offer as much assistance as you need. If you’re not confident of the ins and outs of the brewery industry, we will take on your project – no problem.

A reliable outside perspective

Through our vast experience, we can offer a unique perspective that you may not have thought of before. Know that at the end of the day, we want to help you build a successful brewery and we will offer ideas that will benefit your business. We will also be the people that motivate you to keep reaching your goal. There is a lot of work to be done, but we will keep you on track.

Saving you time and Money

Last, but certainly not least, our knowledge, expertise, and experience will save you money, and lots of it. It is no secret that opening a business of any kind is costly, that is doubly true when it comes to the capital investment and construction of a brewery. On average, we have saved our start up brewery clients over $118,000 on equipment, construction costs, and potential inefficiencies in recipe and product development. Money saved in this stage can be crucial to a successful launch with sufficient operating capital in the bank.