BREWPUB
Lervig Local
Minimising costs and increasing revenue while focusing sales
for an optimised craft beer experience
for an optimised craft beer experience
From my point of view, it's the communication with Favrit that makes it worth using – support and development, and simply being able to tailor the experience. What we're doing is a little bit different than just a bar or a restaurant, so having an efficient, modular system that allows us to tailor the experience – I don't think anyone else would give us that.
— Piers Laverick, barsjef
Overview
Garnering international recognition and acclaim since opening in 2003, Lervig is Norway's largest independent small-scale brewery. Their international team of craft beer enthusiasts brings a global perspective to their brewing philosophy, where the focus is on brewing beers they love to drink themselves. They turned to Favrit in 2020 when opening Lervig Local – their local Stavanger brewpub – as a way to adhere to COVID regulations while still maintaining the interactive craft beer bar culture.
Background
Lervig Local was offered several options through their regular POS (Point of Sale) system to comply with regulations. But bar manager Piers Laverick liked the way Favrit was designed –"nice, sleek, and easy to order" – and felt it was the most efficient by a long shot (especially as most of Stavanger was already using it).
A large part of the craft beer experience is interacting with guests –recommending brews, discussing the process, and getting feedback. Laverick is a strong proponent of table service in this regard, but knows that in terms of flat revenue, there isn't always time to interact with each guest. He saw Favrit as a solution that would allow them to optimise operations and focus attention to where guest interaction is most needed.
A large part of the craft beer experience is interacting with guests –recommending brews, discussing the process, and getting feedback. Laverick is a strong proponent of table service in this regard, but knows that in terms of flat revenue, there isn't always time to interact with each guest. He saw Favrit as a solution that would allow them to optimise operations and focus attention to where guest interaction is most needed.
Results
Lervig Local's partnership with Favrit has surpassed their expectations, becoming more than just a necessary response to COVID regulations.
Improved day-to-day insights with the Favrit dashboard
"The dashboard is fantastic – being able to see the average spend per guest and the amount of orders per guest gives us an idea as to why people are coming (are they dropping in for just a quick beer, or has it become a day-long thing). Combined with the booking system we use, this gives us a really interesting overview as to how the business is operating on a day-to-day basis."
Saving on operational costs and increasing revenue
"On a busy Friday or Saturday night like the ones we've had, without Favrit I would have had to employ at least 2 more runners per night just to keep up. With the outside open, it would probably be 3 members of staff. That's a huge cost saving."
Laverick doesn't think of it in terms of cutting staff, because they're physically limited to how many staff members they can have "fumbling" behind the bar, regardless of whether or not they're using Favrit.
"There's simply no room for those jobs in the first place – Favrit is so efficient, that in terms of staff costs, it's pretty much irreplaceable."
Laverick thinks that even if they had enough staff for every person, Favrit allows them to probably make at least another 10–25% on top of what they'd have if they had all the staff in the world.
"The guests don't have to get up, they don't have to interact with anyone – the only requirement from a staff perspective is the beer gets poured or the ticket gets delivered. If you were to have one member of staff for every single guest, it still wouldn't be fast enough. There's a level of efficiency to Favrit that can't be beat."
Laverick doesn't think of it in terms of cutting staff, because they're physically limited to how many staff members they can have "fumbling" behind the bar, regardless of whether or not they're using Favrit.
"There's simply no room for those jobs in the first place – Favrit is so efficient, that in terms of staff costs, it's pretty much irreplaceable."
Laverick thinks that even if they had enough staff for every person, Favrit allows them to probably make at least another 10–25% on top of what they'd have if they had all the staff in the world.
"The guests don't have to get up, they don't have to interact with anyone – the only requirement from a staff perspective is the beer gets poured or the ticket gets delivered. If you were to have one member of staff for every single guest, it still wouldn't be fast enough. There's a level of efficiency to Favrit that can't be beat."
Focused sales and optimised inventory sell through
The ability to easily rearrange the digital menu as they see fit gives staff the ability to better focus sales – if they're trying to sell a particular beer or a particular style of beer, they can just put that at the top of the menu and it sells out (especially during their trivia nights). Laverick has assigned a couple of members of staff to be in charge of Favrit – they can edit things, move things around, and add new products. This gives them a bit of responsibility while taking the workload off him.
"If the staff are feeling that one beer is going to be very low, they're excited to sell that beer out – change the line off and put something new on that will attract new customers. I'll get to work, and go 'Why did that beer sell so fast? We've been having trouble pushing that.' And they'll say, 'It was low, so I rearranged the menu and we sold it all out in one night.'"
"If the staff are feeling that one beer is going to be very low, they're excited to sell that beer out – change the line off and put something new on that will attract new customers. I'll get to work, and go 'Why did that beer sell so fast? We've been having trouble pushing that.' And they'll say, 'It was low, so I rearranged the menu and we sold it all out in one night.'"
Optimised brewpub table turnover
From Laverick's point of view, table turnover goals differ a bit between bars and restaurants. With bars, you don't particularly want quick table turnover unless the party has become bit too intoxicated. The bartending goal of table service is to allow people to continue drinking at different rates.
"When everyone finishes up at the same time, then there's usually a collective decision to move on. But Favrit allows people to instantly order a beer the moment they're empty, versus waiting on staff or getting up to go to the bar. This means they stay at their tables longer and continue to order more beers, which ultimately means increased spend."
"When everyone finishes up at the same time, then there's usually a collective decision to move on. But Favrit allows people to instantly order a beer the moment they're empty, versus waiting on staff or getting up to go to the bar. This means they stay at their tables longer and continue to order more beers, which ultimately means increased spend."
Optimised interaction with guests
Lervig Local found a creative compromise in adhering to COVID regulations while still allowing for interaction with guests. They added a "call a waiter" option to their digital menu, which allows guests to contact them if they need help finding a beer or have any other questions.
"Often, Scandinavians aren't overly interested in chatting with bartenders – they don't mind it, but are just as happy to pluck a few buttons and have a beer delivered to their table. Sometimes people just want to order a Pils and be left alone, you know?
But you also do get people who prefer table service – looking for recommendations and the more interactive craft beer experience. Favrit allows us to do both. Being able to interact where we're needed – recommend things and then walk away – is very handy, as it allows us to cover more space."
"Often, Scandinavians aren't overly interested in chatting with bartenders – they don't mind it, but are just as happy to pluck a few buttons and have a beer delivered to their table. Sometimes people just want to order a Pils and be left alone, you know?
But you also do get people who prefer table service – looking for recommendations and the more interactive craft beer experience. Favrit allows us to do both. Being able to interact where we're needed – recommend things and then walk away – is very handy, as it allows us to cover more space."
Future plans
In terms of Lervig continuing to use Favrit after COVID restrictions are lifted, Laverick says it's not going anywhere.
"I'll split the shift into two parts: one bartender for people at the bar, and one bartender set just for Favrit. And then one staff member on hosting. So instead of having multiple staff members running to tables every 5 seconds, you only really need one person—if Favrit is pulling the majority of the weight—to provide the guest experience and have people served at the bar. Favrit will save a lot of money and keep revenue flowing, even after the pandemic—there's a level of efficiency to it that just can't be beat."
"I'll split the shift into two parts: one bartender for people at the bar, and one bartender set just for Favrit. And then one staff member on hosting. So instead of having multiple staff members running to tables every 5 seconds, you only really need one person—if Favrit is pulling the majority of the weight—to provide the guest experience and have people served at the bar. Favrit will save a lot of money and keep revenue flowing, even after the pandemic—there's a level of efficiency to it that just can't be beat."
4.70
Average Lervig Local customer rating of Favrit
Favrit is damn ingenious!
– Lervig Local Customer
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