Agreed. The author of the article seems to lack some basic business skills. I realize that if you're making an artisan sandwich at home you might want to use the best possible ingredients (the artisan sourdough she talks about, etc), but you can't expect to build a viable restaurant business where you are spending so much on raw materials.
If I was making myself the ultimate burger I might use wagyu beef that cost over $10 a pound and some artisan cheese, pasture-raised bacon, etc, but I wouldn't try to create a fast casual restaurant and expect to make a profit using those ingredients.
Alcohol also has a big markup, don't get me wrong, but it's not alone. And if you want to know the biggest "free profit" in a restaraunt - it's postmix soft drinks and tea/coffee.
> And if you want to know the biggest "free profit" in a restaraunt - it's postmix soft drinks and tea/coffee.
No, soft drinks lose you money because it's often a replacement for more expensive alcoholic drinks. The typical soft drink here is $3, even a $6 beer will net me more gross profit than the total price of the soft drink. That's why craft sodas, kombuchas, home-made mocktails and the like are de rigueur nowadays...
Tea/coffee is 'free profit' in the sense it's usually an addition at the end of the meal and not everyone will order a digestif.
The example in the article has many, many things wrong with it.