134. Do You Know What Your Drinks Are Actually Costing You?

SUMMARY: Aaron and Drew get into one of the most overlooked levers in a coffee shop's profitability: cost of goods sold. Drawing from hard-won lessons running three locations in Belize without the safety net of US infrastructure, they break down how producing their own syrups dropped their COGs dramatically and why paying by the bottle instead of by the hour changed everything. It is a raw, practical conversation about challenging the way things have always been done, getting creative with contractor relationships, and knowing exactly what it costs to put a drink out the window.  Grab the free drink cost calculator at menu.coffeeexpertsacademy.com. Minute by Minute: 00:00 Introduction to Coffee Experts in Belize 03:03 Challenges of Operating in Belize 06:07 Reassessing Production Methods 09:11 Cost of Goods Sold: A Deep Dive 12:03 Innovative Contractor Relationships 15:02 Quality Control and Speed in Production 18:09 Tools for Cost Management and Conclusion