#restaurant-profitability

#restaurant-profitability

"It felt really good to be the chef at Daytrip," says chef and co-owner Finn Stern. In 2022, Bon Appétit named the vibrant Oakland wine bar and restaurant - known for its ambitious experiments with fermentation - one of the year's best newcomers. In 2024, the James Beard Foundation nominated Stern as a Best Chef semifinalist. "But we just couldn't turn a profit," he says. He, along with wife and co-owner Stella Dennig, announced Daytrip's closure last November.

The functional beverage revolution isn't coming to the food and beverage industry-it's already here. With the functional beverage market projected to reach $50 billion by 2025 and growing at 4.5% annually, restaurant operators have an unprecedented opportunity to dramatically increase profitability. The math is compelling: for a 100-unit chain, increasing beverage incidence by just one percentage point can yield over $500,000 in incremental profits annually.