If summer is your season then you are likely aware of the task, but for the uninitiated here are a few tips:

Ambitious menus can kill a busy service and lead to disappointment: Scale back and do less, better. Get in touch with us to discuss building and printing a drinks menu specifically to make the most out of the opportunitie

You will need more ice. And pitchers. Lots of pitchers

Prepare using historical weather tracking data. Sites like timeanddate.com can identify the sunny days of last year, then you can dig into back-office reporting data to see what you sold most of and prep/order accordingly

Prepping garnishes in any down time can be a big help. You can keep mint leaves fresh for a couple of days by cutting half an inch off all of the stems and soaking in cold water for 15 minutes, draining, then rinsing and drying. Then remove leaves from their stalks and scatter in between two long layers of damp blue roll sat on top of a strip of cling film. Roll this up and keep in the fridge, unrolling it as needed. Similarly, sliced fruit can be kept in a pitcher, under a layer of damp blue roll, then stacked in the fridge, ready to have ice and liquid added as needed

Lean into the RTD. Say what you will about these, but a serve that is definitionally Ready to Drink is a godsend when things are crazy. Drinks like Au Vodka and White Claw have cult followings and can be sold by the literal bucketload to keep things moving fast. In fact, if you drop the folks at White Claw a line on WhiteClaw@markanthonyuk.com, let them know that you order from Carlsberg Britvic and they will be keen to chat to you about ice buckets, parasols, even counter-top chillers to help you speed up service

Take time consuming serves off promotion and push the faster, group serves: beer and cocktail pitchers, buckets of bottles or cans, wine by the bottle etc. Quick, scaled up pitcher serves that you can knock out quick include (scaled to 4-serve pitcher): Paloma, Woo Woo, Sangria (red, white, rose, alcohol-free)