[ljf]

When I lived in London a bottle shop/bar/coffee shop opened in a railway arch near my house.

In the day it was mainly parents with children or the occasional remote worker, and as it hit 5pm more people would come in for beers - though they served coffee and snacks all night.

One time we were in there having a couple of coffees and chatting while my son was tiny and sleeping - I apologised to the owner that we were having another round of coffee and not drinking beer. He said not to worry - for every coffee we drank he made about £2.50 profit, for every beer it was about 50p.

Really opened my eyes to the potential profit margins at various businesses, especially those that can cater to very different customers at different times of the day.

[bobthepanda]

Beverages are usually the money maker at restaurants.

IIRC, Coca Cola syrup for fast food restaurants is on the order of pennies for a gallon of soda.