Welcome to the Food and Beverage Group!

[AdamB]

Welcome to the group and hello! 👋

This group exists for those in the food and beverage industry to connect, share ideas, and help support each other with unique knowledge and insight.

No need to be shy - say hi and introduce yourself! Talk about your business, tell us a cool customer story, or about the awesome service and products you serve to your customers!

Second, feel free to use images and gifs, animated or otherwise. Everyone loves food and drink pics!

And lastly, thank you for visiting and for joining! We’re really happy to have you here and to hear from you! 

To join the group, visit the Food and Beverage Group homepage and click on the Join Group Hub button on the top right.

[HeroCafe1]

Just introducing myself to the community, I opened a small Cafe in a medical building in April of 2021 and since then I've been trying as many ideas as I can to drive traffic but I am finding it to be very difficult. Any suggestions are welcome as I am new to owning a business. I do have experience in fast food with large chains close to 20 years ago.

Adam

[VCB]

Don't compete on price and quality, win your business with exceptional customer service/hospitality and awesome food & drink.  Out pricing your competition is a race to the bottom.  Instagram is still the best advertising, after word of mouth.  Don't pay influencers. 

Without knowing your market & location, it's hard to suggest ideas. Picking the right location with the right lease is 90% of the puzzle.  I use to worry most about $/sqft, but less so now.  Paying more rent for real traffic sometimes makes sense.  If you are new, it can just be about holding your course and waiting to build your clientele. I'm not a big fan of giving up $ to 3rd party delivery.  Our first location 6 years ago was in an undeveloped area with little traffic.  Now you can't park in the neighborhood, but that took a few years to create.  We have an office building location that currently is just breakeven after 10 months.  That will change as people continue to return to normal worklife, but in the meantime, it just employs people and represents our brand.  Our 3rd location is profitable, but only slightly after 2 years.  It is in a developing area and mostly will require more time to build....or not.  No easy answers or $ in business.  Manage your cash and put in the work.  Also, it's important to know when to pull the plug. Bleeding to death is not the asnwer.

[Kvinod77]

Hi,

Attracting traffic can happen through physical and digital techniques. Here are some started ideas (you may have already tried some):

1. Leave menus in the medical office. If you are located in a building that already has a bunch of incoming traffic, it is important to tap that as much as possible.

2. If your local post office allows, send mailers to residences within a 1-mile radius of your location.

3. Make sure you have a website and you claim your Yelp page. Also make sure that your Google Business Page is updated. "Coffee shops near me" was one of the most used keywords to find local coffee shops, according to a recent Google report that I read.

4. Join local Facebook groups, introduce yourself and your business. Participate in these forums, add value and earn some community trust. Then, leverage that cache to advertise your business.

I am sure you've already applied some of these techniques. The basic principle here is to be present where your prospective customers are. 

Good luck,

Vinod

[sugarmamma]

Hello, and thank you for the invite! I own Sugar Mamma Caramels+Cookies in San Diego, CA

[AdamB]

Welcome to the group, @sugarmamma! 😁

[sugarmamma]

Thank you so much!

[MrKnifeGuy]

Hey guys! Thanks for the invite Adam. My name is Brent Averett. I own Mr. KnifeGuy® in Southern Utah and I provide Restaurant Service for many of the  restaurants and resorts here in the area which means that I provide on-site sharpening as well as knife sales.

I wanted to jump in and introduce myself to this group because I am the only Authorized Shun dealer in all of Southern Utah and I would be happy to provide anyone in this group with Premium Cutlery if that is something you want or need. I can work with your individual budget 1:1 offline.

I am also an Authorized Victorinox Dealer and Mercer Dealer as well as several other brands if you need house knives.

Feel free to call or email. 

Thanks!

Brent Averett
Owner
Mr. KnifeGuy®

435-565-6433 or "HELLO-KNIFE"
[email protected]

www.MrKnifeGuy.com

[glenburnsoda]

Hi there - thanks for the invite @AdamB! I am Roberta from Glenburn Soda Fountain in Burnaby, BC. We are an old-fashioned soda fountain, established in 2013 and switched to Square for our POS and online ordering last April. We use Square's label printer function to print each item's label and that has been a game-changer for our operations (although the labels are still way too big IMO). We are just starting to use the automated email and marketing functions and hope they help us retain customers through the winter. 

Looking forward to following along and sharing what I have learned! 

[AdamB]

Welcome to the group and thanks for sharing your business, @glenburnsoda!

[GoatMomma]

Hi Everyone, I was just invited to join this group. I am a dairy goat farmer and Grade A goat cheese manufacturer in Florida. We make hand crafted chevre, feta, and an ashed, soft ripened 7.5 oz wheel of lavender infused yumminess. We are in Central Florida. 

I've attempted shipping during covid and have had zero success in it reaching its destination favorably. Anyone have suggestions?

[HC_Charlie]

Hello @GoatMomma and welcome to Square. We're so glad you're here! Your product sounds wonderful with the added benefit of working with goat cuteness every day 🙂 I've had some locally made goat cheese where I live in Central Pennsylvania and having a fresh product like yours poses some challenges. i have not shipped anything perishable but I have ordered from many food companies; they seem to use a lot of frozen cold packs with insulated shipping boxes. There must be a source somewhere online for these kinds of packing items. Perhaps another Square seller who has more experience with your category will be able to offer some recommendations on where/how to ship fresh items like yours. Another option you might explore if you haven't already is trying to source your product to local restaurants who would be able to use your cheese in their recipes, or partner with a local farmers co-op or crop share box. Getting some fresh cheese with a farm share of fresh veggies would be a great partnership if that works out for you...just some thoughts.

Again, so glad you joined us here in the Square Community! If you need any technical help, business advice or just want to share a win or a challenge, stop back and share more of your business adventures. And goat pictures are always welcome lol...we love animals here!

[MamiesToffee]

I use Uline.com for shipping items. I have other companies that send us product in stock insulated bags with ice packs. I save all that and reuse. I also get small coolers from a family member that gets items shipped to them. Check on Craigslist for small coolers that people want to get rid of.

we have issues shipping during warm weather and don’t ship during the summer months that might be another option. 

[8050rale]

Hi! 

I'm new hear! My husband and I own Orale Taqueria in California and have been using square for 5+ years to run our business! We have online ordering via Weebly, but I'd love to offer my customers a mobile app that allows them to order food, track order history to make "re-order" super easy, and maybe even integrate with a loyalty program or something else. 

Anyone else have a branded mobile app that integrates with Square?! Send me all the tips and tricks!

[ryanwanner]

Hello @8050rale !

I can not say enough about my PoppinPay app! It's a white label app that has almost seamless integration with Square--inventory, loyalty, order history, and more. Orders print directly to your printers/KDS just like the online orders do for you now. The only thing it's a little lacking on is the ability to offer discounts/coupons.

I'm liking PoppinPay over Joe or those similar co-branded apps for one reason: exclusivity. The co-branded apps usually have your biz listed amongst others of the same type or geographic location. Easy to get lost in the noise. Incidentally, that was one of the things that I didn't like about Square's Order app from back in the day: it found every Square merchant nearby.

I'd day reach out to Adam and Ronnie over at PoppinPay. They'll happily give you a walk through of their product. You can also check out my app R&R Coffee in apple's or google's app stores. It's been a while since I checked, but my price was $249 for onboarding and $149/mo after. It more than pays for itself each month.

[scienceken]

Hi @8050rale, you might also want to check out Craver which integrates nicely with Square, as well. But the main consideration is whether your customers want to download another app vs. order via your Square online ordering.

[itsjojo0503]

My name is Joanna and just recently joined the group! Looking forward to discussing new topics and learning new things. 🤓