Sweetberry Spring Season Update
Greetings all! After a long post-pandemic year, we have some updates for you. Our biggest achievement over the past year has been adapting while fighting through all of the unfavorable conditions that were dealt with. It's no secret that the restaurant industry was hit the hardest. We had to deal with government restrictions, reduced capacity, outdoor dining, covid outbreaks, sales dramatically declining, and a dramatic shift in the hospitality landscape. I truly believe that the pandemic has expedited technology in the restaurant industry by 5 years.
🍓 Prior to the pandemic, our sales breakdown split into roughly 50% indoor dining, 30% pickup, and 20%third party delivery. Today, like most restaurants we are seeing 30% indoor dining, 30% pickup, and 40% third-party delivery. We have increased our menu prices to reflect inflation and rising costs, and third-party delivery sales, in particular, show no signs of slowing down. This means that in the future we are going to look at smaller storefronts with less rent to reflect less indoor dining, and we will optimize them for pickup and delivery operations.
📱 Thankfully, we were well equipped to last year for an influx in online orders through our Sweetberry Rewards App and Online Ordering Platform. To date, we have over 85,000 members! I believe we will surpass 100k members this year. We also partnered with Door Dash Drive to fulfill our delivery orders through our own systems. This means that when a customer places an order through Sweetberry, and selects delivery, Door Dash automatically comes and delivers the order. This allows us to expand our reach via "in-house" delivery while offering the customer a value-driven delivery price of $5 flat rate. Our goals are to continually grow our user base while optimizing for repeat transactions.
🌍 International Expansion ~ This is by far the most exciting news here. We have recently expanded our footprint by partnering with Ghost Kitchen Company Kitopi in Dubai! They are one of the largest players in the space, and they are operational in other countries such as Malaysia and London. As you recall, we were supposed to go live with them last year in NYC, but Covid put a pause on all operations there. We should be live on all delivery platforms in Dubai such as Deliveroo by the end of the month. This marks our first international footprint outside of the US. We are hoping to expand with them in more countries in the near future. We have also received inquiries on franchises in Kuwait and more recently Ireland.
Over the past year, Franchise Sales have slowed down for obvious reasons. However, we were still able to sell 2 new units in Myrtle Beach, SC last year. The first location will be opening up at 2128 Oakheart Road, Myrtle Beach, SC 29579 this summer. If anyone lives in the area and would like to come to our Grand Opening late this year, let me know! We will keep you posted on opening dates, as the location is going into construction very soon.
💊 Supplements ~ It's been a while in the making, but we are very close to launching our supplements line on www.madewithgoodvibes.com. We are very proud of our expansion into the CPG market by offering health products such as Vegan Protein, Nootropics, and Collagen Gummies. On our website, our Gluten-Free Granola and Sweetberry Coffee is also available for purchase now. We believe that expanding into CPG via E-commerce will grow into a whole new business channel. We are working on integrating our website with Sweetberry Rewards. Right now customers can still earn points on purchases. In the future, they will be able to redeem products here with their existing points from Sweetberry Restaurants.
📒 The government this year has been fantastic in terms of providing immediate relief and grants to businesses, especially restaurants. We were able to receive our 2nd PPP Grant this year, and we just applied for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Grant. This relief could not come soon enough, as it has helped us overcome our losses from last year and helped us rebuild.
🔮 Someone once told me that getting through a recession is one of the best stress tests that a restaurant chain can pass. No one could have predicted the world-changing events that transpired. We were not prepared for the aftermath, and unfortunately, there have been reports of 10% of all restaurants in the US has shut down permanently. I believe that number may be higher. We fought every obstacle in our way, and we are proud of how far we have come. I am also most grateful for everyone that believed in us, and all of you. Some of your words really resounded and motivated us through our darkest hours. I am truly confident that after getting through the past year, we have prosperous days ahead.