How WookAI Saves Marietta Pizza Over $200K a Year on Food Orders

Marietta Pizza’s weekly food order was about $15,000 from their various suppliers. It was a time consuming process to take stock of inventory and order the right amount for the upcoming period. They often over ordered, which tied up their money and their shelves. By using WookAI, they save over $4,000 on each weekly order which is over $200,000 per year. 

Industry

Pizza and casual eats 

“WookAI has been a game changer for us in terms of operational efficiency and profitability. If you're in the restaurant business, you're crazy not to use WookAI” - Howard Wolfson

About Marietta Pizza Company

Marietta Pizza Company (MPC), a beloved family-friendly pizza parlor with 2 locations in the heart of Marietta, GA, is known for their friendly service and delicious New York style pizza. However, owner Howard Wolfson, was facing common challenges that many small restaurant owners encounter. He was struggling with managing their food inventory and their supply orders efficiently, which led to over-ordering, higher costs, and time-consuming manual processes. To address these issues and streamline their operations, Marietta Pizza implemented the WookAI Supplier Management Platform. 

The Challenges

MPC’s old method of managing inventory and ordering food from suppliers was a long-standing problem that caused two key issues that were known, but hadn’t really been quantified. 

  1.  Excessive Costs: The restaurant was spending approximately $15,000 per week on food orders, but they had no clear insight into whether they were getting the best prices from their suppliers. 
  1. Inefficient Food Ordering: MPC’s weekly food ordering process was time-consuming and prone to errors. It often took their staff hours to place orders with various suppliers. 
The Solution

MPC implemented WookAI, a user-friendly supplier management platform, to address these challenges. The WookAI team managed the implementation over a few hours where they configured the system to suit MPC standard order lists, inventory par levels and forecasts. Within the first month, MPC was seeing mind-blowing results. 

Results

MPC was thrilled to experience immediate benefits and savings. According to Howard, “The best part is that you see the savings early on. We saw significant savings in our first food order with WookAI.”  Some specific benefits include:  

  1. Cost Savings: Thanks to WookAI’s price comparison feature, MPC gained confidence that they were getting the best prices from their suppliers. This resulted in a significant reduction in their weekly food order costs, from $15,000 per week to $11,000 per week. This 27% cost reduction goes directly to their bottom line.
  2. Confidence in pricing: MPC gained confidence that they were getting the best prices from their suppliers. “WookAI keeps our suppliers honest because they know we can automatically compare prices. For the first time I feel like I have the upper hand when negotiating with my supplier.” said Howard. And Howard knows that the software can easily audit to make sure the orders match the supplier invoices.
  3. Reduced Food Order Time: With WookAI, the restaurant streamlined its food ordering process, reducing the time spent counting inventory and actually placing the order by at least an hour each week. Staff could now place orders more efficiently, freeing up time for other tasks.
  4. User-Friendly Interface: WookAI’s intuitive interface made it easy for Marietta Pizza to train new staff members quickly.  
Future Plans

MPC plans to expand its use of WookAI to optimize other aspects of their inventory and supplier management.  

 

There are two features in particular of interest: 

 

Cost of Goods Sold Report: This helps provide restauranters with better visibility on where their money is being spent, with categories that that can define specific to your business. This helps eliminate lower performing ingredients from your menu and avoid waste, not just on food, but on cleaning supplies and many other items. 

 

Menu Item Costing: “With inflation and the quick change of prices, it’s hard for me to know whether I’m making enough margin on specific multi-ingredient menu items. I’m excited that WookAI can give me this visibility.