Saucy Brew Works is an Ohio mainstay. Founded by Brent Zimmerman and Eric Anderson in 2017, the brewery and lifestyle brand came to life after Anderson wanted to push the boundaries of craft brewing. His innovative spirit led to the brewery’s award-winning flagship creation, the Lachancea Tart series, which uses lactic-acid-producing yeast and other yeasts instead of bacteria to create the perfect tart flavor.
The brand continued to push boundaries when it opened coffee shops in two of its breweries, establishing the business as an all-day affair. “Our goal is to be a lifestyle brand. A place where you can have your coffee in the morning and hang out ’til it’s time for happy hour,” Amanda Kantor, director of marketing at Saucy Brew Works, said. The brewery also has an extensive event lineup and a wide-ranging apparel section, reinforcing its commitment to serving every facet of a customer’s lifestyle.
Having a POS system that complicated administrative tasks and made operations challenging worked against Saucy’s overall goals and led the team to seek out a new POS system. The search ultimately led the business to Square.
The challenge: An out-of-touch POS system
Even with multiple locations and diversified revenue streams, Saucy Brew Works still operates as a small business at heart. With a deep devotion to community, customers, and product quality, the team felt as if their previous POS provider was no longer built for the business. “[Our previous provider] was getting out of touch on what a small business needed as far as pricing,” said Michael Grasso, director of restaurant operations at Saucy Brew Works.
Beyond having a system built for them, the team also desired a more fulfilling and beneficial partnership. “There was frustration with the feedback and the billing,” Grasso added. “It just kind of all came to a point where we realized we were overpaying and they were underdelivering.”
So, the team went shopping. On its quest to find a platform that had the must-haves like online ordering, employee timekeeping, and third-party integrations, the team chose Square.
The solution: A flexible solution that caters to the business
When asked what made the difference between Square and other competitors, Grasso noted the onboarding process as being a standout component of the switch. “Sitting down with [the team] made the difference. They laid everything out really well [so we could see the value],” he explained.
The switch entailed Saucy Brew Works investing in a number of Square tools and integrations. The team is using Square Handheld, Square Stand, Square Staff, and the Square Kitchen Display System to manage front and back-of-house operations, while integrations including Restaurant365 and Tripleseat will help power employee scheduling and event management, respectively.
“Square is heading in the right direction… Everyone is looking for that next generation solution,” Grasso said. “Because the team is willing to take feedback and grow, I think the world is [Square’s] oyster.”
Results: Six-figure savings and a bitcoin-infused future
As a result of the switch, the business is poised to reach six-figure savings between integrations and processing. In addition, Saucy Brew Works is able to pave the way for a flexible future for customers. Because of Brent Zimmerman’s deep belief in the value of bitcoin, the brewery will begin rolling out bitcoin payments in its breweries over the next few months, another key reason the business switched to Square.
Kantor summed up the business’s affinity for bitcoin by saying, “Our founder is always looking for ways to make Saucy the first of its kind in different ways [and bitcoin payments will help enable that].”
