How Working Hands Fermentation Generated $14K In Profits Without Raising Menu Prices
The Facts: It is simply more expensive to make beer right now. That is why Working Hands Fermentation Owner, Jon Terhaar chose to implement Arryved’s Dual Pricing program.
Working Hands Fermentation is the self-proclaimed Neighborhood Pub in the charming town of Hood River, OR, and refer to their taproom as “a living room away from home where you can sip local beer and cider while connecting with community and friends.”
Located just south of the Washington border and east of Portland, tourists tend to hit breweries of bigger names when they visit Hood River. Working Hands prides itself on serving primarily lager-loving locals: Jon Terhaar, the Owner, tells us guests come in saying “‘Thank God you only have 1 IPA.’”
All Hood River craft establishments continue to navigate the increased costs to make beer. But while Jon has noticed competitors raising menu prices by a dollar or more, Working Hands remains competitive at about $6.50 per pint.
So how does Working Hands earn additional profit without raising prices for guests? With Arryved’s Dual Pricing Program.
Goodbye Square! Hello To A Flexible POS With Cost-Cutting Tools
Working Hands’ previous POS system, Square, didn’t meet guest nor staff needs:
- Keeping tabs open was a pain: Square requires staff to hold physical cards in order to keep tabs open. This left bartenders babysitting cards and made it harder for guests to quickly close out.
Arryved’s digital card on file, on the other hand, lets staff swipe a card once and hand it right back!
- The system isn’t built to grow with you: “Square wasn’t as robust or expandable as what Arryved offers,” Jon explains.
With ambitious plans ahead, Working Hands found the all-in-one system with robust reporting insights they needed in Arryved.
- There wasn’t a Dual Pricing option: Jon says “nothing was talked about” as far as recovering payment processing fees with Square.
Arryved’s Dual Pricing completely recovers processing fees from both debit and credit transactions!
Dual Pricing: Consideration, Adoption, & Guest Reactions
Working Hands chose to move forward with Dual Pricing for financial reasons. “We’re teetering on the edge of profitability right now,” Jon says.
What’s holding them back from that sweet profitable status? Jon estimates that COGS have increased 8% across the board, with yeast prices rising 10% and CO2 prices rising 18%. On top of that, Working Hands’ utility costs increased after the taproom added a kitchen.
“I kind of feel like every week I get an email from some company that says ‘Hey sorry, we’ve got to raise prices again,’” Jon says. His experience aligns with the majority of the craft industry: It’s simply more expensive to make beer right now.
Fortunately, within the first 6 months, Dual Pricing proved effective: Working Hands raked in $7,259.56 in recovered payment processing costs.
What Stands Out About Arryved’s Dual Pricing In Particular
Here are the 2 biggest appeals of Arryved’s Dual Pricing apart from the cost savings, according to Jon:
- You can easily exclude items: Jon can exclude items such as Gift Card purchases from Dual Pricing, so no guest pays more for a gift than its value.
- You can turn it off at any time: Like any experiment, it’s important to know your options if things don’t go as expected. Jon was comforted by the fact that Working Hands could end Dual Pricing at any point if it wasn’t working for them.
“If we don’t like it, we can go back,” Jon says. “That was the buy-in for me, and everyone else.”
Introducing Guests To Dual Pricing Was Easy Too
As far as communicating their pricing change, Working Hands put a placard on the bar with the details. To everyone’s delight, Jon reports there wasn’t pushback from guests.
“I think people generally understand what’s going on in the industry. So it’s been pretty easy so far,” Jon says about making the switch.
Of course, Jon’s regulars now come equipped with a $20 bill to take advantage of the cash discount for their after-work beers.
Working Hands Accelerates Growth Among Big Brands Around Them
Working Hands Fermentation may not be advertising on expensive interstate billboards like their competitors. But, thanks to Dual Pricing, the brewery’s menu prices can stay competitive for loyal locals and curious tourists.Plus, with predicted annualized additional profits of $14,486.71, Working Hands is on track to accelerate business growth even more.
Spotlight image courtesy of Working Hands Fermentation.