Partnering with brewery

[hot paddle pizza]

A local brewer that is expanding and relocating has asked us to operate a "kiosk" to serve their tap room. We will also be able to do take-out from the location. Do any of you have experience with this type of set up? Rent is good, location is excellent. Not sure about operating inside another business.

[waltertore]

It is a crap shoot IMO as I do not like teaming up in this kind of situation.   I would do a trial run if you have the ability to do this before signing anything.  We have a new wine bar next to us in our center. and have set up a mutually beneficial scenario.   We do curbside only so it is works great when people ask to dine in.  We tell them they can eat their pizza at the wine bar.  It sends new customers their way who have a glass of wine or beer and once the people at the bar see/smell the pizza it results in more orders for us.  There is no $/commitment involved in our relationship with the wine bar as it works out well for both of us.  WIN-WIN for both

[Dobber1]

IMO…

Slices, slices, slices! 🍕🍕🍕

[hot paddle pizza]

Thanks Walter. I see what you're saying. This is a spot inside their building so not really the same situation. I would prefer that but would be looking at probably tripling the monthly expenses.

[waltertore]

Thanks Walter. I see what you're saying. This is a spot inside their building so not really the same situation. I would prefer that but would be looking at probably tripling the monthly expenses.

I understand.  Will you have to put in an entire pizza making setup?  Will you make dough there or bring it in from your main shop?  How many more people will you have to hire? Will you share a kitchen or have your own?  Would you have to make the space food ready?  Can you look at their books to see their financial/lease situation?  Are they ok with owners to have pizza sales?  Lots of questions for sure that one would have to consider but I have seen all kinds of proposals that were all out of whack.  I am on the far right with keeping things completely under our control as the more people you have to work with the higher the risk for frustration and failure. 

[hot paddle pizza]

Yes it will be all our own kitchen space and equipment. The benefits to us are, as I see them, we aren't paying rent for the tap room square footage, all utilities are included, and rent is low. We currently only operate seasonally out of our trailers so I am hoping we can move all prep from our home to this new space. I am guessing it will add 2 shifts per day for new hires.

[waltertore]

Yes it will be all our own kitchen space and equipment. The benefits to us are, as I see them, we aren't paying rent for the tap room square footage, all utilities are included, and rent is low. We currently only operate seasonally out of our trailers so I am hoping we can move all prep from our home to this new space. I am guessing it will add 2 shifts per day for new hires.

It sounds exciting. You probably know all this but I will share it.  Make sure you have qualified people find out if you have enough gas volume/electric, and costs of building out the space.  Check with fire dept/BOH to find out if there are any unknown things you might have to overcome.  Sometimes it is much cheaper to rent a place with an already restaurant set up and you don't have to deal with others. I would still want to see their financials-profit-loss statement/lease.  I would get a professional to help you set up lease for you that would ensure you are secure in the spot. 

[Andrew t]

It can be a great situation. It all will come down to how the costs are split.


I do pop-ups at a brewery and it's worked well. A few other breweries in the suburbs here have partnered full time with pizza vendors and it seems to work out.

Sounds like you have a trailer based catering/pop-up operation already.

For me, since it's just a side hustle I'm fine counting on the brewery to be the draw. I'm planning to start moving to it being more full time in the next 1-2 years. The part I'm considering is how do I grow the 'pizza' business seperatly. Adding sales paths/segments like- pick-up, on-line ordering, differnt styles, highlighting vegan/GF options, 3rd party delivery. The numbers (for me) don't work for a full time operation if it's only the brewery bringing the guests.

Also just my experiece at pop-up- I push for higher guest check by selling only larger pizza targeted to couples, families, and groups. The pop-up market here is all 10"-12" quasi-neo pizza intended to be 'personal' size that sell for $10-14. From what I've seen guests still only order 1 pie for 2 guests.

As to slices same issue- guest check too low.

My prices are $20-25 for pies that serve 2-4 guests. I prefer to sell less pies for more $. Not only is it better for me it also attracts the guests I want- couples, families not single guys hanging out.

The market here for non-pizza pop-ups/food trucks is $12-$18+ per entree. I seen no reason why pizza shouldn't be in the same range.

I'm the lone pizza pop-up guy in the area with this model, so maybe I'm wrong. Your milage may vary.

Andrew
 

[machada]

Good luck with the venture. I also operate a mobile wood fired pizza truck. We've been setting up every Friday at a local brewery and it's been great. That brewery was investigating a new location and invited us to partner in the same way. The new location fell through so it never fully worked out the deal. But i guess my primary concern was any capital investment required to make the space work for us would ultimately be left behind if we ever left. As you know, installing a proper hood or other venting tends to be really expensive, especially if it's a multistory building. So my big question would be, who's paying for that? You could argue that the brewery should bear that cost and amortize in your lease (ideally amortize it longer than the lease term). The argument being, if you leave after 5 yrs, the next tenant would enjoy the benefit of that major investment.

I know that kelsen brewing in new Hampshire has a guy doing pizza in a kiosk. He has two bakers pride electric p44 ovens ( 4 decks each). I spoke with him once at length. He puts out a good product and seems happy with the arrangement . He might be willing to explain how his arrangement works.

As others have mentioned, if you can minimize your investment and maintain the ability to build your business independently , I think it could be a good deal. Wish you the best of luck