Crust Vegan Bakery and High Point Philly Team Up to Tackle Delivery
Taking a step back to acknowledge the wide web of connections being formed in our network, the proverb rings true:
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Sustainable Business Network member businesses continue to express the importance of collaboration and building a strong supportive local business climate in our region. These cooperative relationships take many forms — businesses convening to share best practices and offer support, two entrepreneurs trading products and services, and many more iterations.
Ideal collaborative endeavors stem from the pursuit of a mutually beneficial result — a win-win — and although the “win” does not always have to be financial (there is no need to discount the value of other types of support) it is particularly encouraging when two business can come together to address each other’s needs and also serve their own business growth.
At a recent SBN Member Orientation at High Point Café’s wholesale facility, Jason Henschen and Asia Simmons, High Point’s Sales Team, met Meagan Benz and Shannon Roche, Co-Owners of Crust Vegan Bakery. Working in the same industry, the conversation eventually turned to a time of sharing details about logistical challenges and solutions.
Crust Vegan Bakery was delivering their own products to customers three days a week. Owners and bakers were supporting the delivery program when able, but without more delivery options, the business wasn’t able to grow as fast as the owners wanted. Benz and Roche were preparing to hire a full-time delivery driver, but they knew this was a big hire that required finding someone they could trust and training them well.
High Point already had a full-scale delivery program taking their products to customers seven days a week, but they needed more business to necessitate the costs of additional drivers.
High Point and Crust delivery vans were already stopping at some of the same establishments, so if High Point started to deliver Crust’s products, then Crust could relinquish the responsibilities of hiring and training a delivery driver, something that High Point already has a proven track record of doing successfully. Also, this arrangement allowed Crust to focus on baking, which was necessary because this relationship expanded their delivery schedule from three days a week to five days a week.
“We wanted this relationship to be mutually beneficial,” said Benz. “We both shared our needs, identified any deal breakers and then quickly realized that this arrangement would be a great fit for us.”
Not only does this arrangement take a van off the road three days a week, but it also benefits High Point in that they can make extra money on delivering Crust’s products on their routes. And both businesses have seen their customer base grow as a result of this collaboration.
“It was a lightbulb moment,” said Henschen. “We are able to help out another business and bring in extra revenue without doing a lot of extra work.”
This is an ideal win-win.
It starts with like-minded businesses convening and sharing their commonalities, struggles, victories. More specifically, it starts with someone picking up the phone and saying I have an idea.
Without this connection, businesses risk siloing themselves off from the larger local business community and potentially missing an opportunity to collaborate and address each other’s challenges in a way where both sides benefit and thrive.
To learn more about Crust Vegan Bakery’s products, click here. And follow them on Instagram at crustveganbakery
To learn more about High Point Café, High Point Wholesale, and High Point Catering, including their selection of Gluten Free products, click here.
