Success Story

UPDATE: Solid Systems, Culture & Quality Fuels a Year of Growth for Sunflour Baking

"The biggest decision we took last year was to grow," says Jack Parrish, the owner of the Sunflour Baking Company. "One new location was foreseen early in the year, but when another great opportunity came up we decided to knock out both projects in the space of about six months."

By expanding from two to four locations, including taking on significant space for production, Parrish and his team were able to benefit from economies of scale in many aspects of the business. "We now have redundancy built in to operations, a greater number of leadership opportunities for staff, and space to develop online sales."

Sunflour has been serving Charlotte from its original location in Elizabeth since 2009, in Dilworth since 2016, and in both Harrisburg and Ballantyne since 2017. The Parrish family took over the bakery in 2014 and embraces what they call a love of baking, a passion for excellent service and a keen interest in contributing to the local community.

The success of Sunflour's second location the year before demonstrated the portability of the concept, as well as management's ability to manage multiple locations. Further expansion is always risky, Parrish notes, "but the timing was right. Breaking out to a larger platform will hopefully lead to greater opportunities in the future."

Parrish is quick to point out the obvious, that "not everything has been a bed of roses. Doubling the size of the business means increased revenues but also increased problems, and not everything scales in your favor. Greater revenue is accompanied by greater costs, and there are twice as many moving parts to keep balanced in order to stay profitable. Twice as much equipment means twice as many breakdowns, and the list goes on."

Locally sourced, farm-to-table, and a higher quality of food and atmosphere in general continue to be trends in Parrish's market, he says. "It feels like if you are not consistently raising the bar, you are falling behind." Everything that comes out of Sunflour's kitchen is made from scratch, and in small batches, to ensure freshness and authenticity.

Dishes are handmade onsite from basic raw materials, management promises, with no mixes, shortcuts "or pre-made anything here." For example, its Sourdough bread is made from unbleached and unbromated (bromated refers to a process in which potassium bromate is added to flour to improve baked goods) wheat flour over a three-day process. Its Multigrain bread contains whole wheat flour, rye flakes, barley flakes, rolled oats, millet, amaranth, cornmeal, triticale, flax seed, poppy seed, sesame seed and sunflower seeds.

Parrish is grateful for the assistance he has received. RestaurantOwner.com keeps it real, and never lets us lose sight of the fundamentals, he says. "I particularly like getting the magazine (Restaurant Startup & Growth) delivered once a month. It's a reminder to sit down, pull back and think about the business from an outsider's perspective."

Parrish warns that fast growth and a focus on the big picture can lead to a lack of attention to the small but important details. "Tightening up operations will be our big push for 2018, with three major themes: staff training/retraining, merchandising and cost cutting."

With more than 70 employees, making sure everyone follows the same practices and routines is more important than ever, he suggests. Ensuring that products are made and presented in a uniform manner across all locations, he adds, helps build the brand and requires a separate effort on its own.

"Also, with more people involved in management, the risk of costs spiraling out of control is greater than ever," Parrish says. "RO is a great resource for all three of these themes, and we plan to continue consulting it regularly."

Keeping an emphasis on the basics, Parrish adds, will "hopefully allow us continue with the fun parts of the business as well, such as seasonal menu changes, special events and creating new treats to dazzle our guests."