We exist to bring people together through authentic, good food as a way to catalyze urban revitalization starting with the south side of Chicago.
Founded by Rachel and Jaryd Bernier-Green, ‘Laines Bake Shop is a family operated artisan baking company with a social mission located on the southside of Chicago. ‘Laines caters throughout Chicagoland and supplies no-preservative, scratch made treats to Illinois Whole Foods Markets, Starbucks, and Amazon Fresh, among other locations.
Staying organized when producing and distributing a perishable commodity is a challenge. ‘Laines uses several different processes to manage their accounting, inventory, and pricing:
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Pricing: ‘Laines uses Cake Boss, a recipe costing system with a reasonable price point, to track raw ingredients, labor, and packaging costs. This data is then exported to a spreadsheet where distribution and marketing costs are added along with customer prices. Together, these systems allow ‘Laines to closely track the gross margin of each products to ensure that it remains profitable.
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Inventory: Wholesale inventory is managed through ‘Laines accounting system, Xero. ‘Laines is in the process of converting their manual retail inventory system into their POS (point of sale) system, Shopkeep.
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Shipping: Shipping is managed through a software called Ship Station which is connected to ‘Laines’ UPS, FedEx, and USPS accounts. It helps simplify the pricing and administrative burden.
To learn more about ‘Laines and how they expanded their distribution to include Whole Foods and other stores, check out our full Q&A with Rachel here.
For more info about ‘Laines, visit their website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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