How London-Based Grind Keeps Up With The Coffee Industry

Effortless Expansion Fueled by Pushing Boundaries

Founded just east of London in 2011 by two friends who were determined to disrupt the local coffee scene, Grind started out as a single location espresso bar and has since successfully scaled both their business and offerings. Today, Grind is comprised of three café-bars and seven restaurants across London. The business effortlessly combines design, technology, music, and start-up culture to create a unique customer experience. 

Grind’s Creative Director Ted Robinson has been with Grind since 2013, and watched firsthand as each location developed its own distinct personality, along with different menus and operational requirements. Early on, Grind replaced their original POS with Revel. Since then, the business has routinely pushed the boundaries of Revel’s expansive capabilities. 

Reducing human error 

Often embracing technology to improve processes, Grind was an early adopter of Revel’s Kitchen Display System (KDS). With KDS screens installed behind the espresso bar and in kitchens at each location, dropped or lost printer dockets are no longer a concern for Grind. Further, orders can be easily changed or updated from Revel’s till to the KDS. Staff don’t need to physically go behind the bar or into the kitchen to communicate changes. 

“We realized the need for the KDS when we went from making 500 to 600 cups of coffee per day to 10 times that number, and a paper order wasn’t enough. It’s a really simplified sense check for the team, and massively cuts down on mistakes in the kitchen," says Robinson.

Opening possibilities with Revel’s open API

Grind regularly takes advantage of Revel’s open API, and has created a number of customized solutions that integrate seamlessly to Revel’s POS as a result. These customizations, including the creation of a custom Grind loyalty app through a third party integration, allows the company to differentiate its offerings and stand out in the fiercely competitive speciality coffee space that exists today. 

Making data a friend 

With 10 locations across London, real-time, multi-site reporting is essential to Grind’s operations. Revel’s intelligent reporting gives Grind’s management the ability to make key business decisions in a flash, whether it’s making a decision to send an employee home based on sales, or removing menu items that aren’t selling. 

Operators can see exactly how their location is performing anywhere, at anytime, via the Revel Insights app on a smartphone. It makes managing multiple sites more seamless, and allows Grind to be “as data-driven as a tech startup,” according to Robinson. 

After six years of running on Revel Systems, Grind has evolved from an early adopter to a mature and innovative customer, trusting Revel with its successful location expansion along the way. Great coffee, unmistakable design, and an intuitive POS have all helped make Grind the coffee destination that it is today. 

Interested to learn more about how Revel’s platform can support your coffee shop? Schedule a demo, or read more about our Coffee Shop POS.