One in an occasional series of features on Charlotte area businesses, nonprofits, and events, and how they are adapting to the “new normal.”
Our Subject: Roots Catering is a farm-to-table catering and cafe that makes as much of its fare as possible from scratch, using as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible. Roots started as a popular food truck in 2011, added weddings and catering in 2013, and opened their popular South End cafe in 2017, showing year-over-year growth until the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s been impacted: The Executive Order closing restaurants cut of 90 – 95% of the cafe’s business. With most large events cancelled, catering was cut down drastically as well. Now owner Craig Barbour says cancellation of the Republican National Convention — which restaurants and caterers were counting on to help make up their losses — has moved to Jacksonville, Florida.
“Losing the RNC was big,” says Barbour. “We were counting on that.” Barbour estimates losing roughly 75 – 80% of his revenue for the year because of the pandemic and the loss of the RNC. Even opening the cafe at 50% capacity does little to offset the losses.
“It’s like giving a full restaurant a 50% discount,” he says. Barbour says he has been able to keep half of his full-time employees on staff, but had to furlough the part-time employees who worked big catering events.
Innovative pivot: As group functions got drastically smaller, Roots offered drastically smaller options to go with them. First, Roots Catering offered “Micro Wedding Packages,” for lovebirds who still wanted to tie the knot with their closest family and friends around them.
“We drop off everything, with a full catering set-up,” says Barbour. “After the event, clients pack it up and we pick it up.”
Roots extended the idea to special occasions, starting with an Easter Brunch Package. “It went over really well,” says Barbour, prompting Roots to follow up with a Mom’s Box on Mother’s Day, which also went over well. Now they’re focused on Father’s Day, with Dad Packs. Half of them sold within a week, and pre-orders extended to June 16th.
Reactions: Overall, Barbour says he’s been really pleased with the unexpected popularity of the new offerings, starting with the Easter Brunch.
“The boxes were a lot more successful than I thought they would be,” says Barbour. “We hoped to sell 20, and sold 110.”
The pivot brought change to the company structure, too. “We’re reinventing on a daily basis, because overnight our employees all had new roles,” he says.
And something to feel good about: the micro wedding packages were a way for Roots Catering to show it has “heart.” The packages allowed couples to use their deposits in a positive way if they decided to go ahead with smaller weddings. Others who postponed their weddings were allowed to reschedule for free. What’s not to love?
Forecast for the future: Based on the success of the special occasion boxes, Roots is launching the “Little Fete” — a party in a box, shipped to your door. The box includes food, cocktail mixers for a signature drink, and the dishware and table settings to make it a party.
Barbour says moving forward, Roots will diversify its offerings, and employees will move into new roles to support the additions. He also envisions a new use for the cafe at night, as a pop-up cocktail lounge with a master mixologist. Different times have brought different ideas, and Barbour hopes it allows Roots to continue to evolve and grow once North Carolina is open for good.
Learn more or order your Dad Pack: https://www.rootscafesouthend.com/