Grumpy Granny Bake and Brew is a unique bakery inspired by a love for homemade, fresh bread and a desire to create something memorable. Founded by a passionate chef who began her culinary journey in 2009, the bakery came to life during the pandemic, when the need to reinvent her career led to turning her dining room into a bustling bread-making space. With a memorable brand and logo rooted in family heritage and a commitment to organic ingredients, Grumpy Granny Bake and Brew has become a local favorite, delighting customers at farmers' markets with fresh, homemade bread and pastries. The business combines heartwarming family stories with delicious, freshly baked goods, creating a brand that’s as personal as it is delicious.

Could you provide an overview of your business and its story?

I am a chef since 2009. With the pandemic and other things going on, I was trying to find a way to stop working for other people and start working for myself. I have always loved to bake bread for my family and friends. I never thought that bread would be a career. After the pandemic, I had to go back to Brazil because I had no job here in the UK. If I wanted to return here, I needed a plan. So it occurred to me that why not open a bakery? So, I came up with the name. The name took me a very long time. I don’t remember exactly how I came up with the name Grumpy Granny; I just wanted to have a funny name in English that would attract people and make them remember the brand. The name is good. I shared it first with my friends, and they liked it. The second thing was the logo. I have a cousin in Brazil who likes to take many pictures of my late grandmother. They were funny pictures of her being funny or grumpy or dressed in funny dresses. I told him to send me all the images he had. If you check our Instagram, my business logo is actually a picture of my grandmother that I converted into a logo. It does bring the customers, that’s the funny story. Because there is always a story to tell about her, and you can start a conversation with any customer.

Ladies come to me, and they say: “Why the grumpy granny? Who is grumpy granny? Who is cooking?” and I say: “No, I am the one cooking, I am the baker, I bake and sell the bakery products.” I don’t have a physical shop. I have configured many shops in my Loyverse account, but they are farmers’ markets where I go. For each one, I prepare the corresponding products; sometimes, I prepare and sell bread; sometimes, I prepare pastries. This is why I have added the locations as stores and separated the products I sell in each location. I started the bakery in my dining room, which is now a bakery and not a dining room anymore. I produce and bake the bread here and then take it to the farmer's market. 

When did you start to use Loyverse for your bakery?

I have a friend who owns Pizza Geeks. He has been using Loyverse for a while. I helped him in December of last year, and I saw that he was using Loyverse for his pizza place. He has Loyverse in two locations and managed the business remotely. He saw the sales report and identified which items were being sold the most and which were not. I found this very interesting. Of course, in my case, Loyverse POS would not be used to check what is being sold or what happens when I am not present since I am doing everything by myself. I wanted to use Loyverse to be able to identify which items are being sold the most. And with Loyverse, it is easy. Sometimes, I am exhausted since I start working at 5 am to prepare some products, and I can work until past midnight. Then, the next day, I have to wake up at 5 am and go to the market. Because of this routine, I am usually very tired and cannot even remember the prices. There were days I forgot to add products, and there were days I could not remember the prices even though I had the price tags on the products, but they were facing the customers. I tried to put a price tag behind the products so I could see them from my side as well. Then, the problem was calculating the total of the receipt. I was too tired to do the calculations. This is the main reason why I decided to implement Loyverse in my business. I input all items and their corresponding prices there, facilitating my sales process. I could easily choose the payment method that the customers wanted to use. Loyverse also made me switch to SumUp because I was using another company for card payments that didn’t integrate with Loyverse. It worked everything perfectly for me with SumUp. 

Do you track the inventory of your items using Loyverse POS? 

I have not input the stock of my items there yet. What I have done is input the cost of my products. I go and buy stuff weekly since I don’t have a lot of storage in my home. I produce for the day, so I don’t have stock available, and that is why I don’t use inventory features for the moment. But I definitely should use it since last week I forgot to buy some very important ingredients, and the market is really far away from my home. 

What features of Loyverse have been most beneficial for your business?

I like the reports very much. I have input the prices and costs, and I can see the gross profit in the reports. I tried to play around with the Employee Management subscription to see how I could use it, but since now only my wife and I are doing everything, there is no need for this feature. However, I plan to use it in the future. 

What are your future plans? 

I want to open a coffee shop where we will sell baked goods. I am now producing at maximum capacity at home, so I am searching for a place to transfer the business so I can prepare more items. 

I currently have a website that provides information about my brand, but customers cannot purchase online because all my items are prepared and sold fresh. I plan to include in my catalog some items that can be prepared beforehand and sold via the website. 

How do you advertise your business?

I use mainly Instagram and Facebook to advertise my products to customers. 

Is there a philosophy in business that you try to follow?

My philosophy is that I bake products that I would happily give to my children. I try to use as many organic products as possible. The breads are 100% organic.

Do you have competitors, and how do you differentiate from them?

Yes, in some markets, many other businesses offer bread, but in the markets around my area, there are not many that provide the same products as I do. I would say that in my city, there is no other baker, only me. I have tried to get people to know me for two years since I don’t have a physical or online store. It is hard to make people believe that I am a baker and that despise having a dark kitchen in my home I am as clean as I can be. I tried hard to make them believe that I was a professional and that I would deliver them bread as hot as it could be. It has been a challenging journey. 

Do you have regular customers that you have registered in the system? 

Yes, I do have some regular customers. But it is hard for me to register them in the system since the sales process is very fast. Usually, there is another customer behind each customer, so it does not leave me time to add the customer to the system. I am thinking of giving clients an opportunity to leave their details and their preferences of what they want me to sell on a piece of paper, and later, I can go ahead and create their profile in the system. 

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to open their own businesses?

I just advised a lady who is opening a coffee shop to use Loyverse as well. My advice for the new guys would be: Don’t surrender! It is tiresome at the beginning; you will feel the weight because you will need to work full-time. Don’t surrender! It is your dream; keep going until you succeed! Trust me, it is worth it.