Parsly has spoken to Rocky Mardini who, with his wife Sofia, is behind Cravings Kitchen in central Stockholm – a restaurant serving satisfying food without a guilty conscience. With the help of an “awesome and talented crew”, Rocky tells us how the restaurant is thriving, but the road to success was not without complication.

“In the beginning, during the winter months of 2021, it was like rolling a car uphill,” says Rocky. Despite doing everything they could to get guests through the door, the months passed without relief. Rocky remembers being quite frustrated with the restaurant’s expenses, especially the purchases, where he completely lacked overview. Invoices arrived to Sofia’s email, which she downloaded and then uploaded to a Google Drive folder and this is where the invoice processing ended. “You have to hire staff, the fridge breaks down, a new terrace and website need to be built – how am I supposed to have time to analyze purchases?”.

The problem wasn’t that he didn’t know how to do it. It was simply too complicated and time-consuming to do the big job manually. As a business owner, Rocky admits to having a guilty conscience about this. “How can I run a business and not keep track of my expenses? It felt abnormal and embarrassing”.

“You have to hire staff, the fridge breaks down, a terrace and the website have to be built – when am I supposed to analyze purchases?

In April 2022, the couple heard about an AI service that could automate all of this for them. At first, Rocky was skeptical that it was free but after just one month, he was able to log in and see all the information about his purchases gathered in one place, without any charge. ”I was completely blown away, and instantly in love! Finally the overview and transparency I’d been missing!” he exclaims. Rocky tells us how quick and easy it was to sort out detailed information to see exactly how much was spent and on what. “Shockingly, we learned that we spent the most money on halloumi and not chicken, which we sell the most of”.

Cravings Kitchen uses several suppliers, who were chosen purely on recommendation. In some cases, Rocky knew he was overpaying, but felt he lacked ‘flesh on his bones’ to enter into negotiations with these suppliers. But since Parsly now collects, analyzes, and stores all purchasing data for him, he could significantly increase his bargaining position. The result? Rocky managed to reduce the cost of his 20 most purchased products by ten percent. “It felt so wonderful! And without Parsly, I wouldn’t even know what my top 20 products were,” he says happily. 

At one point during the negotiations, he was offered a better price for the expensive halloumi. But, with the help of Parsly, Rocky compared the product numbers on the spot and discovered that it was an inferior cheese that the supplier was trying to sell him, without a discount. “It was so cool to have that evidence at hand and avoid being scammed!”.

After six grueling winter months, as the spring sun began to peek out, everything took a sharp turn. “Suddenly people started pouring in. The response from the guests and our turnover was beyond expectations – we could hardly believe it was true!”. 

According to Rocky, it’s the food driving this success. “It’s made from great ingredients and cooked with so much love and care”. He is also very grateful to have full control of what the food costs him each month, and feels confident that he can react in time when something increases in price. “Besides, it’s incredibly nice not to have to walk around with a guilty conscience anymore”.

“The equation is really very simple,” says Rocky, summarizing that better information leads to more control. More control leads to better decision-making, which in turn leads to better business.

We reduced the cost of our 20 most purchased products by 10%. That makes a big difference on the bottom line
Thanks to Parsly, we can react in time and protect our profit margin
I was blown away by Parsly – it was instant love!
Finally the overview and transparency I’d been missing!
With Parsly, we can do incredibly good analyzes that were not possible before
Better information leads to more control. More control leads to better decision-making, which in turn leads to better business

We are delighted to be able to help budding restaurateurs like Rocky. Thanks to our cooperation with the industry’s most experienced and profitable, we’ve managed to automate the purchasing process and develop a tool that, according to Rocky, both facilitates and improves his business.

Cravings Kitchen is open for lunch and dinner every day except Sundays. Rocky highly recommends his personal favorites; the Mediterranean patties and the baked feta cheese. Regardless of your choice, he promises excellent food with lots of flavor and exceptional personal service.

Thanks, Rocky!

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