Coutume

The Coutume story began in 2010 with founder Tom Clark, who has always been immersed in coffee culture, coming from a country where it is very strong: Australia. After studying in Paris, he decided to introduce the French to specialty coffee by creating a roasting and tasting facility. Coutume's DNA is based on expert sourcing of carefully selected specialty coffees from around the world, a gourmet menu created in collaboration with a pastry chef, and a friendly, pleasant tasting area.

Since then, Coutume has developed 3 concepts - the flagship (brunch/lunch offer), the casual (pastry/sandwich) and the kiosk (coffee only) - and has become a master at passing on its expertise. In response to growing public interest, Coutume is launching a franchise to support regional multi-franchisees, as Léa Merlande, the network's administrative and financial director, explains:

"All 3 concepts are suitable for franchising, as they enable us to cover the entire country according to location opportunities. Franchisees can launch a flagship store first, then duplicate the casual or kiosk concept in complementary areas. Our target is to open 4 stores a year in France and abroad. It takes between 6 and 7 months to set up the concept and find a location for around 30 places."

To prepare for this new chapter, Léa Merlande set about structuring the supply chain to streamline flows, analyze them and optimize the network's profitability:

Optimizing the supply chain

Coutume launched its 750 m² Ateliers in early 2023 to house the kitchen laboratory, roasting, logistics, training and showroom.

"We have thus set up an efficient production tool that guarantees the quality of our coffees and recipes. With the launch of the workshops, 3 problems that we had anticipated intensified. Difficulty in analyzing flows between the laboratory and our plants: impossible to trace stock transfers, for example. A lot of time was wasted updating mercurials. And finally, errors made on orders."

"With Inpulse, we can streamline procurement between the laboratory and our sites. It's a reliable tool with all the information in the right place: price lists, technical data sheets, purchase volumes to easily manage and optimize supplier orders in the field." 

"Inpulse is an inventory analysis and management facilitator. We have a lot of products, so at the operational level, we make sure that goods are received correctly, and that there are virtually no errors. This has enabled the teams to organize themselves well."

Analyze flows to make the right decisions

"It's really complicated in Excel to manage stocks, inventories and obtain material costs. Especially as we had to wait until the end of the month to analyze. With such a volume, we needed to have real-time stock valuation and control of point-of-sale flows to spot any order errors, be alerted in the event of critical stock levels..."

"It's really the business expertise that has made the difference and the multi-site management, so you can quickly access the data you need to analyze.

We mainly monitor material costs per product, the loss ratio, and differences between actual stock and theoretical consumption. We also analyze sales by product and by outlet, purchasing volumes and changes in supplier prices. This enables us to implement best practices in all our establishments, and provide the best possible support for our future franchisees."

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