Perfect Pita: "One click and all the invoices are out. ONE CLICK!"

The story of Perfect Pita

From 1993 to 2000, I used to own and run a falafel shop in Bondi Beach. It was really popular, but I had to buy my pita bread from another bakery. To be honest, the pita was really bad - we had to throw 70% of it away because it used to break. But there was no other choice because there were no other suppliers.

Eventually I sold the shop, and my career took another turn. I studied finance and was a stockbroker/financial consultant. Then COVID hit and through a random sequence of events, an opportunity presented itself for me to start making falafel again.

I ran with it - but I still wanted to make pita. So I did a bunch of trial and error and came up with the perfect pita recipe. I thought I was just going to sell the pita in that falafel shop, but people got wind of how good the pita was, and before I knew it, we were doing wholesale.

What are the main challenges you’ve had  with scaling and growing Perfect Pita?

There are few, but of course staffing is an issue, although now it’s getting a bit better.

Then there is space - I need more space.

And, it’s a good problem to have, but we have more demands than we can meet…we are growing but we have to contain our delivery area.

Why do you think Perfect PIta has resonated with customers?

It tastes good. It holds the filling. It doesn’t break (and that’s the main problem with most pita). Just good-looking pita.

What makes Perfect Pita different?

From a product perspective, not many people can make the same product - some people try and copy the recipe. They even ask me for the recipe, but they’re not able to replicate it.

From a personal perspective, all my customers become my friend, and on a regular basis, I deliver the product myself to customers to keep in touch. It’s very important for me. If my customers have problems with the pita - we’ll replace them. I have a good conscience like that.

Why did you decide to start using Ordermentum?

I used to have nightmares chasing people to pay me. Like any business, we have expenses that we need to pay - but every customer wants credit.

Covid changed everything. Some shops we were supplying went bankrupt.They left me without money, they disconnected their phone…they ran away.

It became obvious, I needed to find something where people paid straight away….I was telling  my son to find a solution.

One of my customers, a coffee shop, said "try this app, I’m buying lots of things through it.”

I had a look, and it looked exciting, I contacted Ordermentum and that’s it. We set it all up, put our products in and then we started. 

Why do you think the initial set-up was so important?

It was important to get all our products in there correctly, and to take time to set it up as a system. We went through all the steps, so it just works beautifully.

Once it was set up, I made all my customers order through there. I told them, ‘if you don’t order through ordermentum, I’ll miss it.’

How has Ordermentum made it easier to be a wholesaler/supplier?

The best thing that happens is THEY put their order in, not me. Before, a customer would call me and I'd put the order through and then the payment would happen…who knows when?

Now, I don’t have to chase payments, and I can charge on the spot if I think someone is a suspicious customer. There are a few customers who aren’t on it and won’t change their habits, but that’s okay, I can deal with them separately.

What were the main problems/challenges you were looking to solve by using Ordermentum?

Besides the payments….invoicing for sure. Before Ordermentum, I had to do every invoice in the invoice books.

At 5am, every morning, I would write the invoice for every shop, manually. For 12 orders, that would be 40 mins to an hour just writing invoices. I thought “how am I going to manage this when I have 40 orders?”

How has Ordermentum helped you solve them?

One click and all the invoices are out. ONE CLICK! It’s all printed. I put them on the boxes…it saves me a lot of time and money.

If I had to do invoicing now, it would be half a day…are you joking?! No way.

What's your favourite Ordermentum feature?

Payment number one. Invoicing number two.

And support! They’ve got a really good support system. They’re always available, they always answer the phone, they’re always there to help.

Usually my son would sort any issues out, but he was so busy, so I took over. I wasn’t familiar with the program and I needed assistance - it’s a reality that problems will always come up - every bit of technology has quirks. But I just feel confident someone will be able to help. If I’m under the pump, I call them.

Even when my support contact had a baby, she was still so helpful.

Were there any features/benefits you didn’t expect when you first started using the platform?

The cut-off time has been amazing. I used to have a 4pm cut off time. People were always late, they’d call up ‘sorry I forgot to order.’

So I changed the cut-off time to 2pm - and now we know what we need to do earlier, and I know exactly how many people I need for the day, and the manager knows what to do.

It leads to less stress, happier staff, they can predict when they’re going to finish, and plan their evening. The happiness of my staff is very important to me.

How has the Growth Engine feature helped your business grow?

Customers find me through Ordermentum - I don’t need to find them, they find me.

It reduces how much marketing we have to do. Honestly, I’m scared to do marketing at the moment because I don’t want to grow too quickly.

The other problem is sometimes the customers are too far away and I can’t trade with them until I grow! The main problem is, I have to say no. It’s a good place to be.

What would you say to anyone considering using Ordermentum?

Don’t wait! Do it yesterday!

What do you wish customers and prospects knew about Perfect Pita?

That their business will grow if they use our pitas …customers will come and tell them how much they love the product. It’s a really unique product. Try it. People will love it.

Why? It’s soft to eat. It’s light. It’s good for you.

What feedback do you get from your customers using Ordermentum?

They like it - they order one week in advance! Almost no one has an issue - it costs them nothing. Once they use it, they love it, because it’s easy to order! This company makes it so easy to order.

I actually want to put stickers on my van that say “order through Ordermentum.”