Going through changes….

A mere 11 months ago I wrote a Facebook/Instagram post, detailing changes we would be making to the way we ran Number Thirteen. A couple of months later, I was writing another post, making changes to our menu and price increases. Unfortunately, here I am again, writing another post, preparing to make more changes, to keep us in business.

I guess the temporary death of our coffee machine has put me in survival mode. I have spent the past 24 hours thinking through worst case scenarios, what ifs, and trying to answer unknowable questions. These not only relate directly to the coffee machine, but the business as a whole, and it has illuminated some areas of improvement, where some difficult choices need to be made.

The first of these difficult choices, is the discontinuation of our Coffee Lovers Card. These were introduced in 2022, the thought behind them being, that unlike our gift vouchers, which must be spent in a single transaction, the coffee cards could be used one coffee at a time. Due to the nature of the cards, we had to work out an average price to cover all eligible coffees, whether those be regular or large, americano or mocha. We have made a couple of changes to them already throughout the years – from price changes to stay in line with our current prices, to a reduction in the number of cups per card, to keep them budget friendly. They currently sit at £13 for a 4-cup card and £26 for an 8-cup card, which means a cup of coffee using one of these cards costs just £3.25. The price of a coffee with us, is anything from £3.30 for a regular americano, to £4.50 for a large mocha (not including milk alternatives for an added 30p) so we are losing anything from 5p to £1.25 per cup sold.

With the help of our till software, we have been able to work out that since January 1st 2025, we have sold coffee cards to the value of £6600, however, we have had coffees costing £8928 redeemed using those cards, meaning we have ‘lost’ £2328 through these cards this year. As I have previously said in other posts, a small discount is worth the cost when it engenders repeat custom and also gives the customer a feeling of gratitude. However, over £2000 is a figure we can no longer ignore or absorb.

This has brought about an additional conundrum, as without the Coffee Lovers Cards, there is still the issue of the gift vouchers and their single transaction capabilities. However, we have managed to work out how to offer gift cards through the till software, that can be redeemed as and when needed; and can also be used for food and retail purchases. These will be introduced in the new year and will replace both the Coffee Lovers Cards and our traditional gift vouchers. If I can work out how to do it, these will also have the capacity to become digital and be added to Google Wallet and Apple Pay (this might take a little while as I am not the most technologically capable person, why do you think I like the sixties and seventies so much!).

The second of our difficult choices, is streamlining our menu. We want to provide the best for as many people as possible, and that has caused us to keep adding things to the menu over the years, diluting our focus, and costing us more, with both buying and storing, and wastage. It is a trap of many a business to think that by offering more, you will naturally attract more customers, because you are appealing to more tastes. This isn’t always the case, and I have fallen into that trap. Therefore, I have decided to go back to our roots and tighten up our offer, focussing more on coffee and cake, with a smaller savoury selection. We will still be providing the best we can, for as many people as possible, but without so much choice and hopefully, potentially less waste.

These changes include the removal of pastries from the menu. As much as I love the Manna Bakery pastries (especially since they made their own recipe changes a few months ago), they just aren’t selling the way we need them to. In order for them to be worth us stocking, we need to be selling out everyday and we just aren’t. I have tried using the unsold pastries to make croissant cakes to reduce the waste, but the storing of them between bakes is costly and space consuming. They are a costly product to stock, as they are made from scratch by artisan bakers who themselves need to make money, and rightly so. But for them to be at their best, we need to be buying them in fresh everyday, and at the moment, that is costing us more than what we make selling them. After Christmas, they will be removed from the menu, but we will still be stocking them on a Saturday, as that is the one day of the week they seem to sell well.

In a similar vein, we will also be removing the savoury danish pastries from the menu, as again, they just aren’t selling. This is such a shame as they really are fabulous, but it’s just not what people seem to want, and that’s something we need to listen to. The job of a food business is to provide what people want, not what you want to sell. We are throwing countless pastries away (as these can’t be turned into croissant cakes in quite the same way), or else calling the bakery and cancelling the standing order for days at a time, which is annoying for them and for us.

Another change is streamlining our cold drinks offer. Our cold drinks naturally aren’t as popular as our hot drinks, but it’s a good thing to offer, especially when not everyone likes coffee, or sometimes not even hot drinks at all. At the moment, we have a dozen different canned and bottled drinks available including juices, kid’s cartons and canned fizzy drinks. Once our current stocks are run down, we will be removing our bottled juices (apple and orange) and pink lemonade, and instead offering juice by the glass, as this is more cost effective and takes up less space. We will also be removing some of our less popular canned fizzy drinks from the menu, once our current stocks are run down. For now, we will be keeping smoothies, milkshakes and iced teas on the menu, but this will be re-evaluated in the summer.

A seasonal change that we will be making, although seemingly small in detail, is removing the choice to add a side salad to our savoury options. Although it is relatively cheap, salad leaf spoils easily and it is tricky to store. It’s also time consuming for our staff to prepare, and takes up space in an already crowded kitchen area. As its now winter, side salad sales have dropped significantly and I don’t think it will affect many people or dictate whether someone chooses to dine with us, but it’s something that will be a change. We will re-evaluate when the weather begins to warm up again and may bring it back for the summer months if the demand is there.

As you can see, I am trying desperately to not put our prices up any more than they are already. The more we charge, the more the tax man gets and it leaves us worse off than we were before.

After a quick recognisance mission to Nero’s over the market square, we are sitting at either the same price point or cheaper than many of their items that are identical to our own. Which I think is pretty good, considering that we will pay more for our raw ingredients, use local suppliers, consider our impact on the environment, and provide a more specialised food offer, than a big multinational chain.

It has been suggested in the past that I could consider making changes to the way we operate – start buying milk in large plastic bottles rather than glass pints for instance; or buying cheaper lids and cups that aren’t as eco-friendly but more economical. But to do that would go against everything I have worked towards these past eight years, and it just wouldn’t feel right.

It has been suggested that I could replace our real chocolate flakes (£21.50 a kilo) with powdered hot chocolate (£15 for a 2 kilo tub), or to use bog standard tea and coffee beans from wholesale multinationals rather than local independent suppliers, or to not make our bakes with such specialist ingredients (that make them suitable for so many different dietary needs) which are generally more expensive and harder to source, and instead use readily available, cheaper ingredients.

All these things would indeed save us money, but I wholeheartedly believe it would lose us customers if I were to implement these changes, and I would feel like we would then just be like everyone else. The choices I made when we first opened to do things a certain way, have given us an identity apart from anything Knaresborough already has. I wouldn’t call us special, but I would say that we hold a unique space in the town café-scape. Every business has their USP, and to change our standards, I believe, would destroy our very essence, our character and who we are at our core. If we cannot survive, purely because we wish to uphold a standard of quality and a desire to help both the local economy and the environment at large, then I’m obviously in the wrong business.

Hopefully these changes will help see us through the rocky waters we find ourselves in yet again, and I know that its not over. I sound like a broken record, but it is getting harder and harder to stay in business and as the years go on, I sometimes wonder if there is any point trying to continue. I then think about what would happen if we ever had to close Number Thirteen. For me, it would be the end of my life as I know it. It may sound dramatic, but I have now lived and breathed Number Thirteen for 8 years, 9 years if you include the planning and building and dreaming. The idea of it not being around just scares me so much. I know it's only a business, and I expect one day it will have to end, but I’m not ready yet. So, I will fight as long as I can, making changes and keeping us in business, as long as I can.