Mom's Kitchen: All in one for a better experience

The first time Chris, owner of the Stockholm based restaurant Mom’s Kitchen, tried the traditional Swedish dish Wallenbergare was in Afghanistan while he was working as a private military contractor. Besides making his first acquaintance with Wallenbergare, the time in Afghanistan also introduced Chris to a new way of preparing home cooked meals. The soldiers were served meals packed in plastic containers which kept the food fresh until heated and served on a plate.

After his time in Afghanistan, Chris and his Swedish wife decided to move the family from LA to Stockholm and the idea of introducing the same type of food concept there came to life. Today he runs a small restaurant in the district of Östermalm as well as a catering business outside the city which delivers pre-packed lunch boxes with traditional Swedish dishes to the central location. The concept quickly made a name for itself and is today appreciated by locals. Chris has become known as “The Meat-ball Guy” around the neighbourhood.

“When we opened the restaurant, it took a while before we could come up with a name. Our customers repeatedly mentioned our food reminded them of what their mothers used to cook so Mom’s Kitchen felt like the obvious choice. Our concept is easy and popular among people who like fresh home cooked meals without any food colours or other preservatives.”

The business has grown and today employs a total number of 12. Most of the staff are working in the catering kitchen run by Chris’s two partners. In addition to serving lunches to hungry Östermalm residents, the business also serves hospitals, senior homes and schools in its customer base. 100-150 lunches are served daily from the catering location and about 60 from the Mom’s Kitchen location. Speed is very important during busy peak hours around lunch time and the after-work commute.

“I love my job, and I love working with people. Except for providing great food we are focused on customer service and always put our customers first. For me it is natural to give back to the community and especially return the favour to the people who once built the great recipes we now cook. Therefore, we offer both a senior discount as well as free home delivery for elders living in Östermalm. Discounts are also given to law enforcement and paramedics who we believe should have the opportunity to get a more proper lunch than fast food while carrying out their important duties.”

A shared passion for great customer experiences

For Chris the payment experience is a vital part of the customer experience. After struggling with a less flexible payment and service solution, he heard about a new payment solution that was just starting up, called Loomis-Pay, from some of his regulars. He became the first Loomis-Pay customer, which turned out to be a great decision for his business in many ways.

“Before we switched to Loomis-Pay, we were struggling with a bunch of devices. Now everything is gathered in a beautiful system with POS (Point of sale) and payment in one. The design of the hardware is nice and looks tidy on the counter without a bunch of cords everywhere. It is also operationally reliable as the unit runs on Wi-Fi and has great integrations such as the one to Skatteverket saving a lot of time on administration for us. Me and my staff also appreciate the user-friendliness of the system. If you know how to use an iPad, you quickly get the hang of it.”

Since the start, Chris has not experienced any critical situations and is happy with the help and support of the Loomis-Pay support team, both during the actual implementation phase as well as in the everyday use of the solution.

“Loomis-Pay is clearly just as passionate about customer service as we are, and the support I have got from the very beginning has been fantastic. The greatest values Loomis-Pay adds to our operations is a much more optimized and faster service, a nice, beautiful device looking like a sleek alien spaceship on the counter as well as great reporting tools making it easier to check our sales figures in real time.”

Looking ahead

A tough pandemic followed by the current inflation and increased prices on groceries and gas are of course, just as for most businesses, also a challenge for Mom’s Kitchen. The margins are decreasing as it is hard to increase prices and expand the business right now. Even so Chris and his team have a lot of ideas on how to develop the business going forward and have a positive outlook on the future.

“- I will probably wait to expand the business until there is a concrete forecast that makes it easier to plan. We know we have a great concept and will continue to prepare our fresh, daily made meals and let the food speak for itself. We will continue to develop our service experience and are for example interested in looking into a combination of cash and digital payment as some of our customers prefer that flexibility. That combined with our never- ending focus on providing great customer service will secure success over time. A great proof of that we are doing something unique is that celebrities like movie stars, royals and soccer players are our regulars. One of our guests enjoys our Wallenbergare so much that he flew 100 dishes abroad with his private jet. For me and my crew that is a really good proof that we serve good food.”