Cornbread cafe Eugene locals brought the business back after the pandemic

Cornbread cafe is a vegan local restaurant located in Eugene, Oregon. I am a picky eater especially when it comes to a culture that I'm not too familiar with. However, just like their name, their cornbread is very good they also serve very healthy delicious vegan food. The reason why their restaurant has my interest is that during the pandemic they got into big financial problems. It is a dining-in restaurant, the pandemic got them bad because they can't have people dine in anymore. but the community brought them back into the business. I remember seeing their gofundme in 2020 after they announced closing down the restaurant, I thought there is no way they are going to get back on their feet, but at the beginning of 2021 is when they announcing coming back with the same location from the money they got from their customers but it was obvious that they were struggling because they were only open certain days of the week. Another thing I enjoy about coming to the cafe because of the staff's diversity. Moreover, they do give back to the community through charity work and donations. 

     They mentioned their mission as "Cornbread Cafe’s mission is to provide a consistent, comforting, and quality dining experience. We endeavor to provide excellent customer service while remaining a fun, affordable, sustainable, community-oriented restaurant that serves awesome vegan comfort food!" I strongly think that they do what they said because their food is made from organic ingredients, and their staffs are very happy to be there. The menu is changing depends on the season and what ingredients they have available. Since they have various options depending on the season and they serve comfort food, many customers come there not because they are vegan but just because they genuinely enjoy the food, that is the most comments I noticed. The feedback about their staff is also very good, many customers commented that they love how friendly and quirky the staffs are. Still just like any other business, despite all the love they have from the community, there are moments their staff cannot reach the consumer's expectations, or maybe the staffs are just not experiencing a very good day and brought that to the restaurant. Those are the most common feedbacks I see from their customers.  

        From my perspective, I don't see cornbread as just a restaurant they built their community got support from the community, and also pay back, their food is not that surprisingly good to me because I'm not too familiar with their food. But anyone I suggest to go there always goes back and gives them very nice comments based on the service and the food. The big thing people usually talk about is how they love the staff there, Eugene has a very diverse culture so is this cafe. They do not just post about the food they post about their amazing staff and customers, they post about problems going on in the world they speak up and encourage people about the world's problems and human rights. I believe that is a strong marketing method they are doing, they don't just talk about their products they make their followers feel like they are seeing a friend's post more than a restaurant. They make sure that they let their followers know that they appreciate the help and love they receive from their customers. 

        I noticed that they talk about the help they receive on their social media repetitively, I think that is their marketing effort because who doesn't want to be remembered and feel included? They keep mentioning about it made their customers feel like their contributions are being noticed and appreciated so they keep coming back. At the same time that is a very good story to tell to anyone, it is heartwarming and remarkable, not many businesses can raise funds and come back from the support they got from their community. Not only that they are engaging with their customer by posting on their Instagram almost daily, but also repost their customer's comments. As much as they try to engage with their customers, they don't respond to their customers at all. They should put more effort into getting back to their customers because the customer's opinions should be heard and valid. If the customers don't feel like they are being heard and valid I don't see why they would come back there

        If I were my brand manager I would stay very communicative with the customers I would make sure that I respond to most of the comments since they don't have a big group of followers so it is hard to stay connected with the customer. I also would come to Saturday market or any event where food carts can be there, I have seen they have a small van and that would give them so many customers. Their location is hidden and hard to notice so being present at some big local event will gain the customers. They do have a website but it is not being updated often enough so that would be something I will improve as well. I like how they stay active on social media but the angle of their picture is not very good, it is a weird angle that doesn't make the food look tasty. from this assignment, I learned that staying connected with your customers is very important. Also, respond to all comments even the bad ones so they know they are being heard it shows them that the business is willing to improve. Furthermore, treat your employees well because they can bring so many benefits to the business just by them being happy with their job. let them know that their love and help are appreciated by that they will support the business more. Be diverse, as the world improves, people appreciate diversity.