About Fromagerie Victoria
Established in 1946 (and celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2021), Fromagerie Victoria is a staple in Quebec City. They initially started out by offering fresh cheese curds on a daily basis, but have since expanded to offer a full dairy bar and restaurant with breakfast, pasta, salads, and burgers at their 17 branches.
"Our menu is incredibly diverse, so you can eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner all at the same spot. You can also enjoy dessert or bring home your cheese curds for snacking," explains Marikim Dion, Supervisor of Operations - Franchises. "Our best meal is our poutine, which is bursting with flavour thanks to the fresh cheese we use and our choice of five sauces."
"What sets us apart from our competitors is the quality and freshness of our product," she added. "At every one of our branches, we serve freshly made cheese using 100% Canadian milk, which is really our strength."
The Challenge
The global pandemic hit restaurant owners in Quebec hard, forcing them to rethink their operations. For Fromagerie Victoria, COVID-19 meant it had to slow down its expansion plans — the restaurant opened two new branches this year instead of the five that were initially planned.
Fromagerie Victoria had already partnered with DoorDash in December 2019 to offer delivery and pickup at several of their branches — in addition to their existing drive-through and pickup offerings. While this helped them maintain sales during the pandemic, Fromagerie Victoria wanted to keep growing. With that in mind, they decided to expand their delivery offering to take their business to the next level.
Seeing how well DashPass worked and that people were ordering again and again shows us that our offering is valuable and that DoorDash provides a top-quality service for both us and our customers.
The Solution
At the start of 2020, DoorDash was not operating in all of the markets where Fromagerie Victoria wanted to expand. But, after seeing a surge in demand in those regions, DoorDash quickly rolled out its services in order to accommodate businesses like Fromagerie Victoria and help them increase their off-premise revenue.
One of the key aspects of the partnership is, without a doubt, DoorDash’s responsiveness and attentiveness. Throughout the process, DoorDash's personalized approach certainly has not gone unnoticed: "Whenever we have a question, our account manager gets back to us within 24-48 hours. This isn't necessarily the case with other platforms," explained Marikim.
Fromagerie Victoria also decided to join DashPass, DoorDash’s monthly subscription that enables DoorDash’s most engaged customers to order from restaurants at $0 delivery.
The Results
Despite the unexpected nature of the pandemic, Fromagerie Victoria managed to pull through and expand into the rest of the province thanks to its business model and adaptable service offering. The partnership with DoorDash allowed the restaurant to not only survive this crisis, but continue to grow while diversifying its revenue stream and reaching new clientele.
After joining DoorDash, Fromagerie Victoria was able to increase their overall sales by 7%. The latest reports also show that 30% of their orders come from DashPass, a testament to the satisfaction of their clientele. The best news, though, is that their business keeps on growing: 22% of their DoorDash orders come from new customers.
According to Marikim, the pandemic helped people realize the important role that restaurants play in their lives, and, as a result, they’re continuing to support the local businesses they love. "I think this pandemic made people realize that there really is nothing more precious than good food shared with good people," she said.