When we were planning Three Sixteen, the easiest and most common decision would have been to outsource pastries.
That’s what almost everyone does.
Buy frozen croissants from a large, well-known supplier.
Store them.
Bake them on-site.
Sell them.
It’s efficient.
It’s predictable.
It’s scalable.
And it’s considered the “right” way to do it.
We seriously considered this option — and we didn’t decide in isolation.
What everyone advised us to do
Before committing to an in-house bakery, we spoke with multiple people who own and operate coffee shops with bakeries.
The message was consistent:
“Nobody does in-house pastry production anymore.”
“It’s too complex.”
“It doesn’t scale.”
“The only realistic path is frozen croissants from a major supplier.”
And to be fair — they weren’t wrong.
From a business standpoint, frozen pastries make sense:
- lower labor costs
- simpler operations
- predictable output
- easier scaling
- fewer headaches
This is the model used by most successful coffee chains.
Why we rejected the “right” way
We tried those frozen croissants.
From several well-known suppliers.
And the conclusion was simple:
The quality wasn’t good enough.
They looked fine.
They smelled fine.
They were… acceptable.
But acceptable wasn’t what we wanted to build Three Sixteen on.
We didn’t want our guests to say:
“This is fine.”
We wanted them to say:
“This is different.”
So we made a conscious decision to walk away from the easiest path.
Choosing the harder road — intentionally
We chose the harder road knowing exactly what it would cost us:
- higher complexity
- higher stress
- more trial and error
- slower stabilization
- higher early expenses
And yes — this may not be the most efficient way to scale quickly.
But we made a decision early on:
We will optimize for guest experience first — not for profit.
For us:
- the guest comes first
- quality comes first
- experience comes first
We believe that if we get those right, the rest can be solved over time.
Why we believe in the long game
Building an in-house bakery is a long-distance decision.
Short-term:
- it’s harder
- it’s more expensive
- it’s messy
Long-term:
- quality becomes a signature
- systems improve
- margins can be optimized
- production becomes scalable
- the brand becomes differentiated
We’re playing the long game.
Yes, profitability matters — but not at the expense of experience
Of course, this doesn’t mean profitability isn’t important.
It is.
We know we need to refine:
- labor efficiency
- production volumes
- waste reduction
- pricing strategy
- throughput
And we already have ideas on how to improve margins without compromising quality.
That deserves a separate post — and we’ll write it.
But we refuse to start with profit and sacrifice the guest experience along the way.
Would I make the same decision again? Yes.
Even knowing how hard this path is, I would still choose it.
Because Three Sixteen is not built to be average.
It’s built to be intentional.
It’s built to be remembered.
And for us, the guest experience is not negotiable.
