Generic Featured Image

Success Story

Societe Brewing Company

“Ekos is our backbone, really. We have a saying around the brewery: ‘Ekos is the Bible.’ When it really comes down to it, all of our business funnels down into Ekos… it's our lifeblood, it's what helps us succeed. Ekos is what helps us get beer out the door every single day.”

- Tyler Davis, Sales Operations Manager

about

  • Founded in 2012
  • Ekos customer since 2016
  • Two locations in San Diego
  • Distributed in the state of California

results

  • 20+ hours saved per week using Ekos to track inventory and invoices in and out of the taproom
  • 17k+ bbl production
  • Money saved tracking kegs through Ekos

overview

Doug Constantiner founded Societe Brewing Company in 2012 to have a career in a field he loved: beer. In the 10 years since the brewery opened its doors, it’s become much more than a source of income. From 2020 to 2021 Societe grew its production by 93%, and since then, has opened a second location and expanded its distribution to Northern California. In the same time frame, Societe has seen its best day, week, month, and quarter ever. Societe is looking at growing “just as fast as we possibly can,” according to Sales Operations Manager Tyler Davis. That includes expanding distribution into other states like Arizona and Nevada. Plus, the team has a renovation underway at its newest location that will feature a full retail shop and vastly bigger taproom in 2023. 

challenge

Societe’s explosive growth means the team needs a solution to keep track of all of the brewery’s data. From production to invoicing and inventory, it all needs a place to call home. Without it, handwritten notes and tedious spreadsheets can cause a real headache as efficiency is slowed and important data gets lost in the mix. Growing pains are real, and cross-team communication becomes increasingly important as you expand to new markets, open new locations, and ramp up production. As a long-time Ekos customer, the Societe team knew that learning more about the software and how it could keep each department on track to meet their ambitious goals would be an important piece of the puzzle in their plan to expand the business.

results

Societe has seen massive growth using Ekos to power its sales, forecasting, and inventory processes. “Ekos has helped us a ton to be able to scale and get bigger,” Tyler said. “Every day we’re finding out something new about it, another way to use it.” Societe’s new location and production growth have proven the benefits of good data on the business — something Tyler and his teams are committed to providing.

Keeping the Gears Turning

Tyler says that using Ekos to crank out invoicing and stay on top of forecasting for the brewery’s distributors helps the business’s operations run smoothly. In turn, that keeps Tyler, the sales team, and the production team on track to meet Societe’s big goals. “Ekos is our backbone, really. We have a saying around the brewery: ‘Ekos is the Bible,’” Tyler said. “When it really comes down to it, all of our business funnels down into Ekos… it’s our lifeblood, it’s what helps us succeed. Ekos is what helps us get beer out the door every single day.”

Simplifying Communication

As the business grows, cross-team communication becomes even more important, something Tyler has seen firsthand. With Ekos, everyone from the brewhouse to the taproom is in the know, every day. “When I have a question and I don’t need to go ask another department, that shows our success with Ekos,” Tyler said. “When everybody is putting their information in and Ekos is spitting out exactly what you need, that’s huge.” Tyler says this is especially clear when he’s on the hunt for inventory to send off to distributors or looking to plan the brewery’s next packaging run. Checking the schedules the production team has already set and planning when their next run will be ready allows Tyler to make smart business decisions using data from Ekos. 

A Connected Business

Tyler says he’s worked at breweries that were pieced together with sticky notes and complex spreadsheets — that is just not the way. “One error, one bad formula, and you can really screw things up,” he said. Ekos, by comparison, is saving the team tons of time that they might’ve spent tracking down data or fixing a spreadsheet error. “When everyone’s done their part to make sure the information is in there, it’s invaluable. It saves a ton of time,” Tyler said. 

Saving on Kegs

Beyond the time savings, Ekos is saving Societe money on lost kegs too. “Recently, we got into a place where we haven’t had enough sixth barrel shells and it’s been a huge pain in our side,” Tyler said. Tyler is now responsible for tracking the ins and outs of Societe’s kegs via Ekos which he says is “absolutely vital” when considering the cost of replacing kegs. “I think some breweries probably get torpedoed by having issues with tracking their keg fleet — it’s super important,” Tyler said.

With returning fan-favorite beers, renovations, and expanding distribution, Tyler is really looking forward to this next year with Societe. He’s been a “fanboy” since the brewery opened its doors, so to help lead the team in this next phase of growth means a lot to him. With Ekos as a trusted partner by their side, Societe has high expectations for the future.