Born from friendship and a shared love for restaurants, Pine State Biscuits began as a small Portland farmers market stand. Three friends from North Carolina set out to bring the flavors of their home state to the Pacific Northwest: flaky biscuits, fried chicken, and soul-filled Southern comfort.

What started in 2006 as a single storefront has since grown to five brick-and-mortar locations and a mobile food trailer, each serving up the restaurant’s signature “North Carolina-style” breakfast and lunch fare. The business runs off of a commissary, delivering all of the food directly to the shops, with customer-facing counter service at each location.

Today, Assistant Operations Manager Carly Lund oversees day-to-day operations across six locations and five general managers, managing everything from staffing and maintenance to menu R&D and inventory.

But before adopting MarketMan, her day looked very different.

The Challenge: Hours Lost to Manual Work and Unreliable Data

Like many independent restaurant groups, Pine State Biscuits had long relied on spreadsheets for inventory and ordering.

Each day, Carly would manually update product prices, track orders, and maintain separate tabs for each shop in a single, sprawling spreadsheet. With over 300 SKUs, constant vendor price fluctuations, and no automated data sync, keeping up with ingredient costs was nearly impossible.

“It was hours and hours every day,” Carly recalled. “As much as I like spreadsheets, it took so much time away from actually being in the shops.”

This system left the team “shooting in the dark” when it came to menu pricing and cost of goods. Because pricing data was updated infrequently, COGS calculations were unreliable, and profitability decisions were based on outdated information.

Meanwhile, ordering errors were frequent. Missed items, inconsistent pricing, and incomplete deliveries from the commissary all meant wasted time and inventory discrepancies.

Why Pine State Biscuits Chose MarketMan

When the Pine State team began researching inventory management platforms, integration and trust were top of mind.

“We started looking at other systems,” Carly said. “But when we learned MarketMan integrates directly with Square, it became a no-brainer.”

The team’s evaluation process took nearly a year, weighing implementation costs, ROI potential, and ease of use. Ultimately, MarketMan’s seamless integration with Square and its ability to deliver real-time cost visibility tipped the scales.

“The biggest question for us was always: what are our actual COGS?” Carly said. “That was really the evaluation process: What is MarketMan going to do to help us solve these two issues: cost of goods and daily operations.”

From Hours to Minutes: Daily Operations Transformed

Since adopting MarketMan, Pine State Biscuits’ entire ordering process has been streamlined.

Each location now orders directly from the commissary through the MarketMan mobile app, a workflow that takes just 15–20 minutes per shop, compared to hours spent previously updating and reconciling spreadsheets.

“Now I spend maybe 30-45 minutes a day on MarketMan, compared to two or three hours before,” Carly said. “You get a lot of time back.”

That time has allowed Carly to return to what she loves — being in the shops.

“Now I can actually help managers problem-solve in real time,” she said. “Before, I was stuck in the office updating spreadsheets.”

Ordering errors have also dropped dramatically thanks to MarketMan’s double-check workflows and real-time receiving confirmations.

Real-Time Insights Lead to Smarter Menu Decisions

With accurate and current pricing data, Pine State Biscuits finally has full visibility into menu profitability.

“We were kind of shooting in the dark on menu pricing,” Carly said. “Now, it’s mathematically correct.” MarketMan helps the team identify high-performing menu items and underperformers. 

For example, historical price data on ingredients like chicken and eggs, which can fluctuate wildly day to day, now informs proactive recipe and pricing adjustments.

“Being able to know on the spot what’s going on with inventory is the biggest,” Carly said.

Building a Culture of Data-Driven Management

Beyond saving time and cutting errors, MarketMan has empowered Pine State’s shop managers to engage with their numbers.

Each month, managers attend a meeting where they share insights learned from the platform, particularly through Actual vs. Theoretical (AvT) reporting.

“They never had access to that type of information before,” Carly said. This helps them understand their business at the shop level.

Results That Speak for Themselves

Since implementing MarketMan:

• Ordering time reduced from three hours to under an hour per day.
• Inventory count frequency shifted from monthly to daily.
• COGS accuracy improved dramatically, enabling confident menu pricing.
• Operational errors and miscounts effectively eliminated.
  
  

“It’s definitely paid for itself,” Carly said. “In both inventory control and ordering.”

And while the post-pandemic restaurant scene in Portland continues to evolve, Pine State Biscuits now has the visibility and flexibility to adapt confidently.

“We've been able to make menu price changes based on our new knowledge,” said Carly.

The Bottom Line

For Pine State Biscuits, MarketMan turned a time-consuming manual process into a fast, data-driven system that empowers both leadership and staff.

From guessing at costs to confidently setting prices, Carly and her team are reclaiming hours each day and redirecting that time where it matters most: serving customers and growing their beloved Southern-inspired brand.

“MarketMan has been such a huge help in just a lot of different aspects of the business,” Carly said.“I’d absolutely recommend it.”