In this interview with a difference, Ashley from Toast sits down with Oli from Brighton’s much-loved and multi-award winning Moksha Café to discuss the impact Toast POS has had on the business. From team adoption and day-to-day operations to service efficiency and business insights, Oli shares his honest experience of implementing the system and how it is helping Moksha streamline processes, support staff and deliver an even better experience for customers.
For anyone who hasn’t visited Moksha before, can you tell us a little about the business and what makes it unique?
Moksha is a family-owned brunch restaurant, and I think that’s what makes us different. We’re not a chain and we’re not backed by a large group – we’re a single-site independent where the owner is still working in the kitchen every day. We’ve built a very close-knit team and created the sort of place that we’d genuinely enjoy spending time in ourselves.
We’re incredibly proud to have recently won BRAVO Awards for both Best Team and Best Brunch, which we feel reflects the culture and standards we’ve worked hard to build over the years.
Brighton has a fantastic independent hospitality scene. What do you think has been the key to Moksha’s success?
For us, it always comes back to the quality of the food. We don’t take shortcuts.
Everything is cooked fresh on-site rather than reheated, and we’re very selective about the suppliers we work with.
For example, all of our eggs come from Rookery Farm because we believe they produce the best organic eggs available. Our sausages come from Bratter Sausage Company.
We obsess over the details because we believe customers can tell the difference.
What are some of the biggest operational challenges you face as a busy hospitality business today?
Finding and retaining great staff is probably the biggest challenge facing hospitality today. We’ve been fortunate to build a fantastic team, but it takes a lot of work and investment.
Hospitality staff often don’t get the credit they deserve.
It’s a highly skilled profession and when you have the right people in place, everything runs smoother.
When you don’t, the challenges quickly multiply.
Before moving to Toast, what systems were you using and what frustrations were you experiencing?
We were using ICRTouch. The main reason we started looking elsewhere was because technology was moving forward and we felt our existing platform wasn’t keeping pace.
We wanted things like digital loyalty, gift cards and modern guest engagement tools, but innovation felt very slow. We also found the reporting wasn’t particularly user-friendly, which made it difficult to get a clear overview of the business.
Operationally, we experienced issues with printers losing connection, screens freezing and tablets glitching. Training new team members could also be time-consuming because the system wasn’t particularly intuitive.
What were the most important things you were looking for in a new platform?
We wanted a long-term technology partner rather than just a software supplier.
Innovation was really important to us. We wanted a system that would continue improving and introducing new features over time. We also wanted tools that would help improve speed of service, support our staff and create a better experience for our guests.
Ultimately, we wanted to work with a company that shared our mindset of always looking for ways to improve.
What made Toast stand out from the other options you considered?
One of the standout features for us was Toast’s offline functionality. We’d experienced issues in the past with connectivity and reliability, so knowing the system could continue operating even if the internet went down gave us a huge amount of confidence.
How did you find the onboarding and migration process?
Honestly, it was much easier than we expected.
We had support throughout every stage of the process and having a dedicated point of contact gave us a lot of reassurance. During installation we had a couple of network-related issues, but they were resolved there and then on the call.
We installed four handhelds and three kitchen screens within a few hours, which genuinely surprised us. From signing the agreement to going live took around three weeks.
How quickly did your team adapt to the new system?
The team picked it up very quickly.
The handhelds feel modern and intuitive, and simple things like swipe functionality make taking orders much faster. Compared to systems we’ve used previously, the learning curve was minimal.
One feature the team particularly loves is the recall button on the Kitchen Display Screen. Being able to fulfil individual items and manage tickets more effectively has made a big difference to service.
Which Toast features have had the biggest impact on your day-to-day operation?
Without question, the Kitchen Display Screens.
We were actually quite sceptical about moving away from paper tickets initially, but now we wouldn’t go back. The visibility is far better, communication between front and back of house has improved and we’re no longer spending around £50 per month on printer rolls and paper.
How are the team finding the handheld devices compared to your previous setup?
They’ve been a huge improvement.
The swipe functionality makes taking orders quicker, the search feature is fantastic for new starters and having allergy information readily available is really useful.
We’ve also noticed fewer mistakes making their way to the kitchen and faster table turns during busy periods.
Since moving to Toast, what improvements have you noticed operationally?
We’ve seen fewer mistakes, faster service and better visibility across the business.
Our average spend per head has increased by around £1 since implementing Toast, we’ve seen a significant increase in loyalty sign-ups and our gift card programme is much easier to manage than before.
Has Toast helped you identify opportunities to increase revenue or improve performance?
Definitely.
The reporting and performance data has created some healthy competition amongst the team. Staff enjoy tracking metrics such as spend per head and customer reviews, and it’s encouraged everyone to be more engaged with guest experience and upselling.
Are there any examples where Toast has saved your team significant time or reduced manual admin?
Our accounting processes are much simpler now.
The integration with Xero has been excellent and the reconciliation is consistently accurate.
We have much more confidence in the data we’re looking at, which saves time and removes a lot of manual checking.
If another independent restaurant owner was considering changing their POS, what advice would you give them?
I’d absolutely recommend giving Toast a look.
Particularly if you’re using an older system, it’s worth seeing what’s available now. If you’re looking for a platform that can help you grow revenue, improve profitability and make operations easier, Toast can definitely help.
Some operators may worry about moving away from a local provider, but in our experience support has actually been faster. With our previous supplier, support was only available during office hours. Toast gives us access to support whenever we need it.
How do you plan to use Toast to leverage growth opportunities over the next 12–24 months?
We’ve only scratched the surface of the data available to us.
We’re already using reporting to monitor spend per head, ticket times and menu performance, and we see huge opportunities around menu engineering and operational improvements.
The visibility we now have allows us to make much more informed decisions on a daily basis.
What was your experience like working with Ashley and the Toast team throughout the process?
We’ve spoken to plenty of salespeople over the years who promised the world but couldn’t deliver.
What stood out with Ashley was that if he didn’t know the answer, he’d go away and find it.
He was honest from the start, never pushy and took the time to understand exactly what we needed before making recommendations.
How important was it having someone local who understands the Brighton hospitality scene?
It definitely helped.
Having somebody local who understands the Brighton market, knows the venues and appreciates the challenges operators face gave us additional confidence throughout the process.
If you had to sum up Toast in one sentence, what would you say to another restaurant owner considering making the switch?
Change for the better. As I said we were using ICRTouch before and wish we were able to move to Toast years ago.
The switch was far easier than we expected – a bit like transferring everything onto a new phone. You worry it’ll be difficult, but once it’s done you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
if you want to find out more about Toast you can contact Ashley on ashley.saunter@toasttab.com or call +447785768149