At Sourdough Sophia, they’ve always believed in bringing community and artisanal baking together. From their humble beginnings to their incredible growth, Sourdough Sophia has captured hearts (and taste buds) with their handcrafted sourdough creations. Now, with three new store openings on the horizon, they’re taking their passion to the next level—building a direct channel that turns their loyal community into owned revenue, while staying true to their identity as a founder-led business.
Stepping up their CRM
Over the past few months, Sourdough Sophia has been focused on building a CRM system that actually performs. With a fresh perspective brought in by their operations expert Sarah, the team has been putting structure around how they communicate with customers—ensuring every send has a purpose, a segment, and a measurable outcome. Partnering with Slerp has been central to this shift—giving the team a direct ordering channel, full customer data ownership, and a CRM built for hospitality that ties email activity directly to revenue.
Turning community into owned revenue
Sourdough Sophia’s growth isn’t just about more stores—it’s about knowing exactly who their customers are and having a direct line to them. The team used Slerp CRM to build a database of over 16,000 active contacts, segmented by behaviour and tied to real order history—intelligence that simply wasn’t available before.
Having that direct channel with Slerp has transformed how the team makes decisions around product drops, promotions, and marketing—with every campaign now pointing customers to order direct and every result clearly attributed back to revenue.
The team has also launched a digital loyalty programme, a crucial next step in deepening customer relationships. Loyalty allows Sourdough Sophia to connect directly with customers, track behaviour, and drive retention through personalised rewards and offers—all powered by the ordering data Slerp captures.
A balancing act
Scaling quickly can be daunting, but the Sourdough Sophia team is prepared for the challenges. Between the team’s deep passion, Sarah’s operational expertise, and founder-led guidance, they’re determined to grow without losing their heart.
“What we’re doing is big, and we’re doing it fast,” Sarah acknowledges. “But we’re committed to sticking to our roots. It’s all about preserving the ethos we’ve built while navigating the challenges of expansion. If we can maintain that balance, we’ll continue building something really special.”
The road ahead
Sourdough Sophia’s story is more than just one of quick growth—it’s a testament to what happens when a brand with genuine community finally owns the channel to reach them. With £8,711 in attributed revenue, 726 direct orders, and a 28.1% average open rate, their CRM is already delivering. They’re now not just focused on serving up exceptional bread but on creating a direct relationship with every customer who walks through their door—or orders from their sofa.
With new stores opening soon, a loyalty programme live, and a CRM that compounds with every order, there’s no doubt that Sourdough Sophia is on its way to building something that lasts—a bakery proving that success is as much about owning your customer relationships as it is about baking the perfect loaf.
Watch this space—great things are on the horizon for a bakery that’s proving passion, community, and a smart direct channel are a seriously winning combination.
