Boulangerie Meva, Antananarivo: -30% Stock Loss in 3 Months

Context

Boulangerie Meva is an artisan bakery located in the Analakely neighbourhood, in the heart of Antananarivo. Founded in 2019 by Nirina Rakoto, it employs 6 people and produces bread, mofo gasy, pastries and cakes daily. In 2024, facing growing demand, Nirina was considering opening a second location in the Ivandry neighbourhood. The bakery sector in Madagascar benefits from a positive economic outlook supported by <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/madagascar/overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">national development initiatives</a>.

Problem

Before adopting Fournil, all management relied on a notebook and a calculator. Supplier orders were estimated by feel, with no reliable sales history. The result: <a href="/blog/reduce-stock-loss">25% stock loss</a>, mainly due to overproduction and spoilage of perishable ingredients. Nirina had no visibility on her real margins and spent her Sundays doing accounts manually. The idea of opening a second location seemed impossible without first getting the first one under control.

Solution

In March 2024, Nirina adopted Fournil for her point of sale, stock management and activity reports. Setup took 5 days: importing 45 recipes, configuring the initial stock and training the team. The POS module was operational from day one, and automatic stock tracking began producing usable data by the second week.

Results

Within 3 months, the results were significant. Stock loss dropped from 25% to 10%, thanks to spoilage alerts and production planning based on sales history. <a href="/blog/calculate-real-margins">Margins</a> improved by 18%, as Nirina identified 8 products being sold at a loss and adjusted their prices. The team saves 15 hours a week on admin tasks (stock counting, bookkeeping, reports). Building on these results, the second location opened in September 2024 with centralised management through Fournil.

Before Fournil, I didn't even know which products were actually making me money. Now I manage two shops from my phone and I've got my Sundays back.

Nirina Rakoto, Founder, Boulangerie Meva