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“At the end of the day, it’s taking our time back—so we can operate our business instead of worrying about the phone ringing every two seconds.”
About the Business
Cocktail Garnish launched in 2020, coming out of the pandemic. The founder was working as a bartender when bars and restaurants shut down, and the financial pressure forced a rethink. With income suddenly uncertain, the goal became clear: build something that wouldn’t leave their future at the mercy of external shutdowns.
The original idea was simple—drying fruit garnishes used behind the bar. A single test batch was listed for sale and sold out within 24 hours, which gave the signal to go all-in. Today, Cocktail Garnish sells B2B to bars, restaurants, hotels, casinos, and stadiums.
The Day-to-Day Reality
This is a physical operations business, so the day starts on the floor—checking equipment, monitoring refrigeration, and making sure temperatures are correct. If something isn’t running properly, it immediately becomes a problem.
“Walking into the facility and checking to make sure the fridge is running correctly… proper temperature… otherwise we have a problem.”
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From there, the work shifts to email, order management, and customer service. The business does not rely on inbound calls to take orders. Orders mostly come through email or online channels. Phone calls are typically exceptions, usually when something has gone wrong with an order.
The Problem They Needed to Solve
Two issues were creating constant friction. First, spam and irrelevant calls were draining attention—each interruption, even brief, pulled focus away from operations. Beside now filters those calls automatically, eliminating the need to screen unknown numbers.
Second, when real customers called, it was usually because something had gone wrong: a late delivery, a missing item, or order confusion. In those moments, speed and context matter, and having immediate access to order details is critical.
“When there’s a problem, they call. Beside asks ‘what’s the order number’ — then I get to see it very clearly.”
Beside captures that information upfront so the team can act without chasing basics.
How They Use Beside
Beside filters spam before it reaches the team and captures context as soon as a real call comes in, so follow-ups start informed instead of reactive. Rather than staying glued to the phone, the founder reviews the daily summary to catch anything urgent or unusual, reducing mental load without losing visibility.
Even when available to answer live, he sometimes lets the transcript start first to understand the issue before engaging. In one case, a customer called about a missing order; because the details were captured immediately, the team quickly saw it had been delivered to the wrong location and moved straight to resolution. The value wasn’t automation for its own sake—it was speed with context.
A Concrete Example
A customer called saying an order hadn’t arrived. Because Beside captured the details immediately, the team quickly confirmed the package had been delivered—but to the wrong location—and moved straight into resolution.
What Changed
The biggest impact wasn’t more sales directly—it was time and focus. The founder feels less pressure to constantly monitor the phone and experiences fewer interruptions throughout the day.
He also estimates that Beside significantly reduced the number of times he had to check or touch his phone during the day. This is a personal estimate, not a tracked metric, but it reflects a noticeable change in daily flow.
Customization
Cocktail Garnish trained Beside on its product catalog and common customer questions. Since the platform has evolved, the founder plans to revisit and refine the setup to take advantage of newer capabilities.
What’s Next
The company is pushing toward national distribution, expanding across hospitality venues and retail. Many customers may already have encountered their garnishes without realizing it.
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At a Glance
- Business: Cocktail Garnish (B2B dried fruit garnishes)
- Customers: Bars, restaurants, hotels, casinos, stadiums
- Calls: Mostly customer-service exceptions
- Before: constant phone checking and spam distraction
- Now: spam filtering, structured intake, daily summaries, live transcript preview
- Impact: more time back, faster issue resolution