You Need To Know Your Customer Retention Rate

Analyze and improve customer retention in your food business.

Published:
Jul 2025

Picture this: someone tries your homemade jam at the farmers market, raves about how it's the best they've ever tasted, buys three jars, and promises to be back next week. They never return. Sound familiar?

Here's the counterintuitive truth about food businesses: loving your product doesn't guarantee customer loyalty. Your jam might be sitting in their pantry right now, half-finished, while they bought grocery store jam twice since then simply because they forgot you existed.

Welcome to the food business retention challenge that nobody talks about. While tech companies worry about daily active users and subscription services track monthly churn, food businesses operate in a completely different universe where exceptional products can have terrible retention rates.

Why Food Business Retention Is Different

Memory fades between purchases. When someone finishes your salsa, they might genuinely intend to buy more. But three weeks later at the grocery store, they grab the familiar brand that's right at eye level. Out of sight, out of mind.

Frequency doesn't equal loyalty. A customer who buys your pasta sauce every three months isn't necessarily less loyal than one who buys coffee daily. Food consumption patterns are inherently irregular and seasonal.

Taste preferences shift constantly. Customers don't abandon your bakery because they suddenly hate your croissants. They try a new diet, develop a health concern, or simply want variety.

Location dependency hits hard. Farmers market businesses lose customers who move, change weekend routines, or simply forget which Saturday you're there.

Seasonality destroys traditional metrics. A hot soup business might have 90% retention during winter and 10% during summer. Both numbers are meaningless without context.

How to Calculate Customer Retention Rate for Food Businesses

Customer Retention Rate (CRR) = ((E - N) ÷ S) x 100

  • E = customers at end of period
  • N = new customers gained during period
  • S = customers at start of period

Food business considerations:

  • Choose periods that match buying patterns (season-to-season for seasonal products)
  • Define "customer" clearly (anyone who's bought? bought twice? bought recently?)
  • Account for natural buying cycles (pumpkin bread customers who return next October)

Example: A farmers market vendor starts the season with 150 regular customers, gains 75 new repeat customers, and ends with 180 total repeat customers.CRR = ((180 - 75) ÷ 150) x 100 = 70%

Top 5 Retention Strategies That Actually Work

1. Stay Visible Between Purchases

The visibility gap destroys food businesses. Your product isn't used daily like toothpaste.

Tactics that work:

  • Email recipes using your products (memory, not selling)
  • Social media cooking tips and seasonal inspiration
  • Business cards that double as recipe cards
  • Magnets with your market schedule for refrigerators

2. Increase Usage Frequency

Focus on how often customers use your products, not just how often they buy.

Proven approaches:

  • Recipe education: show multiple ways to use your hot sauce
  • Pairing suggestions: which wines go with your cheese
  • Seasonal adaptation: summer salsa in winter chili recipes
  • Cross-product inspiration: how your spice blend works in different cuisines

3. Build Purchasing Habits

Create routine around your products and presence.

Habit-forming strategies:

  • Subscription or Community Box models for regular deliveries
  • Consistent farmers market presence (same time, same place)
  • Limited-time offers that create urgency
  • Seasonal product launches customers anticipate

4. Master the First Purchase Experience

Many customers want to return but can't remember your business name or location.

First-purchase essentials:

  • Clear follow-up with storage tips and next market date
  • Start with one product, introduce others gradually
  • Seasonal communication when you return after breaks
  • Make your contact information memorable and accessible

5. Build Community Beyond Transactions

Food is inherently social. Connected customers stay longer.

Community-building tactics:

  • Educational content about ingredients and techniques
  • Behind-the-scenes transparency about sourcing and process
  • Participation in local food events and collaborations
  • Recipe sharing that builds expertise and engagement

5 Food Business Retention Metrics That Actually Matter

Track metrics that reflect how people actually consume food:

1. Purchase frequency by product type

Condiments: quarterly. Baked goods: weekly. Specialty items: annually. Set different retention expectations for each.

2. Seasonal retention rates

Compare fall-to-fall or summer-to-summer for seasonal businesses. Month-to-month comparisons are often meaningless.

3. Product variety per customer

Customers who buy multiple products have higher retention. Track cross-selling success.

4. Recipe engagement correlation

Customers who engage with cooking content have dramatically higher retention rates.

5. Referral generation rate

Food businesses rely on word-of-mouth. Track customers who bring friends—they're your most valuable.

When Low Retention Isn't Actually a Problem

Some food businesses naturally have low retention rates:

Special occasion businesses: Wedding cakes, holiday catering—customers don't need services frequently

Tourist-heavy locations: Farmers markets in vacation areas serve mostly one-time visitors by design

Seasonal specialty products: Pumpkin spice, holiday cookies—customers wait for next season

Premium positioning: Ultra-high-end artisan products might be once-yearly purchases

The Food Business Retention Reality Check

Customer retention isn't just about keeping customers—it's about staying relevant in their food choices over time. This requires understanding that food consumption is personal, emotional, and constantly evolving.

The most successful food businesses focus on becoming part of customers' food identity rather than just another product option. When customers think "I'm someone who shops at farmers markets" or "I'm someone who values artisan ingredients," your business benefits from that identity alignment.

The goal isn't arbitrary retention percentages—it's building sustainable relationships with customers who value what you create and will continue choosing your products as their needs evolve.

Your amazing jam customer who disappeared? They might return in six months when they remember how much they loved it, or recommend you to a friend, or seek you out for holiday gifts. In food businesses, retention works on longer timelines and through more complex relationship patterns than traditional business metrics capture.

I produce our product on demand to sustain the brand and prioritize cash flow, avoiding excess inventory. That’s why I’m a client.
Catherine Chen
Founder, CC Spicy

Catherine Chen
Founder, CC Spicy

Frequently
Asked Questions

Find answers to common questions about booking kitchen space.

Who is Syzl for?

Syzl is for anybody who needs certified kitchen space.

Are you a home cook who needs a bigger kitchen for an event? Maybe you're a professional chef who needs a kitchen for recipe testing, or maybe you're a new food entrepreneur looking to expand your menu offerings but are worried about provincial regulations.

No matter who you are, we have you covered if you need a kitchen.

Do I need insurance?

Many Kitchen Hosts on Syzl require that Food Makers have (and provide proof of) $2-5 million in Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance to book and use their kitchen. Likewise, Syzl strongly recommends that you obtain insurance for yourself/your business so that you are protected in the event that you are found legally responsible for injuries caused to another person or damage to their property.

Syzl has partnered with Zensurance to recommend various types of insurance coverage specific to small businesses in the food industry. They have specialized experience with this category and will help you tailor a policy to work for your business.

How do I get paid for my kitchen?

Ready to accept bookings? Let’s ensure you are set up to receive compensation! Syzl partners with Stripe in order to complete secure payments.

Set up your wallet

Before you start receiving payments, you need to set up your Wallet directly in the Syzl app. Please ensure you have a piece of ID on hand (i.e. passport, driver’s licence, or ID card)

Here’s how:

  1. Sign in to the Syzl app and navigate to ‘Wallet’.
  2. Once you select ‘Wallet’, you’ll need to select ‘get a stripe account’.
  3. Enter your email and phone number. Stripe will use your phone number to send a verification code.
  4. Once you’ve entered your verification code, you’ll be prompted to enter your legal name, date of birth, and home address.
  5. After this, you’ll have to select which bank account you want to use to receive payouts.
  6. Enter your account details, including the transit number, institution number, and account number. Double check that the numbers are accurate before submitting.
  7. At this point you’ll be asked to verify your identification by uploading a piece of ID.

That’s it, you’ve set up your wallet and can start receiving payments!

How much does it cost?

At Syzl, our mission is to provide affordable access to certified kitchens for Food Makers of all types, from professional chefs to new entrepreneurs and everyone in between!

Signing up and browsing our app is completely free! 💪 Here are the expenses you will incur when you find a kitchen you want to rent:

  • Hourly rates will vary by kitchen. Kitchen Hosts have the final say regarding what it costs to use their space. Kitchen Hosts are encouraged to set their rates to suit their individual business needs while considering what their kitchen offers to Food Makers regarding location, specialized equipment, availability, etc.
  • Sales tax will be calculated on the total and is visible on your receipt. We recommend contacting your accountant if you have questions about charging or paying sales tax for your business.
  • A Maker booking fee of 4% is also applicable to each booking. This fee is calculated on the amount before tax and is also visible on your receipt. Please get in touch with your business accountant to determine how your business might handle claiming this expense.

Are the kitchens clean?

Cleaning up thoroughly after your booking is a great way to build good will with your host for future bookings

Do I need to clean up when I'm done?

Definitely! It is your responsibility as a maker to leave the space the way you found it when you arrived.

We add an additional hour to your booking (2 hours if your booking is 8+ hours), so you have enough time to thoroughly clean the space when you're done. We also allow, where available, an extension of time should you be running short at the end of your booking.

What happens if the space wasn’t clean when I arrived?

If the space was not clean when you arrived, please take pictures as evidence and forward them to our team so that we can get in touch with the host.