Detroiters can now have Detroit-style pizza from Elephant & Co. in Eastern Market and beer from Eastern Market Brewing Co. delivered directly to their doors via elephantand.com.
According to Elephant & Co., the restaurant has found a way to carve out a niche by allowing local craft beer to be delivered alongside its pizza, something no one else is doing.
The brewery is baking pizza in the licensed kitchen while waiting for its microbrewer’s permit to be processed by the state.
During the early days of the pandemic, Eastern Market Brewing Co. consolidated its production to its sister location, Ferndale Project, and used its self-distribution infrastructure, including vehicles and logistics software, to deliver beer to people’s homes.
At one point, the company added Detroit-style pizza to great success, says Dayne Bartscht, founder of Eastern Market Brewing Co. So much so, the brewery had to pause the offering because it couldn’t keep up with demand from the small convection oven in the Ferndale Project kitchen.
“The success of pizza and beer in the early pandemic days has always been in the back of my mind,” says Bartscht. “Over the last few years, we focused on scaling beer production and expanding our self-distribution footprint in Michigan. That set the stage for this phase of our business: reintroducing direct-to-consumer delivery.”
Because Eastern Market Brewing Co. self-distributes, it is licensed to deliver beer and also, have a fleet of vehicles available and the logistics know-how to optimize their delivery routes, says Bartscht.
“Starting in the beer business, we were already experts in fermentation, and we then took many of the same brand strategies that have allowed us to become one of the fastest-growing breweries in Michigan, and carried them over to pizza,” says Pauline Knighton-Prueter, vice president of sales of marketing for Eastern Market Brewing Co. “Specifically, focusing on freshness above all of us, sourcing our ingredients as locally as possible, and releasing new varieties regularly.”
The initial delivery radius is set to 1.5 miles from its 456 Charlotte location, which includes Eastern Market and downtown Detroit as well as Midtown and Cass Corridor neighborhoods.
The team plans to expand that radius to include all of Detroit by month’s end. For those outside of the radius, pizza can also be ordered for pick up at Eastern Market Brewing Co.
“This is just the start,” says Bartscht. “In addition to expanding our delivery radius to encompass all of Detroit, we anticipate our kitchen in Royal Oak to open later this month, introducing food at that Elephant & Co. location. Not only will Detroit-style pizza be available onsite, but we’ll further expand our delivery radius to include Royal Oak, Ferndale, and beyond.”
Work continues in parallel on the former Founders Brewing Co. location at 456 Charlotte, with construction starting in the coming weeks to support a spring public opening.
