Austin News

Shutdowns to slow to spread of COVID-19 have affected almost all businesses in one way or another.  

Austin Patry, founder and owner of Rollin' n Bowlin', a cafe chain that specializes in healthy smoothies and açaí bowls, said it "drastically" impacted his business, but for the positive. 

Patry's cafes are mainly located on university campuses. When the colleges shut down, they too were forced to close.

"Unlike many other restaurants, unfortunately, we were not allowed to enter our space or do takeout," Patry told Austin News. "All revenue came to a halt, and the majority of our student work force didn't come back to campus."

Patry said some universities have since reopened with limited capacity; however, some are still shuttered meaning the restaurants on those campuses haven't reopened and don't have a takeout option because of it. Despite those challenges Patry said they're trying to "make it work."

"Our team at Rollin' n Bowlin' is very optimistic and opportunistic, so we see this current situation as a time to grow and develop new ideas we may not have executed on if it wasn't for COVID," he said. 

One idea they've run with is freezing single servings of their smoothie and açaí bowls in pouches that are shipped across the country. Patry said they came up with that plan as soon as it was rumored some university campuses would not reopen. 

"Within a month and a half, we developed new recipes and branding, custom built an e-commerce platform and officially launched a new business with all of the logistical challenges of shipping frozen items across the country," Patry said.

Pretty soon the pouches idea that was aimed at keeping Rollin' n Bowlin' economically viable during challenges brought on by pandemic restrictions will be launched on the national retail market. 

"We are incredibly excited for the upside potential," he said.