Rome’s first group specialized in Japanese catering, Daruma was founded in 2003 by three Roman brothers: Alessio, Daniele and Dennis Tesciuba, with the mission of making quality Japanese cuisine familiar in the Italian tradition.

Initially based only on home deliveries, the Daruma concept evolved in 2005 with the first take-away store. Then, in 2009 - after the huge success of the format - took place the first real restaurant. Today Daruma has five restaurants in Rome, two take-away, an e-commerce and recently opened its first restaurant abroad, based in Dubai: an omnichannel formula that allows it to offer 100% Japanese cuisine made with exclusively Italian quality products.

But, how was it possible for a delivery service to turn into a successful restaurant format? It's partly due to the tools provided by Tilby: from the integrations with the delivery service to the constantly updated points collection. Dennis Tesciuba, co-founder of Daruma, tells us in more detail.

In which way the digitalization of processes allowed you to expand your own business and helped you to face the Covid-19 emergency?
Cloud software such as Tilby, because of its intuitiveness and ease of use, has helped us greatly in streamlining work in the restaurant and increasing productivity. This was especially the case during the pandemic period, when home deliveries increased considerably. In particular, Tilby’s integration with JustEat, Glovo, Deliveroo e Deliverect, which allows us to accept orders from different platforms and easily track new orders, has enabled the staff to  simplify and speed up procedures, and focus more on in-store customers.

How does Tilby help you in your relationship with customers?
Tilby has been very helpful in managing our loyalty program. With the Daruma card, which sees thousands of members, we reward our loyal customers with discounts at the checkout and zero cost on home deliveries, through the accumulation of points with every purchase at restaurants, e-commerce or take-away. In this regard, Tilby allows us to manage points collection in a very smoothly way, always keeping customers’ scores current at all times, and keeping them up to date on promotions and new recipes.