Purchasing
– The cornerstone
of food quality and cost control. Sound purchasing practices ensure that
all products are efficiently accounted for, purchased from reputable vendors
at competitive prices, and comply with your internal quality benchmarks.
Purchase Specifications
There must be a detailed, accurate specification for all products purchased.
Product weights, counts, brand names, handling temperatures, Meat Buyer’s
Guide Numbers, fabrication specifications, acceptable bacteria/food borne
organism counts, pack sizes and packaging, etc. should all be a part of
any sound product specification. Additionally, acceptable substitutions
in the event a product is out of stock, is important in maintaining cost
and quality consistency.
Accurate product specifications are a MUST in order to competitively compare vendor costs when requesting bids from various suppliers.
Finally, each restaurant location should maintain an accurate specification listing, and all management should be trained and knowledgeable of all products purchased. This will aid immensely in the purchasing of product, but as importantly the delivery of product and verification of quality and quantity that is to be received.
Use Only Reputable
Vendors/Suppliers
Research the company – get references and ask a lot of questions:
Do they have a HACCP program in place? Are they inspected and certified
by an independent outside organization (e.g. American Institute Of Baking)?
What is there ‘fill rate’ (what percentage of an order is
accurately delivered, on average)? What are their cost structures (percentage
mark-up or case mark-up)? What are the ‘hidden’ costs of a
‘cost plus’ program? These and many other questions should
be considered during your selection process.
Also, you can deal with a ‘main-line’ distributor – e.g. Sysco, who carry thousands of products available for purchase – or a ‘closed-loop’ distributor – e.g. MBM, who will stock only those products you specify. There are advantages and challenges with both, so be sure to investigate each type thoroughly.
Contract Purchasing
If volume permits, a great way to control product quality and costs is
to ‘forward buy’, or contract over some reasonable period
of time a set price for high volume products. It could be contracting
for produce, meats, poultry, fats and oils, or any other products where
seasonal or unexpected cost increases significantly increase food costs.
Delivery Frequency
Evaluate the number of deliveries needed each week by all vendors. We
often see an unnecessary number of deliveries from the same vendor, which
can cause increased product costs. After all, it costs the vendor considerable
dollars to load, stop and deliver product. Additionally, your cost of
labor and accounting increases due to additional inventories taken, orders
placed, deliveries checked in and products stored, invoices posted and
paid, and checks written. It can cost up to $ 70.00 per invoice, simply
to pay for the ‘accounts payable’ function of your business.
Sound Internal
Ordering Systems
Start with a well-organized order guide, created internally or supplied
by your vendors. All the information a manager or chef needs to accurately
and efficiently place orders should be included on the guide: vendor name,
vendor contact information, order and delivery days, order cut-off times,
and columns that allow for the recording of ‘par’ stocks (the
minimum inventory, based on projected sales volume to be sure you don’t
run out of product), on-hand quantities, and order quantities.
Maintain order guides for all vendors in a purchasing binder, with each vendor separated by a divider tab. Using this method keeps everything well organized, and allows for storing of old order guides that can be used for future reference if necessary. Also, all managers know where to go and have access to all the information pertinent to the purchasing function.
Organize all storage areas to make product inventories accurate and efficient. Stored products and order guide listings should be in the same or similar order, so the individual taking inventory does not need to ‘jump around’ in order to get the job done.
Once inventories and purchase quantities are determined, accurately place the order via phone, FAX or e-mail. As products are ordered, circle the quantity to be sure nothing is missed. Many distributors now offer web-based services, allowing for orders to be placed electronically through their intranet portals. Most importantly, select a process that is the most efficient for your organization, and ensures the highest degree of accuracy possible.
New technology, fast becoming available at reasonable costs, allows for the use of bar code scanners, which significantly enhance the inventory taking and order placement process. Shelf tags are scanned to identify the product on the shelf, and then the quantity on hand is input into the hand held device. The inventory is ‘downloaded’ to a computer, where quantities to be ordered are determined, based on pre-established ‘par stocks’. Once completed, the order can be sent electronically to the vendor, with a confirmation following that details any ‘short’ or ‘out-of-stock’ products, price changes, etc.
As we stated at the outset, sound purchasing practices are critical to the successful operation of any food service operation. Inefficiencies and lack of ‘best practices’ will certainly impact both your guests and the bottom line.
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