How Many Food Vendors Do You Use?

[rgjujitsu]

I most be crazy then, or maybe since I’m in a large market there’s more reps and competition. Either way I’ve spent time developing recipes, organized walk in coolers, and helped people develop budgets. It’s safe to say that the vast majority of Independents don’t take inventory or have budgets. I could make more money if I did less, but this is the part of the job I enjoy.

For 19 years the service from our two main vendors has been indistinguishable. Both reps would stop in weekly, both found new products, both would take orders to 3PM and deliver the next day.

Times are changing. NOBODY around does what you describe. Both vendors went from three reps down to two to cover the 100 restaurants around here. The reps tell accounts order online or call the company. They certainly will not hang out writing orders or even entering them.

When you can’t tell the service about, price is the differentiator. I don’t buy the argument from rep that if I give them all the business they will give me better service any more than I buy employees telling me " if you pay me more I will work harder. That is just not how it works.

Kill me with service and give me the best pricing on most things for 6 months and we will talk.

 

[Daddio]

On some items sure, but there are certainly quality house brands out there that will save you significant money over branded. During my training they sent us to a competitors retail outlet and had us pick 10 house brand items. Then we compared them even things as innocuous as red pepper flakes, breaded mushrooms, and canned green beans. There is high quality house brand stuff out there that offers big savings. Some distributors just carry the cheap shit because nose people just care about price.

The big problem I have with house brands is the high likelihood that it will change when the contract with their supplier is up. This happened with a major suppliers tomato sauce recently. The rep tried to get me to switch from Stanislaus to their house brand. I told them the house brand was not as good when I compared them before I opened. The reply was “We change suppliers and it is different now”. That is not what I wanted to hear.

 

[December]

Having owned my own place and now doing sales for a major distributor I’ve seen both sides. You will certainly get the best price on items by spreadsheeting every week. But lowest cost doesn’t always mean the best value. Like most people I always thought a #10 can of artichokes is a #10 can of artichokes no matter the supplier. Being on the other side now I know that’s not the truth. IsIt really a pain in the ass but if I were to do it over again I would take the time to go item by item and make the choice. A lot of cheaper places play games with pack sizes, volume, and water weight. Really the games are endless. Sure brand names are consistent, but house brands very wildly. Another thing to consider is added value. Is your salseman always keeping you up on trends, bringing you ideas from his research, and helping train your staff if need be? To me that’s worth something. I’m crazy but I go in one of my customers 4 days a week and fill out his orders for him. He’s new and really busy. I’ve saved him thousands already and helped him streamline production for a better guest experience. Most of the older salesmen around just don’t have that relevant skill set or don’t care to, but it’s my favorite part of the job. Bringing value to my customers just like when I was selling pizza, but I’m not the cheapest.

I hear what youre saying about checking drained weights of canned items etc. I make sure Im compairing apples to apples in my planning.
Also I like the reps that bring in those pamphlets with new menu ideas, theyre fun to look at, TBH though sometimes I feel the reps arent on the same wavelength as me on what we are and what we sell.
Sysco brings me pamphlets all the time of food that would be served at a sit down restaurant not a delco like me. I just want to yell -do you actually think im going to sell a bon mi sandwhich wrapped in a piece of twine served on a bed of arcadian blend salad mix that my average blue collar customer wont care about. Its like theyre constanly trying to push me to be a corporate rrestaurant

 

[rgjujitsu]

Most of the salesmen have never owned business or run a restaurant. And it’s obvious.

 

[URNUTS]

That’s funny- I get the same crap from US Foods… brochures, suggestions, etc that are staggeringly irrelevant to what I do… or try to do.
Rep is helpful, but the vibe from other/all materials is ***** dining.

 

[pizzapirate]

On some items sure, but there are certainly quality house brands out there that will save you significant money over branded. During my training they sent us to a competitors retail outlet and had us pick 10 house brand items. Then we compared them even things as innocuous as red pepper flakes, breaded mushrooms, and canned green beans. There is high quality house brand stuff out there that offers big savings. Some distributors just carry the cheap shit because nose people just care about price.

My issue with house brands is that they can change them at any time without notice.

 

[David_DeSantis]

Ok… so this one is right up my alley…

Years ago I caught my Sysco Rep changing prices on marginal items on me so I wrote a macro in excel that helped me keep track of the order guides that I was maintaining with 2 companies… The macro in excel blew me away, saving me $445 the first time I used it… and then I made it so it could track 3 suppliers price lists for my pizza business and the savings went through the roof…

Recently I bit the bullet and sold my pizzerias folks… Not easy to think about doing when it’s all you have ever done… I sold my pizzerias and turned my thirty years experience in pizza supply purchasing, the experience I gained, as a younger man, as a street sales rep, for Sofo Foods, and that macro, i nto software that solves this issue for anyone… Some of you have seen me trying to build my software company, Www.CherryPickPrices.com[/URL] and many of you are actually now my software clients. I will gladly help anyone who sees this post, personally… I will lend you some insight to how your business may be affected by what I call the Restaurant Profit Murder Zone, (you can read about the murder zone on my Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/CherryPickPrices/posts/861139970739285

 

[Patrick_Fruin]

Ok… so this one is right up my alley…

Years ago I caught my Sysco Rep changing prices on marginal items on me so I wrote a macro in excel that helped me keep track of the order guides that I was maintaining with 2 companies… The macro in excel blew me away, saving me $445 the first time I used it… and then I made it so it could track 3 suppliers price lists for my pizza business and the savings went through the roof…

Recently I bit the bullet and sold my pizzerias folks… Not easy to think about doing when it’s all you have ever done… I sold my pizzerias and turned my thirty years experience in pizza supply purchasing, the experience I gained, as a younger man, as a street sales rep, for Sofo Foods, and that macro, i nto software that solves this issue for anyone… Some of you have seen me trying to build my software company, Www.CherryPickPrices.com[/URL] and many of you are actually now my software clients. I will gladly help anyone who sees this post, personally… I will lend you some insight to how your business may be affected by what I call the Restaurant Profit Murder Zone, (you can read about the murder zone on my Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/CherryPickPrices/posts/861139970739285

 

[David_DeSantis]

I’m going to check that out. Will you be at the pizza expo?

Hey Patrick… I will not be there this year… Just signed up 146 unit chain that ended my hopes of going to the show this year… Helping pizza folks is what I love to do best so if you would like to talk about your suppliers for a few minutes, I know I can help you! Even simple things that you would never think about, like Rebate Tracking… Who does it? The rebates go unclaimed in most instances because no one tracks them… Cherry tracks Manufacturer, Overall Supplier and Line Item Rebates no matter whom you buy the item from… Trade show rebates can put lots of dinero in your pockets brother…

Price comparison is awesome and important, but the ancillary features may be even more valuable… Each week Cherry shows you every single price that changed for each supplier… You can upload your invoices and it checks to make sure the rep didn’t change the price of an item between the time you ordered it and when they entered the order… We regularly catch invoice prices that are significantly different than the price that was on the order guide at the beginning of the week… There is only one way that can happen… It’s pretty messed up sometimes actually… I had a client tell a rep that was in his wedding party to never come back to his restaurant again or he would kick his ______. I could tell you stories that would make you cringe and will if we work together!

Best to you and your pizzeria… If you go to the show you should check out John Scully’s Booth, Www.PizzaCloud.net… It is the best product we ever put in our shops and also say hi to Bruce Irving, from Smart Pizza Marketing… He is a wealth of knowledge and coolness… Peace and Prosperity… Dave