Where people shop for goods?

[system]

I am asking this as I am confused when I read posts like Debbie’s about shopping at the local grocery stores for items. My question is are your distributors priced as high as the local shops? In theory the prices should be more competitive going through the dist than the local shops. I know Rest Depot is in a world of their own…but they are basically a dist that prices things on a pickup basis. Reading about shopping at Sams Club or similar actually shocks me a bit. I can see for the emergency “I ran out of” situation but not as my primary source. Having delt with many of direct suppliers and dist over the years I am curious as too what type of price differences you all see when dealing with the dist these days? :?:

 

[Daddio]

There are around 10 items that I pick up from Costco at a savings of around $100 a week over what my food service supplier would charge for the same items. Pineapple is one of those items at a savings of 25%. Sugar is another at a savings of 31%. Canola and Olive oil both come in at a saving of 28%.

I buy my soda from Wal-mart which is across the road from Costco. I save nearly $1 per 2Lt and $3 per 24 pack of cans compared to what Coke or Pepsi would charge me.

Since both stores are 15 minutes from my store and it takes me under an hour to hit both places I consider it a good business decision.

 

[Fire_Side_Pizza]

When I was in business, I used 2 main suppliers for most of my goods. I went to Sam’s Club for sale items and I shopped around for good Pepsi deals. Then, I went too Pepsi as a distributor because the store deals weren’t as good.

 

[Pizza_of_the_Month]

Sams Club has unbeatable prices on garbage bags, dressings, red hot, napkins, and some other items. I just switched to buying Frito Lay chips at Sams Club because there is a 46 cent difference in price per bag verses having them delivered by Frito Lay.

Sams Club has a service called fax and pull. You make an inventory list online at Samsclub.com and every time you need to go there you can order online the day before and they will have it on a cart for you the next day. You are in and out of there in 5 minutes.

As far as suppliers go I usually see a price difference between suppliers of around 10% on most inventory items and then there are some that make me shake my head because there is a 25% difference in price on the exact same item.

I usually use the local grocery store for emergency purchases of produce only. Sometimes you can get good deals on meats or drinks if they run a sale.

 

[system]

I find this all very interesting to say the least. As not a current owner of a restaurant but many year of experience in the food industry…I am shocked that distributors are not more price friendly. I understand that everyone is having to control costs and improve the bottom lines these day but it seems they will only price themselves out of the markets. I wonder when the big dist will start to disappear and places like Sams will start to deliver and carry items for institutiona consumption only.

 

[royster13]

I was talking to a local business the other day that was cut off by a supplier…They were buying in excess of 75,000.00 a year, however, another couple local businesses that used the same supplier had closed down…So the supplier no longer came into town…Sometimes that leaves you buying from wherever you can…

 

[Rick_G]

I too buy several items from Sam’s. Most to save money, some because my supplier keeps switching brands/quality, and one item which is about 20% more expensive than what my normal supplier offers but taste and texture is a lot better (at least to me).

As far as produce, I am lucky enough to be about 10 miles from the state farmers market. I get produce delivered daily by a vendor there. If price or quality becomes an issue I can drive down there and pick out what i want.

Cokes come from whoever has the best sale, I have not purchased a 2 liter from Coke in over a year because their pricing is, shall we be polite and say, a little on the high side. And by high I mean on stuff that could get you some serious prison time.

Rick

 

[LittleMissPizza]

We get deliveries twice a week from a local Italian food purveyor and farmers market/produce. Additionally, I go to the GFS Marketplace and pick up an order twice a week. We tried the GFS truck service once and found that it didn’t fit our needs as a growing company at the time because they require purchasing almost all items in bulk amounts. For example with truck service, instead of being able to buy 55 gallon trash bags one box at a time, we were required to purchase an entire case which would take us months to go through. I’m fairly certain within the next 6-9 months we will re-visit having truck service as our quantities have gone up substantially from what they were when we first tried the truck service. Plus, GFS offers a generous 8% CASH back on all Marketplace purchases all year long which is a nice little bonus/incentive for taking the time to go twice a week and pick up inventory.

As far as sundry items and can and 2-liter Coke products, I get those from Wal-mart or similar local stores.