Running a profitable restaurant, dark kitchen, or corporate catering operation has become increasingly difficult.
With rising inflation, it’s become harder for businesses to achieve and maintain profitability without cutting corners or sacrificing quality.
The cost of ingredients and other materials has gone up, making it necessary for restaurateurs to find creative ways to adjust their pricing and make their businesses more efficient.
More and more, foodservice operators are turning to Group Purchasing Organisations (GPOs) for cost savings in purchasing.
A GPO is a buying consortium that negotiates prices with suppliers on behalf of its members, making it easier for restaurants to purchase goods in bulk at a lower price than they could obtain directly from the supplier.
Restaurants don’t stop there. To manage their costs and increase efficiency, more and more food service companies are working with an inventory management system for F&B.
With a comprehensive understanding of the supply chain, restaurant groups can easily streamline ordering procedures, track usage, detect areas where resources are wasted, and reduce food loss overall.
By combining a GPO with top-notch inventory management software, restaurants can save costs, improve efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss how a GPO and F&B inventory software work together to create an effective cost savings strategy for restaurants and other food businesses.
Let’s get started!
Challenges Due To Inflation
Restaurant groups face various challenges due to increasing food costs.
With the rise in prices for ingredients, restaurant owners must find ways to keep their menus affordable while also ensuring quality. This often means cutting back on portion sizes, changing recipes, and shifting menu items to higher-priced items that yield greater profits. Additionally, restaurants must deal with the increase in labour costs and rising rent prices.
All of these factors can lead to reduced profit margins, making it difficult for restaurants to remain profitable while providing quality food at affordable prices. Ultimately, restaurant owners must find creative solutions to manage expenses while delivering a quality product and experience that keeps customers returning.
What is Group Purchasing Organisation?
A Group Purchasing Organisation (GPO) for the foodservice industry is an organisation that pools the purchasing power of its members to negotiate discounts on products and services from suppliers.
A GPO collects data on its members’ purchase histories, which allows it to negotiate lower costs and create economies of scale. Procurement Service Providers (PSP) is a synonym for a Group Purchasing Organisation. GPOs or PSPs provide an invaluable resource for foodservice businesses of all sizes, helping them reduce costs while maintaining quality standards.
GPOs can also help their members find the right suppliers for their needs, allowing them to purchase the highest-quality goods and services at the best prices. GPO members can also benefit from increased visibility in their industry and access to exclusive discounts. By leveraging their collective purchasing power, GPOs allow foodservice businesses to take advantage of lower costs that would not be available on the open market.
Overall, GPOs provide a great opportunity for foodservice businesses to save money and increase efficiency. By joining a GPO, foodservice businesses can benefit from lower costs and improved service.
Additionally, they gain access to valuable resources to help them maximize their budget and improve their bottom line.
The leading procurement service provider in Europe and the US is Entegra, a company from the Sodexo group. Customers realise average savings of 15% over suppliers’ list prices. The organisation works with more than 800 national and regional suppliers and has more than 1,200 customers in 10 countries. Entegra purchases €36 billion worth of goods for its customers every year.
What Is Inventory Management Software (and how does it help)?
Inventory management software for restaurants provides a comprehensive solution for streamlining and automating the inventory processes in foodservice operations.
This software helps reduce manual paperwork, manage ordering, track order fulfilment, and keep up-to-date records on inventory levels. It also aids in cost control by tracking costs associated with ingredients and other products used in the restaurant.
Additionally, it can help improve customer service by providing accurate information on inventory availability and real-time order fulfilment. Overall, this type of software enables restaurants to effectively manage their inventory, so they can provide a quality dining experience for their customers.
Apicbase is the leading restaurant inventory management software in Europe. The solution tracks inventory down to the raw material level and suggests data-driven purchase orders. Customers save an average of 7% per unit thanks to improved order accuracy.
Calculation
Cost savings from GPO (aka PSP) in combination with inventory management software.
Restaurant chain:
- 180 stores
- €33.000 – f&b purchases/store/week
- €5.940.000 – f&b purchases/week
- 22% – savings from PSP (15%) + inventory software (7%)
- €1.306.800 cost savings/week
5 Reasons Foodservice Operations Should Leverage The Buying Power of a GPO Together With Inventory Management Software
Here are five reasons why restaurants should partner with a procurement provider that also offers a top-notch inventory and purchasing solution:
1. Cost savings—By taking advantage of economies of scale, procurement service providers help restaurants save money by consolidating orders and taking advantage of supplier discounts. Coupled with inventory management software, restaurants can also reduce food waste by tracking usage and ensuring they don’t order too much or too little of any one item.
2. Streamlined ordering—By using a procurement service provider, restaurants can easily set up ordering patterns and more effectively manage purchasing decisions to ensure items are delivered on time. The use of F&B inventory management software allows managers to track the inventory in real-time, so they know exactly when they need to order more supplies.
3. Automated processes—Combining a procurement service provider and F&B inventory management software can help streamline many tedious manual ordering processes restaurants often have to do. With an automated system, orders are placed quickly and accurately, reducing the risk of human error.
4. Increased efficiency—With a procurement service provider and F&B inventory management software, restaurants can better manage their time by automating many ordering and inventory tracking processes. This can help free up more time for staff to focus on customer service, improving operational efficiency.
5. Improved customer satisfaction—By managing purchasing decisions and inventory more effectively, restaurants can reduce wait times and provide fresher food items to customers. This can lead to improved customer satisfaction and higher levels of repeat business.
Conclusion—Economies of Scale Combined With The Efficiency of Automation Yield Significant Cost-Savings
Working with a procurement service provider is an effective way for restaurateurs to sustain and grow their businesses.
By leveraging a GPO’s buying power and inventory management software’s efficiency, restaurants can greatly reduce food costs while improving customer service and operational efficiency. With these tools, restaurants can streamline ordering processes, automate tedious manual tasks, save money through economies of scale, increase efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.
Utilizing a procurement service provider and a top-notch inventory and purchasing solution can help restaurants better manage their business and provide customers with the best possible experience.
Let Apicbase Show You The Way
Streamline purchasing and inventory management in your restaurants to improve your bottom line and grow your business, even in tough times.
