Foodservice savings refer to cost reductions or financial benefits achieved within the foodservice industry. This term encompasses various strategies, practices, and initiatives implemented by businesses in the foodservice sector to minimize expenses while maintaining or improving the quality of their products and services.

The goal of foodservice savings is to increase profitability and efficiency by identifying opportunities to save money in areas such as procurement, operations, and waste reduction. They offer flexibility and adaptability, empowering businesses to allocate resources strategically, respond to market changes, and explore new ventures.

Here are some common areas where foodservice savings can be realized:

1. Procurement: Negotiate better prices with suppliers, establishing contracts, bulk purchasing, and sourcing ingredients from local or sustainable suppliers can result in cost savings.
2. Menu Engineering: Analyze the profitability and popularity of menu items to optimize pricing, portion sizes, and ingredient usage. This ensures that high-cost items are balanced by more profitable options and reduces waste.
3. Inventory Management: Implement efficient inventory control systems, accurately forecasting demand, reducing overstocking and food spoilage, and minimizing storage costs.
4. Operational Efficiency: Streamline kitchen operations, optimizing staff scheduling, minimizing energy consumption, and utilizing technology or automation to improve productivity and reduce labor costs.
5. Waste Reduction: Implement waste management strategies such as composting, recycling, and food donation programs to minimize food waste, which directly reduces costs associated with purchasing and disposal.
6. Training and Education: Provide staff with proper training on food handling, portion control, and efficient practices that can minimize food waste and ensure the optimal use of ingredients.
7. Equipment and Technology: Invest in energy-efficient equipment, using automated systems for inventory tracking and ordering, and leveraging technology to streamline processes, reducing manual labor and costs.

Focusing on these areas and implementing effective cost-saving measures, foodservice operators can enhance their financial performance, increase profitability, and remain competitive in the industry.

At Consolidated Concepts, we’re experts in helping multi-unit restaurant operators achieve foodservice savings through various strategies and solutions, such as:

• Group Purchasing: Consolidated Concepts leverages the collective purchasing power of multi-unit restaurants to negotiate better prices with suppliers. By joining their group purchasing program, restaurant operators can access cost savings on a wide range of food and beverage products, kitchen supplies, equipment, and services.
• Menu Analysis and Optimization: Consolidated Concepts offers menu engineering services, where they analyze the profitability and popularity of menu items. By identifying high-cost, low-margin items and suggesting alternatives or portion adjustments, they help optimize menus for increased profitability and reduced food costs.
• Supplier Management: The company assists restaurant operators in managing their supplier relationships. They conduct supplier audits, negotiate contracts, and provide ongoing support to ensure operators receive the best pricing and service from their suppliers.
• Data Analytics and Reporting: Consolidated Concepts provides advanced data analytics tools and reporting systems to help restaurant operators gain insights into their purchasing patterns, cost trends, and areas of potential savings. This information enables operators to make data-driven decisions and identify opportunities for cost reduction.
• Training and Education: The company offers training programs and educational resources to restaurant operators and their staff. These programs focus on best practices for food purchasing, inventory management, portion control, waste reduction, and other areas related to foodservice savings.
• Technology Solutions: Consolidated Concepts provides access to technology platforms and tools designed to streamline restaurant operations and enhance efficiency. These solutions include inventory management systems, automated ordering platforms, and cost control software, which can help operators optimize their processes and reduce expenses.

Leveraging foodservice savings is of paramount importance as they contribute to the financial stability, competitiveness, and growth potential of your foodservice businesses. They enable businesses to optimize costs, improve profitability, adapt to market changes, and reinvest in their operations.

By embracing foodservice savings, businesses can operate more efficiently, provide value to customers, and align with sustainability and social responsibility principles.

When a restaurant operator joins Consolidated Concepts, they benefit from years of industry expertise, purchasing power, and foodservice saving strategies to improve financial performance and increase profitability.

The restaurant industry can be fiercely competitive, especially for multi-unit operators who must navigate the complexities of managing several locations simultaneously. One of the most critical factors in running a profitable multi-unit restaurant business is procurement, which involves sourcing and purchasing the necessary ingredients, supplies, and equipment for each location.

However, with so many moving parts, it can be challenging for multi-unit operators to optimize their procurement strategies and stay ahead of the game. One of the most significant challenges for multi-unit restaurant operators is achieving consistency across all locations. This is especially true when it comes to procurement, where variations in quality and availability can impact everything from menu offerings to customer satisfaction.

To overcome this challenge, it’s essential to establish a standardized procurement process that can be applied consistently across all locations. This includes identifying preferred vendors, negotiating favorable pricing, and streamlining ordering and delivery logistics.

You can’t do all of that manually. In order to get a consistent procurement process created, you need to leverage technology. Procurement technology has become a foodservice must-have to ensure your multi-unit locations are all sourcing the same high-quality ingredients and supplies in order to maintain consistent menu offerings and customer experience.

Some key procurement insights in foodservice include identifying preferred vendors, negotiating favorable pricing, streamlining the ordering process, having visibility into logistics, establishing standardized procurement processes, and monitoring procurement performance metrics. By leveraging these insights, foodservice operators can optimize their procurement strategies and ultimately drive success in their businesses.

A customer doesn’t want to have the world’s best Caesar salad one visit, and the worst Caesar salad the next. You want that customer to be equally satisfied with every visit – no matter the location.

At Consolidated Concepts, our industry leading foodservice technology can help you create the consistency your brand needs to maintain quality and service in every area at each of your locations. From data visualization you can leverage for better forecasting to detailed reporting of your spend in real-time, you can put your purchasing data to work for you.

Looking to elevate your restaurant’s success with consistency procurement strategies? Here are five reasons to partner with Consolidated Concepts:

Consolidated Concepts technology creates procurement consistency for multi-unit restaurant operators with a range of benefits, including streamlined procurement, centralized procurement, cost savings, performance metrics, and expertise. Optimize your procurement strategies and achieve greater success across all your locations by becoming a Consolidated Concepts member today!

Restaurant distribution agreements typically fall in the procurement and purchasing phase of the supply chain, which involves sourcing, ordering, and delivering goods from suppliers to the restaurant. By formalizing a distribution agreement with a reputable distributor, the restaurant can ensure reliable and consistent supply of high-quality ingredients, while also managing their costs and inventory levels.

The agreement may also involve ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the distributor’s performance, as well as periodic reviews and renegotiations to ensure that the terms remain competitive and aligned with the restaurant’s evolving needs and priorities.

A restaurant distribution agreement is a legal contract between a restaurant and a distributor that outlines the terms and conditions of the supply chain process. The agreement defines the products and services that the distributor will provide to the restaurant, as well as the pricing, payment, quality, and delivery standards that must be met. The agreement may also include provisions for warranties, liability, confidentiality, and dispute resolution. The purpose of a distribution agreement is to establish a clear understanding between the restaurant and distributor, mitigate risks, and ensure that the restaurant has a reliable and cost-effective supply chain to support its operations.

The products and services covered by a distribution agreement may vary depending on the needs and requirements of the restaurant. In general, the agreement will outline the types of food and beverage products that the distributor will supply, such as fresh produce, meat, dairy, and dry goods. It may also include services such as order processing, inventory management, and delivery. The agreement should specify the exact products and services covered, as well as any exclusions or limitations, to ensure that both parties have a clear understanding of their responsibilities and obligations. Additionally, the agreement may outline the quality standards that the products must meet and the delivery schedules and procedures to ensure that the restaurant receives high-quality and timely deliveries of the products they need.

The pricing and payment terms of a distribution agreement are critical to the success of the restaurant’s supply chain management. The agreement should specify the pricing structure for the products and services, including any discounts, rebates, or volume-based incentives. The payment terms should also be clearly defined, including the payment method, due dates, and any penalties for late or non-payment. The agreement may also include provisions for price adjustments based on market conditions or changes in the cost of raw materials or transportation. The pricing and payment terms should be negotiated carefully to ensure that they are fair and reasonable for both parties and that they support the financial sustainability of the restaurant’s operations.

By partnering with third-party supply chain management experts such as Consolidated Concepts, multi-unit restaurant operators can leverage the industry expertise and resources the partnership provides. Outsourcing your restaurant distribution agreements to third-party experts offers several benefits for restaurant operators. Our experts have established relationships with multiple suppliers, can negotiate better prices and terms, and ensure timely delivery of high-quality products to the restaurant. We use advanced technology and data analytics to optimize supply chain performance, mitigate risks, and provide industry insights and best practices. Overall, outsourcing the distribution agreement to third-party experts can help restaurant operators reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance their overall competitiveness and profitability.

At Consolidated Concepts, we’ve been through it, know the pitfalls, and have the software advantages to make your contract management more efficient. Contact our experts for help with your distribution agreements and learn how you can streamline the entire contract management process! CLICK HERE to start the conversation.

Food cost management is extremely important for a multi-unit restaurant owner, as it directly impacts their profitability and overall financial success. Food cost is one of the largest expenses for any restaurant, and it can be particularly challenging for a multi-unit operation that has to manage the costs across multiple locations.

Effective food cost management involves a variety of strategies, such as negotiating with suppliers for better prices, reducing waste and spoilage, optimizing menu pricing, and implementing portion control measures. By successfully managing food costs, a multi-unit restaurant owner can improve their profit margins, which is crucial for the long-term success of their business.

In addition, food cost management can also help a restaurant owner ensure consistency in food quality across multiple locations, which is important for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. By controlling food costs, a restaurant can invest in other areas of the business, such as marketing, staff training, and restaurant improvements, which can further enhance the customer experience and drive revenue growth.

There are several ways that a restaurant can streamline the food cost management process to make it more efficient and effective. Here are a few strategies that a restaurant owner can consider:

Implement an inventory management system: By using an inventory management system, a restaurant can keep track of its food stock levels, monitor usage patterns, and identify areas where waste or over-ordering may be occurring. This can help the restaurant to reduce food waste and optimize ordering processes, which can in turn reduce food costs.

Use standardized recipes: Standardized recipes can help a restaurant to maintain consistency in portion sizes and ingredient usage across multiple locations, which can help to control food costs. By using a recipe management system, a restaurant can ensure that each location is following the same recipe and using the same ingredients, which can reduce waste and improve profitability.

Monitor food waste: By tracking food waste and identifying patterns, a restaurant can take steps to reduce waste and optimize portion sizes. This can involve training staff on proper portion control, implementing waste reduction programs, and analyzing waste data to identify areas for improvement.

Stay Up-to-Date on Food Prices: A restaurant can reduce its food costs without compromising on quality. This can involve shopping around for better deals, leveraging buying power across multiple locations, and building strong relationships with suppliers.

Analyze food cost data: By regularly analyzing food cost data, a restaurant can identify trends and make informed decisions about pricing, menu offerings, and ordering processes. This can involve using analytics tools to track sales, costs, and profitability across multiple locations, and using this data to inform strategic decisions about the business.

Overall, streamlining the food cost management process requires a combination of technology, training, data analysis, and strategic thinking. By implementing these strategies, a restaurant can optimize its food costs, improve profitability, and ensure consistency in food quality across multiple locations.

Food cost management is an essential aspect of running a successful multi-unit restaurant operation, and it requires ongoing attention and effort from the owner and management team.

Produce management refers to the process of procuring, storing, and using produce (fruits and vegetables) in a foodservice operation, such as a restaurant. It involves a range of activities and processes aimed at ensuring that the produce used in the restaurant is fresh, high-quality, and safe to consume.

Some aspects of produce management include procurement, storage, inventory management, preparation, menu development, and cost control.

By joining a produce management program, you can streamline the produce procurement process and ensure you receive the best quality produce for your menu.

Joining a produce management program can be beneficial for your restaurant for several reasons:

Access to fresh and high-quality produce: Produce programs typically source fresh and high-quality produce from local farmers and suppliers, giving restaurants access to a wider variety of seasonal and specialty produce that may not be readily available through traditional supply chains.

Support for local agriculture: By joining a produce program, a restaurant can support local agriculture and help to build a sustainable food system. This can improve the restaurant’s reputation and help it to connect with customers who care about sustainable food choices.

Cost savings: Produce programs can help restaurants to save money by offering competitive pricing for high-quality produce and reducing waste through better supply chain management.

Improved menu offerings: Access to a wider variety of fresh and high-quality produce can help a restaurant to improve its menu offerings, making it more appealing to customers and helping to attract new business.

Simplified ordering process: Many produce programs offer a streamlined ordering process, making it easier for restaurants to manage their food procurement and reduce administrative workload.

By joining a produce management program, a restaurant can improve the quality of its menu offerings, support local agriculture, and realize cost savings. These benefits can help to increase customer satisfaction, improve the restaurant’s bottom line, and contribute to the overall success of the business.

At Consolidated Concepts, our produce management program helps multi-unit restaurants stabilize produce prices and increase quality. If you don’t currently have a produce program, not only are you not getting the best quality product on the market, but you’re probably subjected to major swings in the markets as commodity markets shift. Our managed produce programs stabilize those shifts so that your prices are more predictable.

Let’s get straight to the point – there’s no way you’re running a successful restaurant if you don’t have visibility into your spend. Being a multi-unit restaurant operator, you need to a centralized location that breaks down your spend management per location.

By having access to detailed reports on things such as food cost and operational expenses, spend management technology can help foodservice operators identify areas where they can cut costs or negotiate better deals with suppliers.

Spend management technology can help you monitor and improve cost control, providing insights into areas where costs can be reduced and helping to ensure that expenses are aligned with the budget.

By leveraging spend management technology you get access to real-time visibility into your restaurant’s financial data, making it easier to identify trends, make informed decisions, and track the performance of the business.

Having visibility into your restaurants spend management can provide a number of benefits, including:

By having a clear understanding of where and how the money is being spent, operators can identify areas where they can reduce costs and increase efficiency.

With visibility into spend, you can create more accurate budgets and better plan for future expenses.

By tracking and managing expenses in a centralized, transparent manner, you can ensure compliance is met with internal policies and external regulations.

With visibility into spend management, you can provide stakeholders with greater transparency into how money is being used, leading to increased trust and accountability.

By having access to real-time data on spending, organizations can make more informed decisions about where to allocate resources.

Overall, spend management technology can help foodservice businesses improve their financial performance by providing the tools and information they need to make better decisions about purchasing, inventory management, and cost control.

At Consolidated Concepts, we use data visualization and technology to give you a bird’s eye view and insight into your purchasing so you can make more strategic, more profitable business decisions. Connect with our industry experts at RLC at booth #210 to learn how we can help you optimize the supply chain and boost profitability, or schedule a meeting with Luis Lara, our SVP Business Development, here!

You’ve spent the last year adding a tech stack of solutions to your operation in hopes of getting a better look into the health of your brand.

The most important piece of technology you should be investing in is supply chain management technology. It’s impossible to navigate the chaos that is the supply chain and technology can be a huge asset to your brand success.

Supply chain management technology can bring a wide range of benefits to restaurants, helping them to streamline their operations, reduce costs, and improve the overall customer experience.

Here are six ways supply chain management technology can help your restaurant brand:

By automating various supply chain processes, such as ordering, invoicing, and payment, restaurants can save time and reduce the risk of errors. This can help to free up staff to focus on other tasks, such as customer service and food preparation.

Supply chain management technology can help restaurants to keep track of their inventory in real-time, allowing them to know exactly what they have on hand at any given moment. This can help them to avoid running out of key ingredients, which can be frustrating for customers and lead to lost sales.

By analyzing data on past sales and customer demand, supply chain management technology can help restaurants to better forecast future demand and adjust their ordering accordingly. This can help them to avoid overstocking, which can be costly, and ensure that they have enough product on hand to meet customer demand.

Supply chain management technology can help restaurants to establish better relationships with their suppliers by streamlining communication and making it easier to place orders and track deliveries. This can help to ensure that restaurants receive the products they need in a timely and cost-effective manner.

By automating various supply chain processes and improving inventory management, restaurants can reduce their overall costs. This can help them to boost their bottom line and remain competitive in an increasingly challenging market.

By ensuring that they have the products they need on hand and reducing the risk of errors and delays, supply chain management technology can help restaurants to improve the overall customer experience. This can help to drive repeat business and positive word-of-mouth, which can be crucial for success in the restaurant industry.

Overall, it is clear that supply chain management technology can bring a wide range of benefits to restaurants. By streamlining operations, improving inventory management, and reducing costs, restaurants can improve their efficiency, boost their bottom line, and enhance the customer experience. As such, it is worth considering the adoption of supply chain management technology for any restaurant looking to stay competitive and succeed in today’s market.

At Consolidated Concepts, we have supply chain technology to support your purchasing team with strong contract management and actionable information to help optimize procurement and increase your margins. Not yet a member? No problem! Sign up today for free!

A restaurant master distribution agreement is a contract between a restaurant and a distributor that outlines the terms of the distribution relationship between the two parties. This type of agreement is often used in the food and beverage industry, where a restaurant needs to source its products from a distributor in order to operate.

1. The agreement should outline the specific products that the distributor will be responsible for providing to the restaurant. This may include a wide range of items, such as food, drinks, and other supplies. The agreement should also specify the terms of delivery, including the frequency and method of delivery, as well as any associated fees.
2. In a restaurant master distribution agreement, if not the most important, is pricing. The agreement should outline the cost of the products being provided, as well as any discounts or promotions that may be available. It may also include provisions for price adjustments based on market conditions or other factors.
3. In addition to the terms of the distribution relationship, a restaurant master distribution agreement may also include provisions for the handling of any disputes that may arise between the two parties. This may include provisions for mediation or arbitration, as well as clauses outlining the consequences for breach of the agreement.
4. A restaurant master distribution agreement provides a clear and formalized relationship between the restaurant and the distributor. This can help to ensure that the restaurant has a reliable source of products and can operate smoothly, as well as helping to minimize the risk of disputes or misunderstandings.

A well-drafted restaurant master distribution agreement can provide protection for both parties in the event of any issues that may arise. For example, the agreement may include provisions for the termination of the relationship in the event that the distributor fails to meet the terms of the agreement, or if the restaurant experiences financial difficulties.

Overall, a restaurant master distribution agreement is an important tool for any restaurant looking to establish a reliable and effective distribution relationship with a supplier. By outlining the terms of the relationship and providing a clear set of guidelines, the agreement can help to ensure that the restaurant has the products it needs to operate and grow, while also helping to minimize the risk of disputes or misunderstandings.

Interested in learning more about Master Distribution Agreements? Download our FREE e-book!

The supply chain is a complex ecosystem and as an operator, you shouldn’t have to navigate the chaos on your own.

Supply chain efficiency starts with utilizing the data your operation is generating. Every time you purchase something, you produce a multitude of data points. Think about it, there are many data points that go into making a single purchase such as what you purchased, when you purchased, how much you purchased, who you purchased it from, and what you paid for it.

All that data can be used to run your business more profitably. But, how can you do that when the data you are generating is coming from multiple sources and is hard to understand?

By partnering with Consolidated Concepts of course.

We can help you take all that data and unlock savings, insights, operational metrics, and new sourcing opportunities. Here are three ways we can help you turn your data into profits:

Your purchasing department generates large amounts of data every day from invoices and inventory to contract utilization and rebates. Our spend management technology provides “the bigger picture” of where your money is going, what is providing value to your operation, and what isn’t. We utilize over $20 billion in purchasing volume to benchmark our client’s procurement information against the industry at large and assists in answering your most pressing procurement questions so you can reach your purchasing and savings goals.

We take the data your operation produces every day and give you a bird’s eye view of the health of your operation. Easily view your purchasing data so you can make more strategic data-driven decisions. No matter how many sources your data is coming from, we organize it into easy to ready dashboards so you can stay up to date on pricing trends, purchasing compliance, contract statuses, rebate projections, price verification statistics, and commodity price benchmarks in real-time. Our customizable dashboards puts spend intelligence right at your fingertips enabling you to make impactful, well-informed decisions.

Forecasting is important for operators as food costs increase and decrease certain times of the year, but what about discrepancies in supplies costs that occur? Pricing discrepancies are by no means unique to food items — inaccurate pricing occurs across a multitude of different categories. Without cleaned and organized data, it’s unlikely you are making the most accurate business decisions.

Not only can we transform your data into profits, we can also help you maximize the value in other areas of your operation such as Rebates and Deviations, Supply Chain Management, Produce Management, Custom Contracts, and Indirect Spend Savings.

Become a Consolidated Concepts member today for free!

Pre-pandemic, restaurants were doing well! Products were available, prices are stable, and employers had the power. Then an unexpected punch to the gut happened when the supply chain took a major hit due to shortages and price increases.

What if we said there were things you can do today in order to keep costs low and improve your margins? That means that in a world where everything was all about marketing, sales, butts-in-seats, new locations…. is now all about cost reduction, streamlining efficiency and driving margin.

The biggest and brightest minds in the industry are shifting their focus from top-line revenue to margins and profitability.

Here are 5 steps that you can begin taking today to reduce your prime and operating expenses by 5% in the next 5 months putting you on the right path to profitability:

Integrate Technology

Are you calling your distributors every day to check on stock levels of your most pressing inventory? Many operators are finding out about substitutions only after the products have already been delivered to their restaurants. This does not work when you have been using the same ingredients since the day you opened your restaurant. By leveraging technology such as InsideTrack, you gain visibility into product sourcing and substitutions so you can prepare for menu changes ahead of time – instead of last minute.

What about carrying out core responsibilities in your restaurant such as auditing and price verification? That takes time and resources that not everyone has these days. Your in-house system of taking multiple spreadsheets and comparing them against each line item is no longer a very efficient way to audit. That manual process is too long and can lead to overlooked overcharges – which cost you money at the end of the day. By embracing technology in both your front and back of house, you can streamline operational tasks and reduce spend all at the same time.

Think About Outsourcing

Today, restaurant operators are having to do more with less and are being forced to outsource certain functions of their business such as Marketing, Legal, HR, Payroll, or Accounting.  So, why not outsource supply chain management and purchasing? This does not mean your current supply chain team is replaced. Instead, by partnering with supply chain experts you expand your resource pool and supplement your current staff. Most operators would love to add to their supply chain staff but the added cost to do so is too much, leaving them scrambling to manage the supply chain chaos on their own.

When you work with a supply chain management partner like Consolidated Concepts, Sundell and Associates, or even Restaurant Partners Procurement, you don’t have to pay for training, salary, insurance, and time off.  This is a popular option for many emerging and national chains, Private Equity firms, and even Publicly Traded restaurants.

Produce Management

Most operators don’t have the bandwidth, volume, or category expertise to efficiently manage their produce programs in-house. By leveraging a third party produce management company, you can reduce your produce spend by 5-10%.  On average, produce spend is about 15% of total food cost, so a 5-10% reduction in produce cost can lead to 100-200 basis points off your total food cost. Produce prices fluctuate throughout the course of a year due to things like seasonality and different growing regions. Yes, it’s true that you can occasionally buy better than the market but locking in contracted prices will protect you from volatility and you’ll ultimately be better off. Produce management companies such as Fresh Concepts or Produce Alliance will not only help you maintain, but improve your pricing, quality, food safety and traceability.

Operational Efficiency

There are many changes you can make, both big and small, within your operation that can help you cut costs without making it so obvious to your customers. Take trash liners for example. If they are too big for your trash cans, you are wasting money on buying bigger bags without maximizing the full value out of each liner. By buying liners that are the correct fit, you can save on costs and extract the full value of each trash bag. What about your TV’s? Are all your TV’s running at the same time – even the ones where no customers are being seated? What a waste of power and electricity. Turn unused TV’s off and save on your electrical bill. Don’t forget about your kitchen burners. If you aren’t making food right away, they don’t have to be turned on as soon as your staff is clocking in. All that is doing is heating your restaurant up, forcing the AC to kick on – using unnecessary energy.

Making changes to your utility usage such as turning of lighting and electronics in unused sections of your restaurant, buying the correct size trash bags, using energy saving light bulbs are all small changes you can make cut costs.

GPO

GPO’s sometimes have a bad rap. They can cost an operator money and sometimes require you to switch products and change distributors. But not all GPO’s are the same. GPOs are widely used in the Healthcare and Hospitality space and the adoption rate for restaurants has dramatically increase over the past few years. Finding the right GPO partner for your restaurant brand can reduce costs and broadliner purchases by 50-150 basis points or more, depending on how contracted you are. Work with a GPO partner that is distributor and manufacturer neutral – one that will not require you to switch products or vendors and will honor your contracts. Work with a GPO partner that you can call on when you are looking for new product suggestions or reporting and analytics on existing purchases.

If you implement any of these suggestions, you will reduce cost and improve your margins.  It’s just a matter of how much. At Consolidated Concepts, we can help you tackle each of these steps, reach your business goals, reduce your costs, and streamline your operations. Become a member today for FREE and start making smarter business decisions.