TEN ways we can mitigate rising food costs

There’s no denying, Covid-19 and Brexit continues to impact supply chains up and down the country. But with a team of 200 procurement professionals behind us, we use our combination of unrivalled scale, deep category expertise and outstanding data analysis to mitigate the impact of rising costs for our clients.

Here are TEN ways we can support your business:

1. Scale = leverage

We’re a leading group procurement organisation, or GPO for short. We bring together leading businesses across a range of different sectors and industries, including foodservice, healthcare, education, travel, restaurants, hotels, hospitality and leisure. The more our clients purchase together, using the same products and suppliers, the lower the individual cost. It’s simple economies of scale.

2. Market-leading pricing

We regularly review the macro-economic market to identify opportunities and build robust negotiation plans. Suppliers also like working with us as they’re able to streamline their sales operations and negotiate pricing with one organisation, instead of executing deals with many different companies.

3. Category expertise

With the purchasing power of over £1.1bn, spanning 70+ specialist categories, our team of procurement professionals are charged to think ahead, to plan well and work to an annual sourcing calendar to optimise the innovation pipeline, new deals and added value to terms. Our category experts monitor the market and make recommendations that will improve your buying efficiencies.

4. Award-winning procurement framework

Our strategic sourcing teams negotiate the best possible deals to ensure we get great quality at the best value. All procurement activity follows an award-winning procurement framework with clear owners, activities, triggers and checks. Plus, every project is also underpinned by an annual sourcing calendar allowing them to go to market at the optimum time. This means we can reduce the impact of seasonal and market-driven changes.

5. Inflation management

With Covid-19 and the uncertainty of Brexit continuing to impact supply chains, we help clients respond to rising ingredient costs and potential manufacturing shortages. By staying close to market movements and working with culinary teams and chefs, we can propose potential product switches to reduce costs. You win too as we never compromise on the quality you receive.

6. Transparency and credibility

The most important thing to us is clear and transparent information on what we supply and where it has come from. We partner with Oritain, in a food procurement first, using forensic science and data analysis to test a product at any stage in the supply chain and trace it back to its origin. It means we can prove that what you are serving is exactly what you’re saying it is.

7. eProcurement systems

Our market leading procure to pay system, Epsys, gives us full visibility of purchasing. It helps us to identify potential switches, optimise buying behaviours, report on sustainability goals and much more. The benefit for you is one simple system for teams to place orders, manage menus, create recipes and much more.

8. Our Supply Chain

We contract with farmers, growers, smaller suppliers and social enterprises using food distribution partners to distribute our food and drink via one national route to market. Not only does this unlock a world of opportunity for SMEs, but single multi-temp deliveries also result in fewer food miles and CO2 emissions.

9. Local and bespoke solutions

We’re not a cookie-cutter approach. We collaborate with our clients to ensure any specific sourcing requirements, like local, are met but with the right rigour to ensure a reliable solution. In total, Foodbuy work with 600+ local food and beverage SME suppliers, 20+ social enterprises plus over 80% of their food comes from the UK. So, if you want to source your favourite product from your local provider, we can help you do that with the right level of due diligence to ensure a safe supply chain.

10. Food waste

When delivering such a large-scale operation, food waste can’t always be avoided, but we can do something about it. We partner with FareShare to identify edible food waste within the supply chain that can be redistributed to frontline charities like soup kitchens and homeless centres. This year, we have redistributed almost half a million meals worth of surplus food. When food waste can’t be avoided, make sure you’re sending it to a good home

By partnering with Foodbuy, you can take advantage of the cost savings from our unrivalled scale, deep category expertise and outstanding data analysis. So, if you are looking for an expert procurement partner, feel free to contact us here.