Why On-Time Food Supply Delivery Matters for Restaurant Owners
Food supply delivery services are the part of a restaurant food supply chain responsible for selling and delivering food products directly to the restaurant. Therefore, they are just as important as every other supply chain member.
In searching for the perfect delivery service, restaurant owners look for various factors, including cost, delivery schedule, minimum order requirements, and quality of products.
Another quality restaurant owners want in a food supplier is punctuality. This is because timeliness affects many aspects of the restaurant business. Usually, restaurant owners patronize different vendors to ensure an effective flow of supplies, as any late delivery will affect the business.
This article will discuss some of the reasons on-time food supply delivery matters for restaurant owners.
What Is a Food Supply Delivery Service?
A delivery service is responsible for delivering food supplies to a restaurant. They are as important as every other unit in the supply chain. A restaurant supply chain has four branches, namely:
Production
This is one essential part of the restaurant supply chain as there is no supply chain without food. Production refers to growing and harvesting plants and raising animals to get the food we eat.
Processing
This is the supply chain unit where food, plants, and animals get converted into forms that humans can conveniently consume. Food products from the production stage must meet all food safety requirements before packaging.
Distribution
This stage involves food supply delivery services. The people involved in this phase are responsible for distributing food products and ingredients from processing plants or farms to restaurants. They are as important as any other stage in the supply chain. Food products get delivered by road, sea, air, and train.
Retail
Retail comprises restaurants and other outlets that convert these food products into edible forms for sale to their customers.
Things to Consider Before Hiring a Food Supplier
As a restaurant owner, there are some factors to consider before opening an account with a food supplier. Factors like the type of food your restaurant serves, the size of your customer base, and the available storage space. Below is a list of steps to follow to get the ideal food supplier.
Highlight the Menu
Together with your head chef, compile a list of your restaurant’s menu and every ingredient needed to make them. Ensure that the list is detailed as it will affect many things.
Separate Into Categories
Create broad categories like meat, dairy, spices, staples, produce, liquor, non-alcoholic beverages, cleaning supplies, and paper supplies. Then, distribute the ingredients list into these categories.
Consider Storage Factor
The amount of storage space available for your restaurant will determine the amount of a particular food product you can order.
Expected Sales Volume
The restaurant storage space may not have the room to store a large quantity of food. Therefore, before interviewing a vendor, determine what you need the most.
Do you need more fresh or some frozen products? Also, ask how many times you will need to order the products weekly. The answers you get will help you pick the right vendor.
Begin to Source for Potential Suppliers
After doing the above, you can look for prospective vendors - advisably the ones within your area that supply restaurants and other food services with the items/ingredients you need. Sources of food supply vary significantly from location to location. Large cities have a more significant number and variety of suppliers than small towns or isolated communities.
Begin with a simple internet search or ask other restaurant owners. Getting two to three suppliers for each food category is crucial in case of future problems. Once you get vendors for each food type, price, and schedule negotiations can begin.
Why On-Time Food Supply Delivery Matters for Restaurant Owners
Punctuality is one of the qualities restaurant owners watch out for in their suppliers, and for a good reason. Punctuality is an essential quality across every industry, especially the food industry, where food has to be fresh.
It is challenging to maintain food quality and consistency with late deliveries. Below, we’ve highlighted why on-time food supply delivery is vital to restaurant owners.
Trust
Some customers patronize a restaurant solely because they can trust it to get whatever they want at any time. On-time food supply delivery ensures this. However, if the food supply is late, some items on the menu will be missing making customers lose trust in the restaurant’s ability to satisfy their cravings.
Sales
Why open a business when you can’t make sales? Restaurant owners need punctual supplies of food products and ingredients to make sales. They can’t afford to have customers asking for a particular food on the menu, but it is unavailable due to late supply.
Quality
On-time deliveries of food products according to your restaurant’s weekly or monthly needs ensure there’s food in your storage and you sell customers fresh meals. However, restaurant owners have to restock the ingredients to maintain the quality of food ingredients. So if their vendor supplies late, and the restaurant has to use old or expired ingredients, it will affect the quality of their food.
Reviews
No business owner wants a bad review. Therefore, if a restaurant does not get early delivery and fails to meet their clients' needs, it leaves them open to bad reviews on local/online directories, which is terrible for business. Unsatisfied customers will not care about the late delivery and will only talk about the unavailability or poor quality of food in their review.
In the fiercely competitive foodservice market, restaurant owners must get every aspect right to stay in business. Customers have various options to switch to once they’re not getting their money’s worth at a particular location.
On-time delivery of food supplies is essential to keep the business running smoothly. This article explained why on-time deliveries are crucial to restaurant owners.
If you’re a restaurant owner looking for food distribution services in North Carolina and South Carolina, Carolina Food Service is here for you. Our team is always ready and happy to help potential and existing customers. We’ll work directly with you to find the products you need to keep your business thriving. Contact us today.