Hospitality Procurement is not just about pre-opening activities. Once in full operation, you want the best value for money as well to be able to maintain and grow a healthy business. One of the most convenient ways to actually control and determine your (food) cost is working with Punch-out Catalogs.
Having worked both in Front and Back of the House positions I already was looking for a solution in the early 90's for a secure way to control operational purchases. Especially in the catering & hotel industry with multiple locations and internal outlets, having a system for automated purchasing would save a lot of time, frustrations and money.
Back in those days and still today, many companies let their Department Heads put together a list of needed items on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Most probably these lists will be consolidated by a dedicated manager or purchasing manager. He/she will then go over the list and confirm or reject the items ordered, often dictated by company rules. This can be an intensive, time consuming process, depending on the size of the property or outlet.
Having worked both in Front and Back of the House positions I already was looking for a solution in the early 90's for a secure way to control operational purchases. Especially in the catering & hotel industry with multiple locations and internal outlets, having a system for automated purchasing would save a lot of time, frustrations and money.
Back in those days and still today, many companies let their Department Heads put together a list of needed items on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Most probably these lists will be consolidated by a dedicated manager or purchasing manager. He/she will then go over the list and confirm or reject the items ordered, often dictated by company rules. This can be an intensive, time consuming process, depending on the size of the property or outlet.
Ease of Ordering
When ordering through Punch-out Catalogs, all the preceding work is already done by the purchasing manager... and the suppliers! What needs to be done is to put all contracted items in the various catalogs, which means that the company is sure that these items really will be ordered. The day by day products will be updated on a daily (or weekly) basis by the supplier and checked or confirmed by the purchasing manager. The Punch-out Catalogs are tailor made for each outlet, location and/or property.
Let's have a look at an example: The chef in a kitchen outlet needs to place his daily order. Instead of looking up brands, size of packaging, left over stock, etc., he just orders the product. If he needs 25 rump steaks the next day, he orders 25 rump steaks. The system knows exactly where to deliver the rump steaks, the dedicated size, weight, way of packaging, etc. The chef does not need to bother about other, on the side information as this is all registered in the system.
Punch-out Catalogs are a great tool to use for people that do not have much experience in ordering food items as well. A couple of years ago we rolled out this system for a catering company with 1400 outlets all over the country. Especially in small outlets, where sometimes only two or three people are working, one cannot expect that he or she knows all the available products by heart. E.g. all you do is order the number of loafs of dark bread you need for the following day and the system knows exactly which type of product needs to be delivered.
Food Cost
Using this system, the catering company could pre-calculate the food cost within very small margins in most outlets for the upcoming month! It saved them a very considerable amount of money, time and labour costs on an annual basis!
HOSPRO|Hospitality Professionals is able to support your company in implementing such systems and saving your company lots of hassle, time and money! If you're interested in this or one of our other procurement services please do not hesitate to contact me at roberto.treffers@hospro.co.za
About Hospro
HOSPRO|Hospitality Professionals prides itself on being a bit different.
Traditional values are sustained and a good reputation is something to
be proud of. Good business is building lasting relationships, helping us
to grow our assets together. With a background in international
hospitality and procurement services for some 30 years, our combination
of market knowledge and expertise ensures the best possible service for
our business relations. We support our clienteles with specific
recommendations and references to stay focused on the total process..
