food prices

[kuan]

Originally posted by BubbaGourmet
"so if another company comes in here and they are cheaper on everything...you'll buy from them?"
My response "Yes!"

Duh! The guy needs to tell a lie the size of Moby Dick to justify that one. $4.99 vs. $1.79.

Kuan

[BubbaGourmet]

The truly saqd part is...HE doesn't get it!

[fodigger]

well, like anybody I like to save money, but that doesn't mean that I'm willing to run all over town to do it. I'm also not willing to lug around a case of bleach in my car. Grocery stores have things called lost leaders a great price on something to get you in the store and who gets just that one thing? Hardly anybody thats who. Yes our suppliers prices are sometimes higher but they deliver. I'm assured of my pork loin coming in at the right temp. or it goes back. If there is a serious problem with the product who can I make a claim with? Not the grocery store, because there is no proff that I handled it right when I left the store. Now I'm not saying that It's not smart to shop but shop smartly. Buy from the professionals out there if your sales people aren't then maybe you should call the company and ask for another salesperson. Inquire about going on a buying program If your volume is enough all of the majors will jump through the hoops to make that happen so they get a bigger piece of your business. Even if you are a small operation there are things you can do. Alot has to do with being upfront with your salesman and asking for what you want. You will not always get the lowest price but hopefully you will get a fair price. remember your salesman is trying to make a living! One thing I tell all of my sales people is to make money on me - just don't make your mortgage. You have to pay for service and one way or another you do. One comment was about thing not used lot like bleach, if you don't use alot of it then what does it matter. My time is the most valuable thing I can control. My time has a value attached to it and i know that it isn't best used running all over town looking for the best price. Use your time wisely, spend some time with your sales people allow them to "partner" with you on the problem. If they are true salesman they may have a solution to your problem. Remember, they see probably 50 -60 different customers a week. Pick their brains they may have an answer. We all come to Cheftalk for different reasons - I come for the resources available to me here. Use your salesperson the same as a tool to be more efficiant in your jobs.

[marmalade]

This is all verrrrry interesting, as I'm thinking of gearing up my catering biz!

Question for you, Bubba - what kind of quantity do you buy in at the grocery store - does it freak 'em out when you go in and clear the counter of chickens? Or do you let them know in advance you'll be coming in?

[BubbaGourmet]

Actually, Marmalade, I DO generally check with them before going. Our store gets a truck 5 days a week so I can get them pretty readily. In point of fact...the distributor is more likely to be out things I want than the grocer.

[RitaFajita]

I really get what fodigger is saying, and I have certainly gone with the convenience/efficiency thing many times - for the most part. It's hard to find time to shop around. Frankly, I don't have time to do it a lot of the time. And I have felt for the most part that my rep has been fair to me. He has to make a living, too, afterall. I certainly don't blame him for that.

But.... while I feel my rep is being fair to me, I'm still not entirely convinced that the company he works with is -or that all the people his co. buys from are. Possibly they are, but there is so much info that I don't have ready access to (it's just as hard to keep up with futures as it is grocery store prices, for example) - what they know or how they are choosing to price items, when they buy them, what they pay, etc. The company I use is listed on the stock market, afterall. Isn't it relatively safe to assume that they also trade in futures as well? It's a win-win situation for them. I mean, if you sell food you also bet on, how can you lose? Buy low, sell high, right?

I understand loss leaders, too, and how retail works. In fact, I understand that more than I do how big distributors do on many levels. Why is it that distributors never seem to have loss leaders?

And why is it that I can buy a perfectly good 5# ground beef tube at "last shelf day" prices (and use it in about 3 hours) from the grocery store at half the cost my distributor tries to send me an entire 40# case that expired last week? Don't even get me started on green onions - not where I come from.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am not totally trusting of the products I receive from my distributor. Many times, I have to rifle through entire cases to make sure my product is acceptable. In my reps defense, I will say that he always replaces products that I am not happy with - no questions asked. But is it automatically good, just because it comes from a distributor? What about the stuff I can't see?

I dunno. Ask O'Charley's.

RF

[chefbob]

so i guess i started this mess of a thread....

but nothing here helps....let me further explain my situation and maybe i you guys can offer some sound advice.

i buy eggs, alot of eggs, anywhere from 100 to 150 dozen A WEEK!

i own, manage, cook, and chef, in a small (55 seats) breakfast and lunch place... very cuite family (mom and pop) style restaurant.

i opened june 1 2001, buying alot of things from proveyors, and local farmers/butchers....

but EGGS there the problem, i use a small local egg producer, he sells eggs to alot of local restaurants, only egss and some dairy, my last post i think eggs were 120 a dozen they started at 66 cents a dozen 3 years ago... now this week they went from 128 to 135 from tues to friday.. this is getting outta hand, i have called around and i cant meet most places minimums, or they dont deliver twice a week, i'm really in a bind.. what do you think???

i do fear i may have to raise my prices to meet this increase, but i just put out a new menu at jan 1 of this year, and it cost me like 300 bucks, so i'd like to avoide that cost again.

[RitaFajita]

Is there a distributor with a warehouse close enough to where you could pick stuff up at customer service if you can't meet minimums for delivery?

I don't remember how many eggs come in a case - I haven't used eggs in a while. I'm surprised no one would deliver such a large amount, though, or give you a decent price for using so much of one product.

Still, though, $1.35 a dozen is still just 11 cents an egg. Again, I don't use eggs in my business. Your place sounds like the kind of restaurant I want to go to and enjoy when I'm OFF work 11 cents doesn't seem that bad to me for food cost on a particular item, though. Is it possible that you need eggs to be so cheap because you are paying too much for something else? Is it possible that you could offset the increase in the price of eggs with a discount in some other item?

Just Thinkin'
RF

[robwill57]

The problem is we're getting nickle and dimed on everything. That nickle on every egg is costing Chef Bob $90 a week. The extra I'm paying for hamburger patties only amounts to .23 per plate but $70 at the end of the week. Sysco lettuce was $40 today--where do I get the extra $50 the 2 cases I'll use this week will cost me? I'm holding my menu prices till spring, but if I see produce,beef and egg prices where they are right now, I'm looking at menu increases above 10%. In blue collar places like mine that's going to hurt big time!!!!!!!

[Jim]

robwill, you make a great point! Now how can we educate the public?

[BubbaGourmet]

I MAY have one potential suggestion. Reality is that at some point in time, EVERY business has to raise prices. One advantage in the restaraunt biz is that you typically know it is coming in advance. Perhaps about 30 days before such an increase, you could put a notice in your menu explaining the need for such an increase, eg:
"Our Valued Customer;
Here at -restaurant name- it is our sincere wish to provide you with quality food products at affordable prices. To this end we have absorbed many price increases over the past year. Food costs have continued to climb with no end in sight and we are now forced to a decision. We can either lower the quality of our offering or implement a small price increase on all of our menu items. As we are committed to quality product, we are forced to raise prices a modest 5%. This increase will take effect on (date 30-60 days out).
We value your patronage and apologize for the necessity of this action"
Just a thought.