By Briana Hilton, Contributor
“Right now is the hardest it has ever been in 25 years of running restaurants,” said Bryan Solar, chief product officer at SpotOn. While the industry has been clouded by a variety of pressures that defined 2023 (such as inflation and price sensitivity), Restaurant Dive predicts that such challenges may push restaurants to embrace new solutions this year.
In addition to the implementation of technological advancements like artificial intelligence (AI), the exploration of other avenues is essential in order to thrive in today’s market, from leveraging vendor relationships to effectively minimizing disruptions.
The Value of Strong Relationships
Trust is just one essential element to any working relationship. For restaurant owners, a good working relationship is a must, particularly when it comes to vendors and suppliers.
TouchBistro highlights several ways to do this, including the improvement of communication, making payments on time, and staying on top of inventory before promotions — to highlight a few tips of several.
Communication is perhaps the cornerstone of a great restaurant-vendor relationship. “Share important information with suppliers like your business model, timeline, systems, and delivery schedules,” TouchBistro recommends, going on to note that open communication will help suppliers understand and address any concerns right away.
For restaurant owners who are exploring new business relationships, due diligence must be performed in order to be well-informed of any potential risks. A basic public records check is imperative in determining whether a potential partner has any criminal history or any other public records that may raise concerns (like bankruptcy).
Other considerations, such as the value triangle, can further set the stage for a successful working relationship. The value triangle refers to three primary points in business: speed, quality, and price. Most businesses’ strategic focus is on two of the three, whether it be quality and price, speed and price, or quality and speed. While there is no right or wrong strategy, speed and price is a popular choice. The alignment of values and basic ethos are additional key elements to a good relationship between a restaurant and all working partners, especially when the overarching goal is maximum efficiency.
Minimizing Disruptions Through Preparation
Restaurant owners have historically faced a variety of challenges in relation to the supply chain, with bottlenecks presenting an array of difficulties when it comes to efficient and productive operations.
Inside Climate News highlights one analysis that investigated the impacts of climate change on independent restaurants (which happen to be the fifth-largest employer in the United States). The analysis, released by the James Beard Foundation and the Global Food Institute at the George Washington University explored the impact of weather events.
“Supply chain issues [occur] almost daily, and there have been more disruptions in the past three years than ever before,” said John Palladino, a restaurant manager at the Great American Restaurant Group in Virginia in a statement regarding the report. Palladino went on to describe specific challenges — fishermen, for instance, don’t go out during severe weather events like hurricanes, preventing the sourcing of certain types of fish. With hurricanes becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, the impacts on restaurants are more than evident. “The same is true for droughts; in certain regions [they] will devastate a particular crop, and you’re left trying to find it from another area.”
While climate induced supply chain issues can be mitigated with smart strategies like supporting local and sustainable farming practices that diversify the supply chain, one LinkedIn post highlights the importance of regularly reviewing and updating contingency plans. “This flexibility is essential in the dynamic restaurant industry, where external factors can significantly impact operations.”
By planning ahead, restaurants can remain competitive even during challenging times. Furthermore, sourcing local and sustainable ingredients is an additional consideration that can bring a variety of benefits. In addition to being cost-effective and minimizing the environmental impact due to less travel, a restaurant can have more control over produce with in-person visits all the while keeping quality at the forefront of effective supply chain operations.
The Smart Integration of Technology
The implementation of technology can present additional advantages for restaurants who wish to optimize supply chain operations. In fact, in order to manage increasingly complex value chains, restaurants will need to collect data across their operations in addition to investing in comprehensive digitization journeys, highlights one report.
“Restaurants that prioritize supply chain and operations digitizations today can help to create more agile, efficient, and resilient foundations that may be better able to withstand the inevitable supply market shocks,” explains the Deloitte article. Using technology to predict demand and track information in regard to suppliers are just two examples in which restaurants can take advantage of modern methods in order to optimize the supply chain to their advantage.
RFID technology is another great example that can help optimize the supply chain, as RFID tags allow restaurants to track deliveries in a secure and reliable way. These tags can be used with boxes and containers, and boast an array of advantages in regard to restaurant efficiency and overall customer satisfaction.
With the help of RFID readers, for example, deliveries can be verified at each stop throughout their journey (the supplier, warehouse, truck, restaurant). “This way, you can ensure that your deliveries are complete, accurate, and timely, and avoid losses, damages, or theft,” one LinkedIn post highlights. “You can also use RFID technology to provide your customers with more transparency and traceability, and enhance their trust and loyalty.”
For many restaurant owners, the supply chain can seem like an intimidating and even stressful process. By considering valuable factors such as the smart integration of technology as well as the development of good vendor relationships, restaurant owners can successfully optimize the supply chain for a productive and efficient future.
