Don’t Miss These Deals: Swap 3/8” Diced Green Bell Pepper for 1/4" and Save 34%!
An interesting piece in the New York Times this week talked about how there may be some price gouging going on with certain food companies, but we think that independent restaurants are the ones being negatively affected by that. Especially when you look at the difference in the change of average Wholesale prices compared to average Commodity prices in the past 12 months. This is why we bring you the best deals we can find restaurant operators each week. Especially if you have some flexibility in your ingredients, like our deal of the week with 34% savings per/oz on 3/8” Diced Green Bell Pepper versus 1/4".
We know that restaurant operators don’t always want to have to change their main vendor. All of the opportunities below are from within single distributors! So here are the deals this week:
tl;dr
A bunch of Brand deals this week with savings of 13%-33% across almost every category, so take some time to compare your current order guide and you can find deals of 15%-40%. Frozen deals are few and far between this week, but there are still a few in Beef, Dairy, and Pork if you look. Produce deals continue to be mainly in Odds & Ends with more opportunities with grade, packaging, and size. If the differences work for you then you have a chance to save money.
You can find deals of 32%-35% from single vendors with similar opportunities across vendors (32-41%). As usual, even if you are using just one vendor you can find deals.
Lower Cash and Carry discounts this week (40%). Probably only a viable option if you are dealing with emergency shorts.
Brand
A great mix of Brand deals this week across almost every. category, though slightly lower discounts of 13%-33% Keeping most attributes consistent, there definitely are trends in several product categories where you can find better deals with some brands than others. Here are the average percent savings on a cost per weight basis we are seeing right now:
| Category | Discount |
|---|---|
| Chicken Breast Breaded 4 oz Fully Cooked | 33% |
| Trout, Rainbow 10 oz Whole Head-On Boned Skin-On Raw Farmed | 25% |
| Oil, Vegetable TFF Salad & Frying | 20% |
| Pulled Pork Smoked, No Sauce | 21% |
| Oil, Canola Clear Fry | 18% |
| Bacon Applewood 14-16 Gas Flushed Smoked | 17% |
| Beef Flank Steak Choice MBG193 | 17% |
| Chicken Wing, Boneless Breaded Fritter Homestyle Fully Cooked | 16% |
| Flour All Purpose | 15% |
| Cheese, Pepper Jack Sliced .75 oz | 13% |
Frozen
Very few Frozen deals this week, but a couple of great products have discounts. If a frozen option works for you, this can still be a good opportunity to get your normal product at a huge discount, especially fresh to frozen. Frozen product can also give you a buffer with uncertain traffic.
| Category | Discount |
|---|---|
| Cheddar Cheese Shredded Fresh-to-Frozen | 56% |
| Pork Butt Boneless Frozen | 12%-38% |
| Beef Steak Flat Iron 6 oz Choice Frozen | 15% |
Odds & Ends
There are often price differences when there are different attributes with similar products. The grade, size, source, and a long list of others impact the price. You made decisions on what you would source when you first decided on the menu item, but how often can you check what is going on with prices now? Can you make a slight adjustment to save money without negatively affecting the end dish? Here are some of the products you may want to look at your options this week:
| Category | Discount |
|---|---|
| Pepper, Bell Green Diced 3/8” vs 1/4" | 34% |
| Chicken, Thigh Boneless & Skinless Natural Double Butterfly vs Butterfly | 30% |
| Onion White Jumbo Box vs Sack | 24% |
| Bacon Center Cut 18-20 Honey Cured Shingle vs Layflat | 19% |
| Pepper, Bell Green Choice vs Large | 17% |
| Cheese American Slice Yellow 96 vs 120 | 16% |
| Tomato, Grape Red Clamshell vs Bulk | 11% |
| Avocado Ripe 40-48 Count #2 vs #1 | 10% |
Remember, this is all based on normalized price per weight comparison.