Don’t Miss These Deals!
Food costs continue to be one of the biggest concerns for restaurant and foodservice operators. You manage as best as you can with menu price increases and cost management but would love to do more...if you only had the time to figure out how.
That’s where our new regular segment comes in...Don’t Miss These Deals!
We look at data across the wholesale food market and find the product categories and tradeoffs that provide the biggest price savings. We can point you to the areas to focus on and have the best chance of finding an option that works for you. Maximize your impact with the minimum amount of effort.
Obviously, any time you are looking at product alternatives, the fit always depends on your situation. You will know best if the alternatives we identify can work for your business, your kitchen, and your customers. Now you know exactly where to look!
We also know that you don’t always want to have to change your vendor. All of the opportunities below are from within single distributors! So here are the deals this week:
tl;dr
The three biggest buckets for cost savings are Brand, Frozen, and Product Specific Attributes.
There are many more opportunities for savings with Meat, Poultry, and Fish than there are for Produce or Dairy.
You can find almost as much savings within a single distributor versus shopping multiple distributors. So, if you have a good relationship with your distributor, it probably isn’t worth the time to check out others.
Cash and carry vendors have deals in specific staple categories, but there are as many deals available within a single distributor. Unless you are dealing with an immediate need and product out, it likely isn’t worth the drive.
Brand
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 we are seeing right now:
Jumbo Red Onion: 21%
Apples: 30%
Chicken Tenders: 50%
Red Bell Pepper: 15%
Kale: 30%-70%
Rainbow Trout: 15%
Haddock: 40%
Hoisin Sauce: 38%
Frozen Corn: 30%
Pepper Jack Cheese: 34%
Flank Steak: 19%
Beef Steak Hanging Tender: 10%
Frozen
Frozen options are always at a discount to fresh, but the current market’s volatility is leading to more last-minute fresh to frozen (F2F) products from distributors. If a frozen option works for you, this can be an excellent opportunity to get your normal product at a huge discount.
Chicken WOG: 70%
Chicken Thigh: 30%-70%
Chicken Tenders: 70%
Duck Breast: 15%
Ground Beef: 20%-50%
Bison Short Rib: 60%
Gorgonzola Cheese: 67%
Product Specific Attributes
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:
Avocado #2 vs #1: 28%
Mahi Mahi Size Variance: 20%
Beef Tenderloin Grain Fed vs Grass Fed: 40%-50%
Beef Flank Steak Select vs CAB: 28%
Pork Boston Butt Boneless vs Bone-In: 20%