Have You Tried Switching Brands Yet? If Not, Get On It!
Lots of volatility in prices this week, but overall average Wholesale prices stay relatively flat. Guessing that means that sell through is consistent, which is why there aren’t many fresh to frozen options out there. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t deals. We’re seeing more brand deals than ever. If you haven’t shopped around to see if there are similar products from different brands, now may be the time to do so!
We also know that you don’t always want to have to change your main vendor. All of the opportunities below are from within single distributors! So here are the deals this week:
tl;dr
Not much in the way of Fresh to Frozen deals, though there are still some Frozen deals this week. We are seeing a consistent number of Meat & Poultry and Dairy & Eggs Brand deals. Your Produce deals are in Odds & Ends, so if the differences work for you then you have some opportunity.
You can find deals of 38%-44% from single vendors with somewhat smaller opportunities across vendors (33%-42%). There are plenty of good deals staying with your regular vendor.
Potential Cash and Carry savings is flat this week (41%). If you have some items that are hitting your bottom line particularly hard and have some flexible labor, you may want to check out your local Cash and Carry, but otherwise likely not worth it.
Brand
Lots of deals this week were on similar products from different brands. 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 Boneless Skinless Marinated | 39% |
| Eggs Large Grade AA | 39% |
| Steak Flat Iron Choice Frozen | 35% |
| Pork Boston Butt Boneless | 34% |
| Ribeye Lip On No Roll | 30% |
| Boneless Breaded Chicken Wing | 27% |
| Egg Liquid Yolk | 23% |
| Cheddar Cheese Mild Shredded | 21% |
| Flank Steak Choice | 20% |
| Bacon Applewood Smoked 13-17 | 20% |
| Flour, Pizza | 15% |
| Chicken Thighs Boneless Skinless | 12% |
Frozen
Fresh to Frozen discounts are few and far between and not much more than savings of fresh vs frozen. If a frozen option works for you, this can still be a good opportunity to get your normal product at a huge discount, especially in seafood. Frozen product can also give you a buffer with uncertain traffic.
| Category | Discount |
|---|---|
| Mahi Mahi 4 oz-6 oz Portion Frozen | 60% - 75% |
| Steak Flat Iron Choice Frozen | 35% |
| Beef Ground 80/20 CAB Fine Fresh to Frozen | 21% |
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 |
|---|---|
| Herb, Dill Limited Quantity | 53% |
| Potato Yukon Gold #2 vs #1 | 43% |
| Rainbow Trout Boneless Whole vs Butterfly | 27% |
| White Onion Jumbo Box vs Sack | 18% |
| Bell Pepper, Red Large vs Chopper | 13% |
| Red Onion Medium vs Jumbo | 12% |
Remember, this is all based on normalized price per weight comparison.