LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Food and beverage procurement is a complex task that involves balancing numerous suppliers and relationships. The procurement process is crucial; it’s where substantial savings can be found or costs can run out of control and ultimately where corporate strategies are turned into actions.
With many elements to manage and so much potential for trouble, it is important to be aware of problems that can arise and how best to deal with them. SpendEdge, a procurement market intelligence firm, acts as a strategic partner for leading companies across all industries to help them meet these difficulties. Below are some of the top challenges facing food and beverage procurement today.
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Top food and beverage procurement challenges
Managing suppliers: Finding good suppliers and favorable deals, as well as keeping up with changes in pricing, terms, and other factors, can be a very complex task. Even small businesses often have to work with many different companies in order to fulfill their needs. Good software and staff are essential for those looking to get the most value from their supply chain.
Pressure to be environmentally friendly: Sustainability is increasingly becoming a priority in consumers’ purchasing decisions. People are looking for products with minimal packaging and recyclable materials. However, it can be a challenge to find or produce packaging that meets those qualities while still being affordable and practical. It needs to be food-safe and durable enough not to break or leak. It also needs to withstand transit to its final destination.
Changing regulations: It is important to be aware of regulations that affect your business, as well as when and how they change. For companies that operate across a country or internationally, this can be particularly difficult. It becomes even more complicated if suppliers are in a different location than your business, or in multiple different locations. It is necessary to ensure that the products and processes of all suppliers comply with laws from each region in which you operate.
Demand for local products: More and more consumers are beginning to prioritize local products. However, these can be more costly and harder to acquire in sufficient quantities. Farmers’ markets and independent stores and restaurants can draw some consumers away from larger chains because of their ability to offer these items.
Maintaining inventory levels: Customer demand can be a fickle thing, influenced by everything from sales to weather to what part of the city a business is located in. Empty shelves mean disappointed customers and lost sales, so companies often choose to be cautious and favor having too many items rather than too few. However, this leads to waste in terms of both garbage and spending. One way to overcome this is by taking advantage of predictive analytics, which can help make orders more efficient.
View the whole top 9 food and beverages procurement challenges list from SpendEdge.
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About us
SpendEdge shares your passion for sourcing and procurement excellence. We are a preferred market intelligence partner for leading Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across industries. Our strength lies in delivering actionable insights that help sourcing and procurement professionals get the right information in the right format, without any unnecessary frills.
Our procurement market intelligence coverage extends across critical processes of sourcing strategy planning and helps clients achieve more than mere monetary savings. Our procurement insights are well-defined to meet the information needs of the procurement organizations and are aimed at helping category managers extract hidden value out of sourcing teams, suppliers, contracts, and processes.
