How to build an approved suppliers list for your restaurant

Positioning your restaurant for success requires a few non-negotiable elements: a good concept, great food, and an often forgotten part of the equation - the right restaurant suppliers.

For a restaurant, it’s quite common to simply purchase your menu’s required ingredients from your favorite vendor but in these changing times, finicky consumers demand not only high quality but consistency when deciding where they will go to go eat today.

To meet these higher levels of expectations, restaurants must ensure their vendors provide them with ingredients that are only of the highest quality, day in and day out.

Ingredients for a successful restaurant

If you want your restaurant or bar to stand out and succeed, it’s no big secret - you have to offer a good menu and serve up great food and beverages; customers can always make a lousy meal at home for half the price it would cost them to dine at your establishment. If they’re spending their hard-earned money at your bar or restaurant, it’s critical for your customers to believe they are getting their money’s worth…or you probably won’t be seeing them again.

You simply can’t sacrifice food quality and then expect your customers to continue showing up and spending their money. That’s a basic fact and why food quality should always be on the very top of your list when creating your menu. Another important factor to consider is balancing your menu diversity with inventory management by using similar base components for multiple dishes. This important strategy will help cut down on waste and unnecessary expenditures, improving your bottom line.

Unless you’re using a farm-to-table concept for specific dishes or daily specials, the majority of your food or ingredients will come from a local supplier. You need to be on a first-name basis and strive to develop amicable relationships with these key partners to your business. They represent the lifeline of your restaurant or bar and without them, you basically have nothing to offer your customers.

Beyond just fostering good, friendly relationships with your food and beverage suppliers, ensure that you choose only those vendors who consistently provide you with reliable, top-notch customer service. Late deliveries of key items can potentially have an extremely negative impact on your business and will reflect in your sales. 

To get you pointed in the right direction, here is a list of some common food items and ingredients you’ll often need to purchase from suppliers.

• Proteins and meats
• Seafood
• Seasonings, herbs and oils
• Starches and pasta
• Fruits and vegetables
• Grains and rice
• Sugar and other sweeteners
• Soda syrup
• Chocolate, ice cream and other dessert items

Setting a budget

Outfitting your establishment with top of the line equipment and high dollar interior design can help kick-start your business but unless you have at least seven figures in your checking account, you’re probably going to have to balance your big dreams with a realistic budget, at least in the beginning.

Restaurant food suppliers are vendors who sell products directly to restaurants, whether wholesale purveyors or local farms. The critical function of a restaurant supplier is to allow a restaurant to purchase products at reduced prices, helping to stay on budget and increase profitability. When choosing food suppliers, restaurants should consider not only the cost but delivery schedules, minimum order requirements and the overall quality of the products.

Here are seven specific steps to follow to help find your ideal food suppliers:

1.- Plan your menu.

Design an efficient, well thought and organized menu that will not only meet the needs (and tastes) of your clients, but also help simplify the management of your raw materials.

2.- Create a list of all of the ingredients you need and group them into categories.

This is a great opportunity to help create teamwork at your establishment if your business has a head chef or manager on staff to help you build a comprehensive list of every food and beverage ingredient you must have on hand. Don’t forget baseline items such as seasonings and supplies like take-out containers and toilet paper. Make the list as detailed as possible; if the chef requests for onions to come quarter-inch diced and shrimp to be of a specific size, including those requirements on the list. Indicate which products are for daily vs. occasional use, special ingredients needed for events or group menus and make a detailed list including all of them.

3.- Set a budget.

For many restaurateurs, the ideal price usually represents the best compromise between quality, cost and service. Every restaurant business is different and depending on your menu, you may find that tailoring your purchasing strategy based on supplier type category works best. For example, you might select poultry or seafood suppliers providing higher quality while choosing to save on goods like veggies or rice. At the same time, purchasing seasonal food can also help you save money as prices fall with demand peaks.

4.- Search restaurant suppliers:

Once you have defined the list of products you need and taken into consideration what your budget will allow, you can begin the search for suppliers to contact. Ideally, you should have a minimum of two to three potential suppliers listed for each category. Here are some simple tips to help you begin your search:

• Online search: Search restaurant suppliers online to quickly compare websites and get a sense of their business model where you can view or request their products catalog. When searching for food vendors online, use a variety of different keywords, product categories and even the name of the specific products you will need. If you are looking for small, local suppliers or producers, do not stop at the first page of your search results; spend some time checking a bit further. Understand that many new and/or small businesses or farms might not have a website optimized for search engines and may not appear until page 5 of a Google search. Also consider social media as a possible resource for identifying potential suppliers through the similar account’s suggestion feature on Facebook and Instagram.
• Referrals: Ask for referrals from other restaurants, bars, suppliers and stores in your area to find suppliers trusted by your local community. Different food and hospitality type associations will usually be happy to share their leads with you as well. You can incentivize people to share their suppliers by creating a referral program. For example, consider offering friends and other contacts a discount or gift card to dine at your restaurant for every successful supplier partnership they refer to you.
• Ordering apps: Research and download an ordering app to transform your sourcing strategy and help find new suppliers trusted by the service. Doing so will give you greater confidence in your ordering process as it becomes simpler and better organized, keeping all your records in one place.
• Farmers markets: Visit farmers markets, food fairs and similar types events to discover new products as well as contact new potential suppliers and producers for your restaurant. Building partnerships with local farms can also give you access to the very freshest products available in seasonal produce as well as requesting they grow a specific product to supply to your restaurant.

5.- Evaluate your options:

Research is essential when it comes to evaluating your options. Preparing to launch a new restaurant - or to upgrade or expand a current operation - requires significant time and analysis. Compare several different distributors for the price, quality, delivery schedule and any other parameters that may potentially impact your business. Ask for references on each supplier and request to see all their required licenses, accreditations and certificates of origin to verify they comply with all food safety regulations. Then you can organize a list of the remaining suppliers who “make the cut” on a spreadsheet where you can easily compare and evaluate their competing prices and services.

6.- Make a selection of the suppliers that best suit your needs and negotiate:

Once you have narrowed down the list of the best potential suppliers from your research, you can begin negotiating. Effective restaurant and bar management requires you a secure supplier agreement based on prices and payment methods that best fit your business model and budget, ultimately helping you improve your bottom line.

7.- Establish a relationship with suppliers:

You should strive to maintain open and fluid communications with your suppliers to help them understand your business and the needs of your kitchen.

In summary, when choosing suppliers for your restaurant, go for those that best suit your needs and offer a service that matches what you offer in your business (delivery days, schedules…). Choosing a good supplier also helps build the image of your restaurant.

Roberto Beltran, Chemical Engineer.

"I'm an engineer with experience in Food process and quality since 2011, with additional certifications of food safety systems, such as FSSC22000 and SQF. I'm in charge of the creation of food safety plans for restaurants and facilities."