Choosing A Better Food Supplier

When you are running a restaurant, you have to get the food, or the ingredients for your food, from somewhere. That is where wholesale food suppliers come into play. Wholesale food suppliers are large businesses whose sole job is to get ingredients and foods to restaurants and kitchens that need them. When looking for a new wholesale food supplier to work with your restaurant, there is certain information you need to gather to figure out if they are the right fit for your restaurant.

1. Product Range

First, you will want to find out what their range of products is that they offer. For the most streamlined operations, you will want to work with a small number of wholesale food suppliers. One supplier may not be able to meet all of your needs, but you don't want to be working with twenty food suppliers either – that will require a lot of coordination and effort on your part.

That is why you will want to find a wholesale food supplier who can supply multiple items you need for your restaurant. It generally isn't worth it to work with a supplier that can only take care of one or two of your numerous food needs.

2. Packaging Freshness

Second, you are going to want to find out what their packaging dates are for their food. You are going to want to find out how fresh the food you are getting is. You want to serve your customers fresh food, and you also want to enjoy consistent quality. Find out what the average age of the food is that you will be delivered, and what your self-life will be once it gets to you. You want to choose a food supplier who is providing you fresh food.

3. Delivery Schedule and Methods

Third, you will want to find out what the food distributors' delivery schedule is like and see if it will work with your ideal delivery schedule. You want to ensure that the delivery schedule will meet your expectations.

For example, you may need to work with a food distributor that delivers on the weekends, and not all distributors may do that. Or you may need to work with a distributor that will deliver items directly into your freezers and coolers and not just drop them off outside. You want to find a distributor whose delivery schedule and methods work with your restaurant's needs.

4. Order Quantity

Finally, you will want to find out what the distributor's maximum and minimums are for their inventory. They may have maximum and minimum ordering requirements for each food item or your overall order.

With a restaurant, you need to balance the amount of food delivered to minimize waste while meeting customer demand. You need the order minimum and maximums to work with the amount of food you will place for each delivery.

These four pieces of information will help you determine if a particular wholesale food supplier is the right one for your restaurant. Start contacting companies like Interstate Caterers to learn more.