Before you think your lotto ticket is punched,
I can tell you one thing if you have ever followed my posts.
I have been and now retired from 34 years in this Industry.
I have worked for Sysco, US food
Service
Alliant Food Service,
Virginia Food Service and Performance Food Group where I finished my career as a food service consultant.
In charge of major accounts such as healthcare large events,
baseball diamonds and was a sales trainer.
I know that all of this news is fantastic
No better margins anywhere more than food service.
If you knew the true price per plate any restaurant you eat in,
You would probably never eat in another restaurant again.
Except!
94% restaurants within that first year do not make it. 77% of restaurants that make it past the first year into the second one,
do not make it.
Only in the third year of a restaurant will you see success from only from consistency and affordability also with impeccable staff.
You have to take all of this into consideration.
I trained chefs and their staff on how to create and manage food cost to its highest profitability.
Their are more restaurants out there now than ever.
In my last years the competitors of course we all knew each other working the Richmond Virginia area.
Were on top of one another.
I have only worked for two foodservice companies which is the point I am making.
If our company wasnt the biggest,
We were acquired by the larger companies.
If you read the companies I have worked for,
You see I didnt change jobs.
We,
,in this Industry
never settle for second-best.
I was number six out of 157 ranked. I know this in my sleep.
No boasting,
just information.
We kept getting gobbled up by the food service company trying to be bigger than you until
there were only two gigantic enormous immaculate companies left with the buying power to change the prices that you may have read in being a part of this group. Just a quick example. I know for a fact french fries come in 65 pound boxes frozen. My typical price on the street would be around $14.50 to around $18. That would be for a single restaurant. Let’s say, McDonald’s. They pay under four dollars.
I just wanted to give you an example of the margins without being a part of a larger group.
Smaller companies just cannot compete.
The manufacture rebates,
padding and the pure power of buying bulk puts any single family run establishment out of business.
If you have not seen this happen in your hometown then you don’t live in the United States.
Everything is now a chain or will be.
Same goes for this Industry.
Everything either grows exponentially because they are part of something big or they simply die
the neighbor down the street that owns the restaurant that has the best spaghetti sauce couldn’t pay his rent and now there’s a Wawa there
My HomeCourt advantage having performance food group main office in Richmond was a wonderful part of my success.
But being competitive and working out food costs and knowing your math more than anyone.
Is measured and comes down to the ounce with some of these places.
not price per pound but cost per ounce.
Now that we are part of a group such as what I am talking about. Now comes the hard part.
building your business.
It could take years unless there’s a merger like I told you would probably happen especially in this business.
This is the most greedy industry on the planet.
It will gobble up it’s competitive rather than beat it.
Because it can afford it.
Thats all there is and how its done
