October 11, 2022
Helping our members to reduce and control costs
Authors
After the covid-19 pandemic, most people had hoped for a return to normal – and expected that it would feel distinctly like pre-pandemic times. While this has, unfortunately, not been the case, Graham and Olivier share how the Trinity team supports its members to help them overcome their current/new challenges and reduce costs.
New challenges
While businesses in hospitality and catering have seen their customers return, they have been faced with a raft of fresh challenges, as they run their operations. Supply chains remain fragile, many face staff shortages, and conflict in Ukraine has exacerbated issues of inflation and energy price hikes. Most recently, the heatwave across Europe has affected crops, adding to issues of product availability and price.
Sourcing alternatives
At Trinity, the team helps its members face these challenges head on by helping members mitigate cost increases in a time of rising prices. The Trinity team is learning about each member’s challenges and needs and shares alternative ways to help them reduce their purchasing costs without losing on quality or customer experience.
“We’re helping our members think smarter to reduce their input costs,” adds Graham Coles, Procurement Director, Avendra Group. “We work hard for our members, on product substitution, for example.”
The Trinity team actively engages with suppliers to negotiate proposed price increases and, where it makes sense, works closely with suppliers to identify “good, better, and best” options they can in turn communicate to members.
Supplier partnerships
The procurement team at Trinity ensures a strong supply chain through supplier partner relationships.
“Prices are rising for everyone due to inflation, and it’s easy to go where the cheapest pricing is,” says Olivier. “However, with the unpredictable state of the current supply chain, it’s not just about pricing, and a company with cheaper pricing today may not have the same pricing tomorrow in such a volatile market.”
“Having strategic supplier relationships is critical,” he says. “Our long-term relationships with supplier partners help ensure our members are prioritised for sought-after products. And during the covid period, we started to introduce some additional contracted supplier options in certain categories where necessary to secure supply.”
Sustainable choices
There’s also a renewed focus on sustainability to not only reduce an organisation’s carbon footprint, but also to further cut down on costs.
“Our members are now reviewing their current systems for energy efficiency and food waste to help them reduce costs,” says Graham. “And they are now more receptive to menu engineering, perhaps moving to a more plant-based offering or one that flexes according to which proteins provide best value on the market week to week.”
To help members, the Trinity team sources solutions in key sustainability focus areas such as energy and water consumption, as well as waste reduction and management.
Digital tools
Technology helps operators to streamline their processes and free up their resources. As the saying goes, time equals money!
Trinity’s in-house e-procurement system Pi helps operators place online orders with multiple suppliers, manage supplier invoices, record supplier deliveries, and more – taking care of otherwise time-consuming tasks.
