When you own your own restaurant, food retailers are the main suppliers you will be using. You will buy food on a regular basis and will want to find the best values and products, save time and money, and make sure you have everything you need to run your restaurant.
There are a variety of companies you can use to purchase all of your food. Wholesale food retailers and B2B food wholesalers will save you the most money, but may not always be available for your needs. You will want to primarily use online food retailers, a food chain or two, commercial food retailers and gourmet food retailers. Make up a list of food stores and a list of food retailers that you will use on a regular basis, making sure you take note of the following:
1. Online food retailers are a great source for many of the foods you will use on a regular basis. Include the link, the customer service phone number and the items you normally purchase from each company on your list.
2. If your restaurant offers gourmet food, you will want to keep track of the gourmet food retailers you order the ingredients from.
3. Since many of your ingredients will come from grocery stores, keep a list of grocery stores in your area, and include which foods come from what store.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Buy your products from online food retailers
Ordering the majority of your food online will save you time and money. There are suppliers on the Internet that you can order from and have them deliver their products directly to your restaurant door.
I recommend: Bulkfoods.Com sells baking and cooking ingredients in bulk at wholesale cost.
D'artagnan sells quality meats and gourmet desserts online, and offers a value club that will save you 20-30% on selected items.
Venison America sells quality meats and game, and offers several specials throughout the year.
Choose delicious specialty food and desserts from gourmet food retailers
Add a special touch to your restaurant by preparing gourmet meals and desserts. When you use the right companies, gourmet food doesn't have to cost you much more than the non-gourmet foods you offer.
I recommend: Impromptu Gourmet is an online store that sells everything from appetizers to desserts, and offers various specials.
Dean and Deluca offer appetizers, meats, desserts and wines, and they have different specials you can choose from. They are also an online store that will deliver everything to you.
Comprise a grocery list for the food retailers in your area for items you won't be ordering online
You won't be able to purchase all of your food from online retailers, so you need to have a grocery list for the food retailers in your area that sell the other items you need. You should include the retailers' name, location, phone number and the item prices for each store.
I recommend: ConAgra Foods provides a detailed, printable grocery list that allows you to select the products you need and the amount of each product for each grocery trip you make.
Grocery Genie lets you set up a free account to build your grocery list, print your list and coupons to match the items on your list, and save, edit and remotely access your list whenever you need it.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- You and other restaurant owners can talk about food retailer information for your area without giving away trade secrets to each other.
The official source of Food Retailers is the Food Retailers page at Business.com
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