How to manage your restaurant's deliveries and suppliers

Building and maintaining a strong relationship with your suppliers is essential to the success of your restaurant chain. It affects the quality of your dishes, your purchasing, and everything that makes your concept unique for your customers and franchisees.

Good relations with your suppliers can help you secure competitive prices and lower your food cost. A solid understanding with your suppliers also ensures on-time deliveries and makes it easier to handle the unexpected.

Why do good relationships matter?

Your relationship with your suppliers should be a key part of your strategy. Built for the long term, it can become a real competitive advantage:

• Lower costs
• Higher customer satisfaction
• Better inventory management
• Higher yields and margins over the long term
• Better supplier performance

By maintaining good relationships with your suppliers, you can improve your restaurant’s performance and secure its long-term success.

How do you choose the best suppliers?

Selecting suppliers that match your restaurant’s needs is the first step toward a quality relationship. Selection criteria can include:

• Your restaurant’s values: using local and organic products for an eco-friendly approach.
• The labels and certifications they hold.
• Value for money and your target margin.
• The supplier’s size: small producer or large company.
• The type of supplier: specialist (cheesemonger, butcher, baker) or generalist.
• Reviews and references about the supplier.
• Purchasing, payment and delivery terms.

Communicate transparently

From the outset, set out your expectations in terms of product quality, timing and, of course, payment. If a problem arises, such as poor product quality or a late delivery, raise it quickly. Stay constructive so you can find effective solutions.

To do so, it is important to discuss the following points with your supplier:

• The detailed list of required products (price list).
• Preferred delivery days and times.
• Purchase quantities.
• Packaging requirements.
• The minimum order amount for free delivery.
• Payment terms.
• Procedures for credit requests.
• Replacement products in case of stock-outs.

Negotiating upfront is necessary to agree on terms that work for you and are also acceptable to your suppliers.

Set up price lists

What is a supplier price list in the restaurant industry?

In the restaurant industry, a price list (known in France as a mercuriale) is a document that brings suppliers together to set a fixed price on certain products. These prices are “guaranteed” and do not vary with competition between suppliers or market fluctuations.

How does a price list work?

To set up a price list for your restaurants, you need to create a document detailing the key information for inventory management:

• Product unit price.
• Supplier name.
• Product reference.
• Packaging and ordering unit.

This document keeps a record of the prices negotiated with your suppliers. When you introduce a new recipe, it makes it easier to calculate its cost.

How do you manage supplier price lists effectively?

Setting up a price list for products such as dry goods and frozen foods is usually easier, because their prices fluctuate less quickly than those of meat, fish or fruit and vegetables.

To get started, identify the products you want to include in your price list and discuss them with your suppliers.

It is crucial for restaurateurs, purchasing managers and financial controllers to keep a close eye on locked-in prices. Even when suppliers commit to holding certain prices, unexpected increases can occur due to economic factors, as we have seen recently. That is why you need to monitor these price changes so you can react quickly and protect your profitability.

Using inventory management software that centralizes all this data can be a real advantage. It lets you update your price lists regularly and manage the profitability of each dish in real time.

Supplier management: stick to payment terms

To make the most of your supplier relationships, it is crucial to respect the agreed payment terms. These terms are regulated by law and vary depending on the type of food product.

For example, the payment period is different for perishable goods and for beverages. Always check the invoice for this essential information.

If you have trouble paying your invoices on time, talk to your suppliers to find a mutually acceptable solution.

Be transparent with your suppliers

If there is a problem with a product or a delivery, it is crucial to report it to your supplier quickly. This can include:

• A quality defect in the delivered products
• Logistics problems such as late deliveries
• Failure to respect the agreed prices

Be honest and open when you discuss these issues with your suppliers. This approach will encourage them to give you the help you need.

By adopting these management practices, you can expect to build a solid relationship of trust that supports effective, lasting collaboration.

Hold regular check-ins

To maintain a good relationship, schedule regular exchanges (email, video call, phone, in person). Hold weekly or monthly meetings to take stock or reassess the terms of your collaboration.

How does Yokitup make supplier relationships easier?

At Yokitup, we have developed a complete solution to improve communication and collaboration with your suppliers, ensuring a smooth and efficient supply chain.

Simpler ordering

Yokitup automates the ordering process by generating order recommendations based on your restaurant’s specific needs and your suppliers’ logistics constraints (delivery days, packaging, minimum order for free delivery, etc.). Also available as a mobile app, orders can be sent directly by email, text message or WhatsApp, streamlining your workflow.

Receiving goods

When goods arrive, staff can easily check deliveries and record the quantities and references received directly in Yokitup’s inventory management app. If a delivery is incomplete or products are defective, a credit request can be created automatically. Your request can include photos documenting the issues.

This helps prevent billing errors and ensures more accurate, transparent management.