Stretching Your Purchasing Dollars

Pinching Pennies: How Hoteliers Are Stretching Their Purchasing Dollars

by Lisa Van De Ven, Hotelier, December 2011

Avendra, an American procurement company, prides itself on the relationships it has with 900 suppliers. The company purchases for hotels and other hospitality organizations across North America, taking care of ongoing items, including food, bar supplies, towels, TVs and lighting. Avendra’s clients are top-tier brands such as the Marriott, Fairmont and Hyatt.

Don Hecht and Alex Dudnik — Avendra’s vice-president of Strategic Contracting for Food and Beverage, and director of Strategic Contracting for National Food and Beverage respectively — have both noticed budgets being cut throughout the regions they service, in Canada and the United States. With increasing food costs, money has been particularly tight in that department. But buying in bulk for multiple clients, the pair says, can save money.

Cutting costs means finding alternative products that fit clients’ quality profile, Hecht adds. Take olive oil, for example, a staple in many hotel kitchens. As most people know, pure extra-virgin olive oil can be costly. To help cut food costs, Avendra’s food and beverage team recently sought out an alternative that didn’t compromise quality. Working closely with its clients’ chefs to test potential products, it discovered there was another option to traditional pure extra-virgin olive oil. “What we found was a couple of sources that provide Mediterranean pure olive oils,” Hecht says. “It may be a mix of a Spanish olive oil and an Italian olive oil, but they’re both pure; they’re both extra-virgin. So we were able to significantly reduce the cost.” The amount of savings vary from client to client.

Sometimes saving money can mean spending more at the onset, adds Hecht. Take rib eye steak as an example. While it’s often purchased as a whole rib section that the hotel’s chefs will ‘portion,’ Hecht and his team have suggested to certain clients they purchase it pre-cut instead. While it’s theoretically more expensive, because there may be less waste and labour involved, they can choose cuts specifically for their needs, which can result in savings in the end. “We’re trying to find the right product for the right application, which ultimately yields the customer the best savings overall,” he says.

For some hoteliers, a highly focused purchasing company like Avendra is the answer to help them reduce budgets and meet their purchasing needs.

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“What we found was a couple of sources that provide Mediterranean pure olive oils,” Hecht says. “It may be a mix of a Spanish olive oil and an Italian olive oil, but they’re both pure; they’re both extra-virgin. So we were able to significantly reduce the cost.”