Challenge: A limited previous stock system offered little ongoing support or value for money, while managing pricing and procurement across 13 catering outlets serving over 38,000 students and 4,500 staff had become increasingly time-consuming.
Solution: Adoption of Avendra International's Pi eProcurement system, including its stock control module, alongside a competitive tender process across core food and beverage suppliers to secure improved pricing and contracts.
Results: Improved supplier pricing and contracts, one monthly consolidated invoice replacing hundreds of individual supplier invoices, around £60,000 a year saved in administrative staffing costs, and real-time visibility into spend, stock and wastage.
Managing catering across Manchester Metropolitan University
(Manchester Met) is one of the largest Universities in the UK, with a population of over 38,000 students and 4,500 staff.
We spoke with Ben Collier, Head of Catering, Retail and Hospitality of Manchester Met, to understand more about the requirements of managing the food provision for this customer base as well as visitors and conference guests, throughout the academic year.
“As Head of Catering, Retail, and Hospitality, I oversee 13 outlets across the campus, which range from a large food court serving upward of 3,000 meals per day, to bars, restaurants, pop-ups and cafes. There’s an extensive food and beverage requirement across Manchester Met and it takes a great deal of management to get it right.”
Implementing Pi's Pitstop, a stock control system
When managing such an extensive array of outlets, keeping track of stock has been an ongoing challenge for the catering team. “Our previous stock system was limited, and I didn’t feel we were achieving value for money or receiving ongoing support or guidance; with food prices changing so quickly, procurement can become a full-time job in itself. Having met Pelican Procurement Services (now know as Avendra International) to discuss this, I was impressed not only by the stock control system, Pitstop, but I liked its commitment of ongoing support.”
Pitstop is one of the modules of Avendra International’s award-winning platform, Pi. The cloud-based system offers a suite of purpose-built modules that are designed to empower finance, procurement and catering teams to work smarter and more efficiently. It not only enables consolidated ordering and stock control, but also:
Records supplier deliveries
Provides invoice management
Supports menu development and allergen requirements
Provides complete transparency of budgets
Continues Ben: “Having implemented Pitstop and now worked with Avendra International for the last two years, I am impressed with their industry knowledge and the fact they operate as your ‘eyes and ears’ to the market – evaluating suppliers, products and prices on your behalf, on an ongoing basis. I really appreciate their Pi technology platform. Another great benefit about Avendra International is that their Pi system (including the stock system) is available free of charge and is really easy to use.”
The solution: a competitive tender across food and beverage suppliers
While being free is beneficial, Ben noted that having assistance with the overall procurement work was his end-goal when Pitstop was being evaluated for use. As he explains, “I could see that long-term we would benefit from Avendra International’s experience in keeping our costs steady, or better still, even making financial savings along the way.”
Once we had adopted Avendra International, a tender process was initiated by Avendra International with Manchester Met’s core food and beverage suppliers, working through key lines to identify financial savings, while ensuring contracts were updated to make sure agreed service levels suited the ongoing needs of the university.
“During the pandemic, we made a decision to review suppliers; trading was slow due to students and staff working and learning remotely and the time was right to do this,” says Ben. “We initiated a tender for our coffee first, and then the food categories followed.
“While some suppliers remained the same, several new suppliers were brought on board as a result of the competitive tender process managed by Avendra International. Importantly, we did see improved prices in most categories, which was great, plus improved contracts and the assurance of knowing that Avendra International is now by our side checking prices on an ongoing basis, in the background.”
Pi eProcurement system: real-time visibility into spend, stock and wastage
The Pi system is being used daily to support Manchester Met’s catering function, as Ben describes: “I can track what we’re spending on each site, compare against income, track wastage, stock holding, stock analysis and ask myself, ‘are we over-spending, do we have enough stock’; I simply didn’t have that level of visibility before. It’s so much easier in the online portal, placing and tracking orders. The level of reporting I have now is excellent. For example, I’m currently reviewing our pricing strategy for presentation to the University leadership team for approval. The Pi system gives me the insights to qualify what I’m doing – I can justify the reasoning based on the data.”
In addition to the direct financial savings Manchester Met has witnessed, Ben confirms there have also been indirect efficiencies.
“Invoice management has made a massive difference to us; instead of hundreds of supplier invoices, we now have one each month from Avendra International. As such, we’ve been able to reduce administrative support to the equivalent of two admin posts. This is a saving of around £60K a year in staff wages alone.”
The results: £60,000 saved in admin costs and one monthly invoice
The team at Avendra International continues to support Manchester Met by assessing its needs, managing suppliers, monitoring product availability and pricing, and delivering insights. Work on refining stock taking continues, with Avendra International supporting Manchester Met’s chefs with data entry, however when reflecting on the partnership, Ben summarises the main benefits to the university as he sees it:
“We have gone through Brexit, the pandemic, and now the uncertainty driven by the conflict in Ukraine, yet I feel we are in a better position now because of Avendra International. The reason for this is that we have a team of people specifically negotiating on our behalf. They monitor the total market, our pre-approved product lists and work with our suppliers to pre-empt changes. And, if I have any questions or concerns, I know they will advise me. We also get regular insight reports, which are very detailed, current and include specifics to the product lines that we’re purchasing, which is very useful.”
“The finance department has made efficiency savings – they now only have to account for one invoice from Avendra International per month, and not multiples. For time-pressured teams, this on its own makes such a big difference.”
“For me personally, the ability to find alternative suppliers, with Avendra International advocating on our behalf with price increases, is a fantastic element of what Avendra International deliver. They let us know in advance of what’s happening in the market by sharing useful information. The account management is very professional with regular meetings; if you ask a question, they will always respond – they are on the ball.”
Concludes Ben: “Ultimately, we are saving a huge chunk of time, while managing our supply chain and prices. I’ve got better, quicker insight into our stock and procurement system than ever before and can find things out myself without having to ask others first. I can control our spend and cost of sales – which I doubt many others operating in the catering field in today’s uncertain climate can have total confidence in saying. Avendra International gives you this confidence.”
Talk to our education procurement experts
Avendra International proudly supports education operators by providing innovative solutions to enhance their operations, increase efficiencies, and reduce costs and their carbon footprint. Please contact us for any support you need, or to book a Pi demo, on 01252 705214 or hello_UK@avendra.com
FAQs
How can universities get better value from food and beverage procurement?
Avendra International helps universities optimise food and non-food procurement through procurement expertise, supplier management and competitive pricing. This can help university catering teams identify savings opportunities, improve operational efficiency and gain greater visibility and control over purchasing.
What procurement support does Avendra International offer universities?
Avendra International offers flexible procurement solutions to suit different requirements. Universities can access ready-made procurement solutions or choose a bespoke approach tailored to their specific needs, with support including sourcing, negotiations, tender management and ongoing supplier and supply chain management.
How can universities reduce the administrative burden of catering procurement?
Avendra International can help streamline procurement processes such as ordering and invoice management, reducing the amount of manual administration required by catering and finance teams. Pi procurement provides digital tools for managing purchasing and invoices, helping teams work more efficiently and gain greater visibility over procurement activity.
How can Pi eProcurement system help universities manage stock, spend and food waste?
Avendra International’s Pi eProcurement system provides tools for online ordering, invoice management, stock control, waste management, budget management and advanced reporting. Bringing these processes together can give university catering teams greater visibility over purchasing and stock, helping them control costs, reduce waste and make more informed decisions.
