Getting the right wholesale food supplier for your restaurant is possibly the most crucial step. It is the lifeline of the business. Quality ingredients from reputable wholesale food suppliers ensure a high standard of food safety and quality for your restaurant.
When searching for a wholesale supplier, one aspect that some may overlook is the location of the supplier. The locality of the supplier is a relevant aspect to consider, and has a few benefits besides cost savings in logistics.
Meetings are easier to arrange
While phone conversations and e-mail exchanges are great, nothing beats the assurance of visiting the facility itself and seeing how your future business partner works with your own eyes.
Not that you should approach every supplier with detective-like scrutiny, but when it comes to food standards you can never be too careful. Be it a restaurant or a wet market your business rides on the quality and safety of your products.
You can establish a sale or contract quicker too. Wholesaler sales rep are always aware of their supply capabilities and they can convey it to you quickly. The information exchange can be far more fluid if everyone is there on site. You may even ask for custom orders and arrange deliveries all in a single meeting.
Logistics
The obvious advantages would be in cost and quicker delivery times. But there are other angles to this that may be leveraged. Some foodstuff can be frozen and can remain fresh for many weeks. Others such as leafy greens may only keep their freshness for a maximum of 5 days.
Those working on a smaller scale (such as a small family-owned grocery store, or a small fledgling restaurant) could appreciate the agility of a nearby local food supplier. Quite often that food businesses rely on large cold-storage facilities to keep their over-stocked produce fresh. You can offer to your customers the same fresh ingredients and food products with great reliability without needing to go that length by arranging more frequent smaller orders. This is much easier done when your food supplier is just a stone’s throw away (and often that is the condition for them to agree to such an arrangement). This also reduces waste.
They may be better equipped for the local demand
This is probably quite often overlooked. By knowing the demands of the local community a more localized wholesale supplier is more optimized to deliver foods that are most in demand in that locality and its surrounding communities.
This is especially beneficial if your business revolves around the palate of the local community. A supplier well-grounded to the area is a valuable asset.
You may get fresher ingredients
Local food wholesalers often rely on local farms, orchards, and food producers and manufacturers to get a steady stream of supplies as fresh and as quickly as possible. They often have goods delivered directly to their warehouse daily. From the farm to your kitchen, the food you are handling may have only been in transit for no more than 24 hours.
For those in Penang seeking a food wholesaler, Bansan Penang is a trusted and well-established small farm and food supplier, having grown and supplied fruits and vegetables in Penang for generations. As well as their own farm they are also well connected with other food suppliers in the region, offering a wide variety of selections with supply reliability.