Perfecting the balance: ordering in food stocks

Related tags English cuisine

When it comes to ordering in food there is a fine balance to be drawn between buying stock that will simply clog up valuable freezer space and...

When it comes to ordering in food there is a fine balance to be drawn between buying stock that will simply clog up valuable freezer space and leaving the larder bare.

No pub chef wants to be faced with the prospect of trying to rustle up a tasty dish from a Ready Steady Cook-type array of ingredients - a beetroot, frozen chips and quails eggs! Conversely, a jam-packed fridge and freezer puts unnecessary pressure on menus as chefs keep a close eye on impending use-by dates.

So what is the secret to successful food ordering?

Know your market

Publicans often get their fingers burnt when ordering food for three key reasons, according to Ian Anderson, foodservice controller of Emile Tissot:

lack of planning
being over-ambitious with the menu
not researching what the customer wants.

The latter is undoubtedly the primary consideration when food ordering comes into play. After all, if you don't know who you are serving, how can you decide what dishes to put on the menu and ultimately, what to order?

Once you have established the customer type, you will be able to assess whether you should pitch your menu as one for an aspirational evening meal venue, or as a pub that caters for families on a budget. Then factor into the equation the skills level of staff available, equipment available, freezer capacity and kitchen space, as well as your profit expectations and suddenly the waters clear.

Choose carefully

Depending on the skills of your kitchen staff you can determine whether the best option is to order in fresh foods, frozen foods or a combination of the two.

Frozen food suppliers like 3663 contend that frozen foods "offer a very wide menu and incur little, if any, waste".

However, a mixture of both fresh and frozen is common according to Emile Tissot's Ian Anderson, who believes that "some fresh products such as vegetable accompaniments to a frozen core dish" can achieve a happy medium for many outlets.

When buying fresh, James Wood, manager of the Nut Tree in Murcott, Oxfordshire, recommends that you take full advantage of seasonal products to keep profit at a maximum.

Many less experienced publicans can feel daunted by the prospect of planning their own menus, but they should not feel alone. Most credible suppliers will assist pubs with menu planning.

"Advice is readily given from our sales teams and more detailed help, if required, is available from our advice centre which gives information on yields, pack contents and recommended portion sizes," said Wilf Pearce, trading director of 3663.

Emile Tissot is shortly to launch a pub food advisory service, a free service offering practical help on running a pub menu and maximising margins.

KNORR gives assistance on portion control, offering a range of individual portion entrées (IPEs) from the KNORR Chef Creations collection. "As the IPEs offer portion control there is no wastage - saving time and money for caterers," said Chris Cannon, senior brand manager.

Get to know your supplier

If you find a supplier that you manage to build up a successful relationship with and who works in the way you want to, don't change simply for the sake of a small profit margin increase," said James Wood.

The Nut Tree is a pub specialising in "traditional English food with a twist" and James is loyal to his suppliers, believing that you can't underestimate the value of strong relationships. "It is important to know what you want from your local suppliers," he advised. "We have one core supplier per product group and we supplement this with products from specialist suppliers for products such as barracuda, grouper, grouse and other exotic meats."

Ann Seaton of the Tally Ho in Aswarby, Lincolnshire, runs very low stocks since all her produce is fresh. "Stock is checked daily and we have deliveries of fresh meat and fish twice a week and three to four deliveries a week of vegetables and salads," she explained.

Despite the most rigorous stock control systems, some items can slip through the net, but by fostering a good relationship with suppliers the dreaded over or under-ordering scenario can be averted.

"Experience shows that rather than over or under ordering, customers may forget to order products completely when they receive their call from telesales," said Judith Mann of Brake Bros. "On the first order perhaps the sales rep will take the order in person and work through the menu with the customer to ensure that they do order the food they need.

"Then telesales can prompt customers when they make subsequent orders. We all forget to write some things down from time to time, so a prompt such as 'do you need some scampi?' could be enough to remind the customer that they are running short of supplies."

Any supplier worth their salt should not just be interested in taking your order, they should be looking out for the interests of your business. Having built firm relationships with her suppliers, Ann Seaton is able to obtain orders from her local suppliers at "very short notice".

This customer-focused approach is a policy that 3663 firmly believes in. Wilf Pearce said: "We always pride ourselves on being flexible. If a system fails, customers can return any unwanted goods at the time of delivery. Likewise, if a customer should under order, we can, in most circumstances, make a further delivery within 24 hours and sometimes on the same day."

What if it all goes wrong?

If pubs do find themselves in a stock crisis, all is not lost, according to James Wood. He always has a contingency plan for the under-ordering scenario in the form of an "emergency freezer" in which he keeps key items that his chef could utilise to make up menu dishes.

He added: "It is very rare that we over-order, but if we end up with excess amounts of a particular item, then we may have a theme night based around the product or put it on the menu as a special." If too many vegetables are sitting in stock, he simply makes vegetable soup or some other vegetable-based dish.

Ann Seaton gets around the under-ordering problem by bringing her menu plans forward. She plans daily menus and if she finds she is in an under-ordering situation, she supplements that evening's menu with the following day's menu, bringing the menu forward and re-ordering the following day to compensate.

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