Westbury Strret Holdings, the owner of BaxterStorey, has moved to a free-range RSPCA Freedom Farm- assured egg supply
Supply chains Management TIPS FOR BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL
SUPPLY PARTNERSHIP
Be clear and upfront State what you want to do and why from the off. It is better to know where you stand with your supply partners before commit- ting yourself to reputationally expensive action.
Negotiate, don’t dictate A successful supply chain should engender a team mentality amongst members – in the long run that can only provide more flex- ibility for all.
Cost isn’t everything, but... As a business you have to get away from a ‘cheapest is best’ mentality if you are going to exceed expectations. By the same token, customers are price-sensi- tive and wallets have the final say.
Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo Just because it has always been done that way does not mean it has to continue to be done so.
Put your money where your mouth is Detergents are tough on the environ- ment. Westbury put money into R&D to develop a 100% natural and biodegrad- able handwash, salad wash, hard surface cleaner for the business. Sometimes you have to create something new specific to your needs at a cost.
Get buy-in from across the business Your management team can articulate a new direction in your purchasing policy, but your most effective ambassadors are your team members.
to bring unit cost down but were unwilling to do so without greater volume; distributors needed increased orders from caterers, which in the main knew their clients and customers wouldn’t swallow the price differential (EU bacon was 20% to 40% cheaper at the time) and therefore sourced it from abroad.
Another nuance was that British bacon is not necessarily produced from British pork. UK labelling merely refers to where the meat was processed, so BaxterStorey had to get to the start of the food chain and put its money where its mouth was, drawing together producers and the distributor, Brakes, to engender a team mentality and break the cycle.
“It was very hard work involving plenty of intense negotiation. What I learnt from the
process is that if you have a clear vision are committed to it, and find and engage with people that share your passion for food and a sustainable vision, you can achieve your goal no matter how impossible it seems,” says Platt. “We formed a partnership and all took our fair share of risk to fulfil our requirement for 6M slices of bacon a year. British producers and distributors benefited from increased vol- ume. Since making the switch our bacon sales have increased by a quarter. We collectively improved animal welfare and played a part in mitigating our impact on the environment.” While it is management’s role to lead and drive through such commitments, Platt argues that you must make sure that your message – be it local sourcing, customer service, or innova-
tive design – is taken up at the grass roots. “In our case we’re a caterer and we live or die by the quality of our food.
“If our chefs and kitchen teams aren’t deliv- ering their best, we won’t be retained be the client. To that end the easiest way to explain the importance of any supply decision is to illustrate it, and through our chef academy our team members visit the very farms producing our goods, allowing them to see the welfare standards in practice and strengthen their con- nection with the supply chain they are part of.” Being able to show, explain and allow staff to experience the supply chain first-hand is a pow- erful weapon in your arsenal if you are planning significant changes within your purchasing, whatever business sector you operate in.
Sustainable Business | June 2011 | 31
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