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22 August 2013 | Adam Leach
High-end caterer Searcys”Ž has brought in consultants Prestige Purchasing to review its supply chain and identify efficiencies to help it tackle food price inflation.
The company, which operates in venues including the Champagne Bar at St Pancras station in London, will work with the consultants in a number of areas directly related to the food it sells. Part of the project will analyse whether products should be made or bought, and it will also look at ingredients planning and rationalisation.
Doug Tetley, CEO at Searcys, said: “Quality means everything to us. But with food and drink prices constantly on the rise, we need to look at ways to offset these increases. Rather than taking a ‘slash and burn’ approach to squeezing suppliers and affecting the quality of what we produce, we would rather look within our own business.”
Food prices have risen over recent years and current forecasts predict the upward pressure will continue, with inflation calculated to be 4.2 per cent over the course of this year.
To mitigate this impact, the review will look for ways to improve how the company works with its suppliers and how it measures performance.