Simon Lazarus, senior area director of food and beverage, Hilton Worldwide Simon Lazarus, senior area director of food and beverage, Hilton Worldwide

Large hotel groups and restaurant chains have dramatically changed the way they buy produce and engineer menus, it was revealed at the Caterer Conference 2012, which took place on March 19, 2012.

Companies like Hilton, with big buying power, can influence the supply chain, to recoup ever-increasing food costs, Simon Lazarus, senior area director of food and beverage, Hilton Worldwide, said.

“We get all our executive chefs together with F&B managers and agree on top 20 ingredients and agree we will use same spec and same suppliers. We are giving that volume and the more volume, the better the price.

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“Where possible, we work with local suppliers. We’ve managed to tap into Egypt’s exports – it has a lot of vegetables. We’ve made key partnerships and have managed to get potatoes that traditionally went 100% to McCain. For things like tomatoes and cucumbers, that’s our first port of call.”

Lazarus, said that it’s not just large companies that can take control of the supply chain, but small restaurants can implement new practices that will help cut costs: “One thing to look at is who you are using as a supplier, and if you are in an area where there are five of you on one street, there’s no reason why you could partner together.

“The second thing you could do is lock into prices. The prices of fruit and vegetables do fluctuate wildly and it’s a good thing to lock into a three-month or six-month supply.

“Thirdly, it’s not just the middle suppliers, there are large brands like Diagio that you can team up with to get the best deals,” he advised.

Lazarus also believes intelligent menu engineering is key to retaining custom if you are forced to pass on some costs to the customer.

“We do a lot of research and analysis,” he explained. “We do sometimes lower prices on certain items, and stretch the prices of others. You can target specific items that are in high demand and the people who don’t mind spending extra can spend, while for the customers who want value, it’s still there.”