Atlantis The Palm, Dubai's Bhanu Pratap Singh, Anantara Hotels & Resorts Abu Dhabi’s Madhu Gopal, and Al Dar Sweets' Wissam El Cheikh Hassan debate key procurement issues in the region ahead of Hotelier's Procurement Summit.
What can suppliers and procurement managers do to streamline the purchasing process?
Wissam: You can share information, consolidate, benchmark. The other thing is contracts. There’s a very big gap when it comes to having contracts. I know some hotels that do contracts with suppliers but hardly anybody does it. Some hotels have been dealing with suppliers for the last six years based on appeals.
I see it left, right and centre — chefs trying our product and saying “ok we’ll be in touch”. You’re already set on a supplier but you don’t have a contract with him, but you agreed to see me so you wasted my time and your time. The amount of time I waste following up with chefs. If something is not ok they don’t tell the supplier why, it just stops. They’re always jumping back and forth; just give me a contract already!
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Bhanu: That’s very counter-productive for everyone. You need to document it so that the supplier knows “this is my obligation” and as a buyer you know “this is my obligation and my responsibility”. Once you know the rate for a certain period that’s fine.
Without that there’s a sense of insecurity between the buyer and supplier — I’ve seen people come and say ‘I’ve been thrown out by this buyer because my rice was AED 20 fils less or more’.
It’s a very short-sighted approach. If you have a contract, the purchaser knows they have a particular type of chicken for the next 12 months and the supplier has to maintain a certain stock and a certain quality. That creates sustainability in your relationship.
Wissam: Yes you actually did your homework, you checked out the supplier, you had a blind tasting selection. At the end of the day I want to sell something because it’s good.
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