All Posts

Diesel hit a record $6.53 a gallon in September, up from about $3.71 in February. Soybean oil climbed sharply while pork, cheese and butter markets fell. And published-price contracts let price books rise while the "discount" looks unchanged. Knowing which of those changes are real, and which are opportunistic, takes two things: deep knowledge of the markets, and a view across the whole industry. At SSCP, we bring both: Fuel, commodities, inflation and published-price mechani

What foodservice operators should ask instead of "How big is my discount?" Almost every distributor proposal speaks the same language: Published Price Less 10%. Less 15%. Less 25%. The bigger the number, the better the deal seems. But the discount percentage is one of the least reliable signals in foodservice purchasing, and focusing on it can cost operators real money. What published price actually is Published price, often called the price book or list price, is the distrib

When operators think about rising food costs, they typically focus on commodity markets such as beef, poultry, dairy, or produce. What often goes unnoticed is the role diesel plays throughout the entire food supply chain. Diesel is not just a transportation expense. It powers farm equipment, harvest operations, feed production, refrigerated transportation, manufacturing logistics, packaging distribution, warehouse transfers, and ultimately the trucks that deliver products to

Ask ten restaurant operators how they manage food cost, and you’ll hear ten different answers. One watches supplier prices closely. Another focuses on portion control. A third raises menu prices every spring. Each of them is right, and each of them is only covering part of the picture. Food cost isn’t controlled in one place. It’s controlled in three: purchasing, which sets the cost of product to your back door; operations, which determines what happens to that product once i

Walk into the purchasing office of a large restaurant chain or hotel group and you’ll find something most smaller operators never see: a team of people whose entire job is buying. They don’t cook, manage shifts, or fix the walk-in. They negotiate, analyze, audit, and plan, every day. Now walk into a typical independent restaurant, a small hospitality group, or a growing multi-unit concept. Purchasing is usually handled by a chef, GM, or owner, squeezed in between everything e

Across Louisiana, a new pattern is emerging: restaurants adding a 3% “administrative” surcharge to every guest check — in many cases even on cash transactions. At Strategic Supply Chain Partners (SSCP), we’ve been tracking this closely since the passage of Louisiana’s Debit Card Surcharge Prohibition law, which restricts surcharges on debit transactions. (Reference: Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor, June 2026) While the intent behind these fees may be to offset rising

Why foodservice procurement is the most underworked value-creation lever in a restaurant portfolio — and why it almost never shows up in diligence. Most value creation plans written for restaurant assets are built on the revenue line — new units, remodels, day part expansion, a price increase the brand can absorb. Almost none are built on the second-largest line in the P&L, the one already running, already contracted, and already leaking. Food cost gets modeled. Food cost rar

What separates SSCP from other purchasing consultants Most foodservice operators have lived through the same exercise. A consultant runs a bid, drops a spreadsheet in your inbox, circles the lowest number, and calls it a savings event. Six months later your invoices don’t look anything like that spreadsheet, nobody can explain why, and the consultant is gone. That gap — between the number on the analysis and the number on the invoice — is the whole game in foodservice procure

Short version: relying on weekly price checks, “good-ole-boy” supplier relationships, and spreadsheet comparisons wastes operational time and leaves money on the table. A strategic, data-driven RFP and procurement program—built and validated around your actual SKU usage—delivers clearer savings, stronger supplier commitments, and the bandwidth your teams need to focus on quality, coaching, and the guest experience. The problem: spreadsheet buying disguised as procurement Spre

When Junk Fees Become a Supply Chain Problem Micah Moore - Strategic Supply Chain Partners | May 2026 From the Strategic Supply Chain Partners (SSCP) perspective, the recent surge of itemized surcharges in restaurants is not merely a pricing debate — it’s a supply-chain and brand-risk issue. What begins as a supplier or card-processing add-on quickly ripples through procurement, operations, customer experience, and marketing. For SSCPs charged with protecting margins and su

If you operate a restaurant or a growing multi‑unit brand, you don’t need a spreadsheet to tell you something feels off. Food costs are rising, distributor invoices are harder to decipher, and margins that used to be predictable now feel constantly under pressure. What we see every day at Strategic Supply Chain Partners (SSCP) is that most restaurant operators aren’t doing anything wrong — they’re just busy running restaurants. Supply chain management quietly becomes reactive

In today’s restaurant landscape, margins are thin, supply chains are volatile, and distributors hold more leverage than ever. Operators feel the pressure daily: rising costs, inconsistent service, and pricing that drifts upward without explanation. Yet most restaurant groups still rely on informal “soft asks” to their incumbent suppliers—hoping for better pricing, better programs, or better service. The truth is simple: hope is not a procurement strategy. This is where Strate

How SSCP Fights for Every Dollar You Spend Strategic Supply Chain Partners | ssc.partners | 877-386-5224 Most restaurant operators know they're probably leaving money on the table. What they don't know is exactly how much — or who's taking it. At Strategic Supply Chain Partners, we built our practice on a simple premise: the foodservice supply chain is complicated by design, and that complexity benefits everyone in it except the operator. Distributors, manufacturers, and

Restaurant operators searching for outsourced restaurant purchasing, restaurant procurement services, or restaurant supply chain optimization often assume all solutions work the same way. In reality, the structure behind your purchasing partner can significantly impact food costs, margins, and scalability. That’s where Strategic Supply Chain Partners (SSCP) stands apart. What Is Outsourced Restaurant Purchasing? Outsourced restaurant purchasing typically refers to third-part

Based on the most recent 2026 industry analyses, the number one issue foodservice providers are facing in 2026 is labor shortage and rising labor costs. Why labor is the top challenge Multiple authoritative industry forecasts point to labor as the most persistent and intensifying pressure on operators: Technomic’s 2026 U.S. Foodservice Trend Predictions explicitly identify the “Next Wave: Labor Crunch ,” noting that the “everlasting struggle for labor will become even more

Restaurant back‑office systems and SSCP each drive financial improvement for multi‑unit operators, but they do so through fundamentally different mechanisms. Back‑office platforms provide visibility, reporting, and compliance, while SSCP delivers procurement strategy, vendor negotiations, and cost‑of‑goods improvement. Each creates value independently, yet when combined, they create a force multiplier capable of delivering 2×, 3×, or even 4× greater financial impact. This occ

The restaurant industry attracts two very different entrepreneurs: the Business Person and the Restaurant Person. Both can succeed, both can fail, and both face blind spots that can sink a concept faster than expected. The restaurant business rewards discipline, visibility, systems, and accountability, not just passion or capital. The Business Person Developing Restaurants Strengths: financial discipline, access to capital, scaling experience, real estate knowledge, team-buil

Executive Perspective Rebates are often seen as an effortless method to increase profitability, seemingly offering free money without having to raise menu prices. However, these same rebates can subtly distort food cost reporting when they are not correctly tracked. From a Chief Financial Officer’s standpoint, where EBITDA quality, earnings consistency, and the potential for future liquidity events are critical, this distortion becomes a significant concern. If the Profit and

In early 2026, over 15 major restaurant chains are closing locations or restructuring financially. Confirmed 2026 Closures Pizza Hut: Closing 250 underperforming U.S. restaurants as part of modernization efforts. Wendy’s: Shuttering 200–350 locations to focus on higher-performing units. Starbucks: Executing a $1 billion plan that includes closing about 400 North American stores. Noodles &Company: Closing 30–35 more sites after previous reductions. Jack in the Box: May clo

In today’s restaurant environment, margins are won or lost long before the guest ever takes a bite. Food costs don’t simply “happen” to an operation—they are managed, protected, and controlled through daily habits that either reinforce discipline or quietly erode profitability. The truth is simple: COGS control is an inside job. And it comes down to five operational fundamentals that every successful restaurant executes with consistency. 1. Order It Well Great COGS start with