In this, the second in our series on the Acceleration Platform, we’re taking a closer look at Buyers Edge Platform (BEP), a supply chain partner on the cutting edge of today’s food service procurement. As part of the EMERGING Fund’s network of operating companies helping early-stage restaurants and social entertainment concepts scale and grow, they offer unprecedented purchasing power and data-driven support.
Let’s explore the benefits they bring as mentors and suppliers.
Partnering with Restaurants Nationwide
BEP is the supply chain partner of over 200,000 restaurants across North America. Their aggregated spend volume is $60 billion, making it a powerful ally. Now, independent restaurants and eatertainment venues have the large-scale purchasing power of chains.
The centralized platform and streamlined procurement process enable operators to source quality ingredients at competitive prices. In addition to serving the restaurant industry, BEP’s clients comprise casinos, hotels, healthcare, schools, and more.
Fresh Solutions
Early in their 25-year history, BEP realized the need for locally sourced, high-quality ingredients. Eventually and to that end, four of their produce brands came together to form Fresh Solutions. These solutions are driven to enable operators and their staff to source and handle fresh produce efficiently and sustainably.
The four distinct business units include:
- Fresh Concepts: This end-to-end solution provides produce sourcing, grower-shippers, pricing, food safety, and technology.
- Produce Alliance: This segment specializes in supporting fast casual, fast food, non-traditional, c-stores, GPO, and healthcare establishments and includes culinary expertise, procurement, and sustainability.
- Fresh Alliance: As a produce procurement solution, this segment of Fresh Solutions procures products from growers, shippers, and processors. They also manage contracts and freight.
- Fresh Services: As the operational arm, Fresh Services covers operational strategies essential to success, which include strategic pricing through verification, centralized billing, operational support, and state-of-the-art technology integration.
Data and Technology Driven
Since 2018, BEP has acquired over 20 companies, many of which reside in the tech sector. Why? They know that good decision-making begins with good data. They also know that sorting through the tremendous amount of data generated by the food service industry can be overwhelming at best and near impossible at worst.
Data is everywhere. It’s in the customer demographics, menu, average checks, inventory, social media engagement, labor, loyalty, and much, much more. For many restaurants, that data goes down the drain, unused because of its massive size.
However, as technology infiltrates our industry on a greater scale every day, and with innovative startup companies looking to make harnessing and making sense of this data easier, data-driven operations and actionable insights are possible.
With this knowledge, BEP evolved from a next-generation Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) to a technology-driven, digital procurement network.
Back Office Solutions
As Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” In the restaurant industry, it’s easy to divide and segment. There’s the BOH, FOH, bar, dining, shifts, and more. To run like a well-oiled machine, each part needs to operate optimally and then come together in a synchronized fashion.
Because the FOH is intricately connected to the guest experience, it often gets the lion’s share of attention, but the BOH is, in many ways, the sine qua non or driving force of an establishment. It dictates the quality, consistency, and pace.
BEP’s back-office solutions automate back-office tasks, streamlining the day-to-day operations. It provides a single source to control and manage inventory, recipe costing, AP automation, accounting, and payroll.
The Tip of the Iceberg
While it’s hard to imagine, we’ve only covered a small fraction of the benefits BEP provides their clients and partners, and BEP is only 1/6th of our Acceleration Platform. Mindboggling. To say we provide unprecedented support is, in many ways, an understatement. To learn more about optimizing operations and supply chain management as well as gaining access to unparalleled support, contact the EMERGING Fund.
