Would you like to work together with wholesalers or commercial kitchens in Finland? Learn more about the subject here!
Selection process for products
If you want to sell your products to professional kitchens and wholesalers, there are two approaches you can adopt: contact a professional kitchen (method 1) or a wholesaler (method 2).
Method 1
The local producer contacts a professional kitchen.
The food business owner and the professional kitchen then discuss matters such as the product’s suitability, properties, delivery quantities and package sizes. These discussions also provider the producer with the opportunity to receive feedback and find out if any changes should be made to these product properties.
The professional kitchen (hotel, café, restaurant or public catering service) then contacts a Foodservice wholesaler to propose that the supplier’s product is added to the selection. At the same time, the kitchen can make a suggestion about a suitable schedule and volumes for the product.
The proposal may then lead to negotiations between the local producer and the wholesaler. These cover details such as methods and timetables for orders and deliveries, volumes, and visibility of the selection (local or national product).
Method 2
In this approach, the local producer contacts a wholesaler first.
It is a good idea to contact wholesalers directly to market your products. Before doing so, complete a product card (in Finnish). Think about how professional kitchens would be able to find your products from the wholesaler’s selection; discussions with the kitchens at this stage can be of help.
What is the added value offered by wholesalers?
Wholesalers offer a one-stop service. Products are delivered to a single location and fees are paid to one place.
Wholesalers offer:
- An extensive and broad customer network, which enables you to gain new customers without the need to expand your delivery operations.
- The opportunity to get your products into the selections of major retail chains.
- The opportunity to expand your operations from the local to the national market,
- Visibility for your products in brochures and catalogues, on websites, and in ordering systems. Wholesalers also arrange customer events where their suppliers can showcase their products directly to professional kitchens.
For professional kitchens, purchasing products from wholesalers is beneficial because:
- orders are easy to place via electronic systems, which offer a wide range of products in a single, convenient location,
- invoices are sent from one place only,
- the volume of delivery traffic and/or drop-offs at the kitchen is reduced.
It is a good idea to take stock occasionally and consider the tasks you should perform yourself (product design, manufacture, sales, marketing, delivery, distribution) and which jobs could be carried out by your partners. When making calculations, you should factor in the cost of deliveries and using your own vehicle, along with the time you need for the deliveries.
Recognise the added value of your products and their selling points
Before contacting potential customers, analyse the added value offered by your product and its stand-out qualities. Use the product card (in Finnish) as a tool to highlight your product’s selling points and include a picture of the product:
- Put yourself in the customer’s place. Think about how, what for and by whom your product can be used.
- Highlight the story behind the product. Tell your audience about the product and explain where the ingredients come from, how the product is made (a traditional recipe or a new product), and whether it is based on the culinary culture of a certain region. Stories are important and they matter not only to professional kitchens and wholesalers but also to the consumers who buy the product. The story also helps to explain the price set for the product.
- Take a picture of your product. Without a picture, your product may fail to attract attention on a website or in a product catalogue, and a picture also shows potential buyers what your product is like. The picture may feature either the actual product or its packaging.
Contacting wholesalers and electronic systems for products
For small-scale suppliers, contact by email suffices initially, and invoicing can be carried out by any of several means. Contact by email is preferable to phone calls because with email both parties will have a written document of the communication.
Electronic systems can save time and resources for both the food business and the wholesaler. Implementing an electronic order or delivery system is recommended if the operations continue and develop. Electronic systems also contribute to the traceability of products and the realisation of operations.
Read more about electronic systems:
Keep in touch with your customer
With day-to-day communications between the seller and the buyer taking place via warehouses and electronic channels, there is little opportunity for direct contact with the customer. Such contact, however, is important for successful collaboration.
Take steps to get in touch with the professional kitchens that buy your products. This provides you with the opportunity to discuss matters such as the product’s suitability for the kitchen, its properties, delivery quantities and package sizes. You can also get feedback and understand requirements related to the product and its packaging.
In addition, you can introduce your product to professional kitchens at customer events arranged by wholesalers.
Think of ways to get professional kitchens to spot your product from the wholesaler’s selection. Direct contact with professional kitchens can help you with this.
Product delivery
Matters related to product deliveries are agreed in more detail during negotiations between the wholesaler and the food business.
Procedures vary between wholesalers. Producers may deliver the products to:
- the wholesaler’s warehouse,
- cash and carry and other wholesale facilities,
- a terminal.
Pick-up may be agreed on if the food business is along a distribution route.
Warehouses, wholesale facilities and terminals may serve as regional delivery points.
Delivery performance
Factors required for good delivery performance:
- the product should be available in quantities that meet the demand without delays,
- the product has to fulfil the quality requirements set for it.
It is natural for fluctuations to occur in the availability of the product, but the wholesaler and the professional kitchen must be informed about any changes at the time of ordering. Note that:
- any restrictions to the product’s availability (such as batch size limits or seasonal availability) must be raised during negotiations, thus enabling the wholesaler to indicate these restrictions in their product catalogue,
- you can ask to restrict the marketing of your product to cover only a certain region or customer group (see local vs. national distribution),
- if your delivery capacity changes for any reason, you must notify the wholesaler of this without delay.
Providing up-to-date information on the availability of your product and your ability to deliver is crucial, which is why you should keep in regular contact with the wholesaler.
Remember that wholesalers continuously monitor their suppliers’ delivery performance, and they collect feedback from customers. On the basis of the results, they arrange meetings with the food business to find solutions as soon as any need for a change in procedures is identified.
Local vs. national distribution
The product can be made available locally, nationally or to a certain customer group.
The distribution of your product can be restricted to a certain region (such as the delivery area of a cash and carry), even if the wholesaler operates nationally. If the wholesaler’s operations are restricted to a certain geographical region, such as a province, your product will be distributed within that area.
You can also make your product visible only to certain customer groups, such as restaurant chains. In this case, the product is not marketed to other customers.
What is Foodservice?
Foodservice wholesalers form a crucial part of the grocery trade’s service landscape. They are responsible for selections of goods outside the retail sector. Foodservice wholesalers are also called HoReCa wholesalers.
HoReCa refers to hotels, restaurants and catering. HoReCa wholesalers’ largest customer groups are hotels, cafés and restaurants, along with public sector facilities. Their main product groups consist of fresh produce and ingredients for use by professional kitchens.
From the perspective of an SME, foodservice wholesalers share many modes of operation in common with the retail sector, the difference being that in the retail case the shop is the customer.
Finnish wholesalers
Kespro Oy and Kespron Pientuottajat (in Finnish)
Meira Nova Oy
Suomen Palvelutukkurit Oy
Valio Aimo
Wihuri Metro-Tukku
Aitojamakuja.fi/en/foodservice materials were produced in Paikallisruoan arvoketjua kehittämässä 2015-2017 project.
