Choosing a Distributor
Overview
Today’s hospitality managers have many options when choosing a purchasing distributor for their business. These distributors range from large distribution firms that carry anything a hospitality company needs to small niche suppliers that specialize in a specific category of products.
For this assignment, you will conduct an in-depth research study chosen from one major food or equipment distributor from the following list:
Sysco.
U.S. Food Service.
Performance Food Group.
Gordon Food Service.
Food Services America.
Instructions
Write a 4–6 page paper in which you:
Choose one distributor company and provide a brief overview including:
The history of the company.
The geographical areas that they serve.
A high-level list of supplies they offer (by category).
The main competitors.
Choose one competitive distribution company and compare and contrast five similar products (offered by both firms) in the areas of price, quality, and value. Create a table to represent the data.
Provide an overview of the company’s payment policy including:
The objective of payment policy.
The costs of paying early.
The costs of late payment.
The mechanics of bill paying.
Discounting.
Determine whether to choose this distributor as the main supplier for the restaurant chain you selected in the Week 5 assignment. Explain the decision by discussing the following items:
The impact of the distributor’s purchasing policy on supplier selection.
The distributor’s ranking based on the supplier selection criteria outlined in Chapter 12 of Purchasing: Selection and Procurement for the Hospitality Industry.
The most important supplier selection criteria for the distributor.
The comparison between this distributor and its competitors based on the selection criteria you identified as most important.
The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:
Choose a purchasing distributor for a hospitality business based on product price, quality and value, payment policy, and other selection criteria.
