Page 183 - Bord Bia - Irish Foodservice Directory 2024
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Purchasing policy and supplier requirements
Retail inMotion’s goal for every purchasing transaction is to obtain the best
value possible.
Best value is determined by evaluating many factors (such as value
to the passenger and airline, price, delivery capabilities, quality, past
performance, training, financial stability, service capabilities, ease of
ordering, and reliability of payment) and selecting a vendor that offers the
best combination of those factors. All procurement is managed centrally.
The supply chain is managed from various strategic central distribution
centres located in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy via
3PL providers, as well as other relevant locations.
Supply chain optimization is managed by an in-house and industry specific
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system ‘Vector’ that provides customers
with an ‘end-to-end’ in-flight retail management solution.
HACCP and BRC are minimum requirements and Retail inMotion also
carries out its own hygiene and health and safety audits. All suppliers
must be registered with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). Audits
required to achieve certification must be paid for by the supplier.
Packaging and labelling is extremely important to Retail inMotion. Labels
must include an EU licence number where appropriate (e.g. for meat) and
must also include nutritional and allergen information. Within a tender
process for product categories, Retail inMotion tries to involve as many
local companies as possible. From a purchasing and supply chain point of
view, Retail inMotion likes to combine multiple suppliers into one overall
distribution network. This is to help reduce the number of deliveries into
each airport. Retail inMotion aims to use one distributor for most stock
items. Agreement of terms is done as part of the tender process where
the three parties (Retail inMotion, producer and distributor) agree on
financials, fees, stocking, service levels etc. All financials are taken into
account in a tender round. All contact is through the Head of Supply Chain
and Head of Procurement.
Distribution providers
All suppliers need to be able to manage the logistics of deliveries into the
central distribution centres and should price efficiently for volume orders.
Advice to new suppliers
Retail inMotion uses a mix of both Irish and international brands at each of
its locations. It has both ambient and frozen storage facilities.
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