5 ways emerging brands can ease supply chain challenges like big chains

By Bob Andersen, Brand President of The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill

Like every other business,, The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill has been impacted by supply challenges resulting from the recent pandemic — everything from the availability of food ingredients, paper products and restaurant equipment to higher food and labor costs. It looks like our industry will face these challenges for some time to come, so it is even more essential that small and emerging chains' management teams be committed to developing and driving an effective supply chain management strategy.

More than any time before, it is important for brands to focus on building value in each customer experience throughout the entire guest journey. Only the brands that are committed to maintaining the quality of the food and service experience can rise above the challenges of the big hit consumers are taking to disposable income.

There's no getting around the fact that small chains usually find themselves at the end of the supply line, behind the bigger brands. So the question is, where have we positioned ourselves after the large chains are satisfied? Emerging chains having success in this area are focused on the implementation and execution of a few key components.

First and foremost, brand managers must understand their chain's unique needs, capabilities and capacity. An emerging chain may need to go outside the organization to obtain supply chain expertise in this process. Aligning and negotiating with the right suppliers, manufacturers and distribution partners will impact your outcome significantly.

Even with outside expertise, unit management and frontline team members must always take leadership in crafting and executing your procurement strategy. Today's challenges are more about managing the details of unit-level procurement, and the unit team are the experts on what works — and what doesn't — for that location of the brand. When links in the supply chain fail, the unit management and frontline team members should be prepared with transparent communication and effective guest recovery tactics.

Brand leaders from the top down should be evaluating and responding to all guests' positive comments and complaints. Better yet, getting out in front of a challenge with transparent communication with unit management and on the front lines goes a long way in maintaining and improving excellent customer engagement.

What steps can you take now? Here are five actions for emerging chains:

1. Tap into supply chain expertise: The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill has supply chain experts, both internally and externally, who have formulated a supply chain management strategy into an executable plan that is monitored and adjusted on a daily and weekly basis.
2. Negotiate a master distribution agreement: Crafting an agreement that addresses the challenges for emerging brands can make risks more predictable and minimize damage from catastrophic disruptions. It won't prevent every problem, but you can implement protections to make interruptions less painful.
3. Negotiate direct purchase contracts: Emerging chains that want to be in the driver's seat must understand their needs and all the capabilities of available broadliners, cooperative, produce and specialty distribution companies. In addition, they should explore the cost-saving potential of direct-purchase contracts with manufacturers of their highest-volume and proprietary items.
4. Deploy audit systems: The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill monitors inventory and usage requirements weekly and measures them consistently, using standardized procedures. By conducting audits on a regular basis, cost of inventory items will be verified so that there are no overcharges and inventory can be adjusted relative to each unit's business needs, thus eliminating excess.
5. Utilize supply chain management technology: At The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, we are partnering with a third-party technology provider that will allow us to better manage our system demands. We are able to see usage trends, identify potential challenges and conduct price audits across the entire chain.