Few industries are as competitive as the restaurant industry, and as any chef or restaurateur knows, finding a regular and reliable source for fresh, tasty ingredients is key to success.
When it comes to finding a provider, there are a lot of angles a savvy restaurateur will want to consider. Can the provider deliver consistent quality on schedule? Are they flexible to the changing needs of the restaurant and its menu? Do they require a minimum price or weight before they will consider delivery? Are they flexible when it comes to additions or subtractions from a regular order? Also that’s not to mention the arguably, more important question of whether or not the food is locally sourced and ethically produced.
Given these concerns, perhaps it’s no surprise that restaurant supply chains are being shaken up as much as any other industry by the creative disruptions brought on by mobile technology and the app revolution. A growing number of bespoke delivery services like truLOCAL.ca which provides province-wide online meat delivery across Ontario, are popping up to meet these new needs in markets across North America.
Not only does this service offer individuals the opportunity to have fresh meat delivery direct to their homes, it also allows chefs to place large and regular orders for steak delivery, beef delivery, and chicken delivery, as well as wild caught fish delivery. Chefs can choose which cuts and how many they would like delivered, and they can choose to set up repeating orders, and the service can be accessed no matter where in Ontario they are — which makes it especially appealing for chains that have locations across the province.
These technological changes come hand-in-hand with changes in attitudes toward food, and meat in particular. Especially in large markets like the Greater Toronto Area, diners want to be able to sit down in a restaurant and know that the meat they are being served is not coming from the other side of the country. In fact, it is becoming increasingly common for restaurants to list the source for their in the advertising for the restaurant or on the menu itself.
For this reason, as restaurants respond to the desire on the part of their customers for more sustainable, ethically-produced food, many are turning to local producers — only to realise that a shorter supply chain comes with problems of its own.
As a recent story in the Harvard Business Review points out, restaurants can face struggles in making sure the local meat they source passes the highest possible safety tests. Because food delivery services cultivate relationships with the farmers they source, they are much better positioned to deliver the highest quality and safest local food available, which means restaurateurs don’t need to do all the research themselves.
Restaurants will have to consider this shift if they want to remain competitive among the Millennial generation, who are leading the charge when it comes to ethical sourcing and environmentally responsible food, as their businesses will most likely experience some sort of stagnation unless they keep up with their customers’ concerns and tastes.
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