Focusing Beyond the Bottom Line

When inflation began to skyrocket, Gecko’s Hospitality Group saw the cost of many of their staples – like seafood, potatoes and mayonnaise – start to rise. Luckily, they had CORE Insights Group on their team. CORE stepped in and helped them to find alternatives that not only saved hundreds of thousands of dollars this year but enhanced the customer experience in all their restaurants.

When CORE first joined their team, Gecko’s Hospitality Group had grown from one food- and hospitality-focused pub to a successful restaurant group – but wasn’t yet reaping the benefits of scale, with each location making its own procurement decisions. Its founders thought they could get better prices by streamlining products across their stores, leveraging volumes and rationalizing their distributor base. CORE helped them create a corporate procurement structure in a step-by-step way that maintained equilibrium among their team members but enabled the business to mature.

Then inflation struck, and the hospitality group was able to leverage their relationship with CORE to get product costs down without sacrificing the quality or consistency they’re famous for. CORE Partner AJ Kramer explains what made it work. “A big problem for many operators is that they only know which products are available based on what their distributor tells them. We have deep experience with many different manufacturers and can look beyond one distributor to find the right products and solutions for each of our customers, at equivalent quality and far lower prices.”

And that’s what they did for Gecko’s Hospitality Group. AJ lists a few examples of how CORE helped find substitutions that were both better and cheaper. When prices on mayonnaise, an essential condiment for many of the group’s menu items, went through the roof, CORE was able to find an even tastier product for half the price. In the midst of a problematic lobster harvest, CORE negotiated a contract that saved the restaurant group over $350,000 this year. “CORE also found savings on potatoes – another product hit hard by inflation – and tracked down a supplier that offers consistently fresh grouper, again, at better quality and a lower price. And we sought out a processed chicken that is saving tremendous prep time and costs.”

What’s the secret? AJ says that CORE is built to embed into each customer’s business, in order to help them grow and be successful. “We really get our hands dirty, digging into the operations so we understand what each customer needs and don’t waste their time with solutions that won’t work for them,” he said. “Then we constantly look for improvements that will drive food costs and enhance the customer experience.” He says that when clients involve them in the entire decision-making process it helps CORE provide advice on how to leverage the best deal. “Sometimes it means combining products under one manufacturer, or even customizing a product if we can’t find what we need.”

AJ says another thing that makes CORE’s team different is that they can look at the marketplace as a whole – not just through the viewpoint of one distributor. “Looking at the universe instead of your own solar system, the opportunities are just exponential for the customer.” And since, unlike a distributor or broker, their team gets no financial incentives to push certain products, customers know CORE is on their side. “We’re skeptical, we vet, we negotiate, and we do it all for them – and they know that,” says AJ.

For CORE, it’s all about earning their trust, and always staying close to clients like Gecko’s Hospitality Group. “There is a real family feeling with this customer. They gave us Gecko’s t-shirts, so people who don’t know better think I’m an employee. And that’s how we want our clients to look at us, as part of their team.”