Enabling Growth through Supply Chain

When it comes to an experience at restaurant it includes everything from plate to palate. It sometimes becomes a big deal to serve best of the both worlds to the customer. Also at the same time, restaurateurs need to meet customer’s aspiration to have most fresh, healthiest and organic food which is served usually in their grandma’s kitchen which is only possible with a fair supply chain.

Reach is the most critical part with supply chains as consumer now days are more aware which is pushing organizations to meet their expectations. “We try to give our customers the best experience by providing them the most hygienic product in a challenging environment like India”, says Umesh Madhyan, National Head - Infrastructure & Logistics, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. (HCCB).

Overcoming Challenge

In India issues with supply chains are massive. Losses at storage and transportation is a continuous problem which is hampering the growth of fast evolving food business leading to a poor inventory control due to poor supply chain. And this is making the logistics and supply chain companies to come up with facilities so that they could centralize the procurement at top hotels and restaurant chains based on their demand forecast. This also help the restaurant majors decide on how much inventory to hold at what location and thus plan their logistic. This helps them save both their logistic costs as well as inventory holding space. “The operations should not be complicated. Vendors should try to gain inputs from restaurateurs on back end operations and do a lot of networking with them to understand their challenges”, says Chef Sumant Vikas, Corporate Chef, Cremica Food Industries Limited.

Consumers today are tech savvy so restaurateur do not need to educate them on these basic grounds. People are aware that they need a system to run their business. It’s just to decide which system they want. Education and optimization of technology always help everybody in the long run. They would be able to maximize the quality which they are offering which in turn will maximize the profit and benefit the operators. “Once a vehicle has left the factory and started moving towards the destination, the real drudgery starts. Operators have to call the truck several times for confirming the locations. On the other hand, Coca-Cola is using GPS enabled trucks which automatically send a message that vehicle is about to arrive which is the perfect implementation of technology”, Chef Sumant points.

Healthy is the New Green

The fresher, the better is the quote for Indians as they like fresh food only. Fresh products could be generated by working closely with the farmers. “Supply chain is a huge issue when it comes to India and especially the cold chain. All the vendors and restaurateurs should come together and work towards building a successful cold chain supply model”, adds Chef Sumant.

Sky is the limit when it comes to the scope of improvement. In supply chains, currently which actually needs to be improved is transportation. It’s not about only picking up fresh items but how fast it can be served fresh on the table. There is lot of work which needs to be done by the government to increase supply chain efficiency.