DAY IN THE LIFE...
Getting food on the table in a cafe franchise isn’t just about great ingredients, as the product and procurement manager for Foodco (Muffin Break and Jamaica Blue) reveals.
How does a food procurement manager help franchisees?
What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
Make a coffee of course!
What time do you start work and where?
I am lucky to have one of those roles where each day is different. If I am baking a batch of muffins, have a photoshoot, or am visiting stores, it’s often a very early start. But if I have the choice I like to start my day with my three-year-old daughter and get ready together before starting work.
How does your role affect franchisees?
We work closely with the general managers and brand teams on the annual campaign calendars and product concepts and ideas. From there all the products and recipes that the franchisees sell are created and organised by our team.
What skills do you need?
I think the most important skill to be successful in a practical franchising role is a solid operational understanding of the cafes and their capabilities. We need to understand things like what the staff we hire are capable of so we know what kind of products we can develop, what freezer capacity we have so we know what type of boxes fit, how many items it takes to fill a display cabinet … on top of that for procurement, maths becomes important.
What is a typical day like?
Every day is different, but the best kind of day is one where we start off the day with a supplier meeting or two (on Skype these days), then head into the kitchen for some product testing and lunch. The afternoon is spent on calls with some of the team talking about their projects and looking at stock levels and upcoming forecasts, before finishing the day catching up on emails.
What's the most challenging part of your role?
By far I would say it’s forecasting for promotion and menus. As much as we can use past sales data or similar products, there are so many factors that impact the success or failure of a product. Getting this wrong can either mean short supply or excessive stock exposure.
How often do you connect with franchisees?
Every day. It might be phone calls to current franchisees or franchisees in training, state group meetings or franchise executive committees. Touching base with franchise partners, I find, is a great way to keep grounded to ensure everything we do is relevant to them.
What’s the biggest motivator for you on a daily basis?
I think I am quite competitive and I want to see Foodco succeed, so I would say the biggest motivator is always to ensure we have food and beverage programs for the brands that are market-leading.
What's the most exciting innovation you've introduced?
A few years ago for Jamaica Blue we created a unique range called the Signature Harvest Collection, which was a range where its products needed to meet specific criteria created together by Food Nutrition Australia to offer our customers a healthier choice.
The creation of this range really set Jamaica Blue apart from direct competitors and enabled us to tender for sites in hospitals and the like, which need to adhere to strict healthy eating guidelines.
What’s the best thing about working at Foodco?
It’s great to be able to work in a place where different expertise comes together to support the operations of a small hospitality business – and make this opportunity available to anyone.
I think the most important skill to be successful in a practical franchising role is a solid operational understanding of the cafes and their capabilities.