Mission Statement:

Enhance Prime Costs through Purchasing COG savings and Operational efficiencies

for small Emerging Brands

About Us:

We help Emerging Restaurant Brands be competitive with larger companies by giving you access to National account contracts and pricing that as an Emerging brand you probably are not taking advantage of.

We do this by negotiating direct contracts for your top products to drive saving to your bottom line. This helps you be competitive in menu pricing with better COG pricing than you competitors. We assist you in meeting this goal.

Assessment / Audit Journey

￭We will review all current Pricing and Contracts

￭We will provide an Analysis of how your current product pricing stands against current markets

￭We will look at your BOH operational efficiencies when it comes to prep and on the line execution

￭We will review any current supply chain contracts and provide our findings of  each contract

￭We will provide an action plan of where we will go after savings and improve your Supply Chain Department

We can provide this Audit in one of two ways.  Up front fee with a percentage of savings if we agree to move forward or a no cost audit with a larger  percentage of savings if we agree to move forward.  Both ways are going to provide additional dollars to your bottom line.

Fractional Purchasing Executive Deliverables:

Experience Without the Cost:         

Leverage my expertise without hiring full-time. Gain direct access to manufacturers

Personalized Attention:                  

No middleman; you get my dedicated focus

Direct Vendor National Contracts:    

Cut costs with supplier deals, bypassing standard account management

Rapid Savings:

See tangible results within 30-90 days, boosting your bottom line

Mutual Success:  

My success depends on your success. I work efficiently, not hourly, ensuring fast, sustainable gains

Company Overview:

  • Purchasing COG Savings

  • Operational Efficiencies for Emerging Brands

  • Culinary R&D Menu Design

  • Operational Background and Knowledge

  • Purchasing  with National Account Presence

  • Supply Chain Domestic / Global

  • Interdepartmental Collaboration Expertise

  •  Proven Track Record

Emerging Brands Focused Snapshot:

I. Top Level Categories for Direct Contracts or Contract Improvement:

  • Broadline distributor MDS agreement

  • National account product pricing contracts, rebates and volume discounts

  • Direct Commodity Index and exchange contract programs to hedge market volatility

  • Produce flat pricing contract program

  • Fountain soda cost cap and marketing funded contract pricing

  • Smallwares and Logoed Carryout items

II. Introduce operational efficiencies (labor Savings) and COG savings through value-added Ready-To-Use (RTU)items without sacrificing quality and bringing product consistency across the system


III. Implement efficiencies for concept scaling both domestically and internationally

IV. Provide Research and Development (R&D) direction while collaborating closely with Culinary and Marketing teams

Experience Counts:

Brands & National Account Relationships:

Food Cost Reduction:

Past Achievement

  • Reduced food costs by 6% from 34% to 28% within the first six months with an emerging brand

Strategies

  • Renegotiated MDS Agreement to secure better terms

  • Introduced Request for Proposal (RFP) process with national account teams from manufacturers

  • Created direct contracts with manufacturers to remove hidden costs in the supply chain

  • Closely tracked and analyzed commodity markets to optimize input costs swings, including packaging and freight

Results

  • Achieved significant cost savings and improved cost transparency

  • Streamlined the supply chain to reduce excess costs

  • Ensured sustainable cost management for long-term profitability

Cost Management Strategy:

We achieve this by:

•Futures and Basis: Purchasing key products and input items on exchanges through our vendors to lock in favorable pricing through spot buys in market dips

•Flour and Buns: Hedged on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)

•Cheese (Block Cheddar): Sourced and hedged on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)

•Oils / Dressings: Hedged on the CBOT

•Chicken: Priced using a formula based on the Georgia Dock price or other indexes

•Ground Beef: Priced through live cattle indexes and future

We prioritize consistent and competitive pricing by benchmarking product input commodities and hedging the market, rather than relying solely on RFP’s

***This strategic approach leverages dips in the markets while ensuring  cost predictability along with stabilizing  prices

Labor Savings & Operational Efficiencies:

Background:

•Transitioned to multiple proprietary Ready-to-Use (RTU) products.

•Eliminated daily production shifts

Impact:

•Achieved consistent product quality and safety

•Enhanced workplace safety and efficiency

•Reduced labor costs while maintaining product quality

Benefits:

•Maintained or reduced Cost of Goods (COGs)

•Reduced labor and improved consistency across the system

•Mitigated foodborne illness risks by reducing food prep activities

•Enhanced risk management by eliminating slicers and excessive knife use in kitchens

Brands Expansion and Ability to Scale:

Background:

Emerging Brand growth from 9 to 141 locations in 6 years

Expansion into 6 countries: England, Germany, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico

Set up supply chain for USA military base location and met all United States Government food security requirements through AAFES

Implementation

Onboarded over 34 Broadline distributor warehouses both domestically and internationally

Established local produce and beverage distribution networks

Ensured excellence in service with multiple single-restaurant warehouses

Sourced and Procured proprietary products domestically and internationally

Created Proprietary RTU products for consistency through Brand Scaling

Impact:

Achieved rapid international expansion

Built robust distribution and logistical networks

Maintained high product and service standards across all locations

**Create the Environment & tools to develop the most customer driven Menu

**Encompassing great culinary ideas and through R&D make them as cost effective to improve COGS

**When the opportunities arise and quality is not compromised, insert high quality RTU products for operational efficiencies and labor savings

**Pmix analysis to optimize Menu presence and Menu real estate

R&D

Departmental

Cross functional

Lead

COGS

Operational Execution

Labor Model

Culinary

Value Added Products

RTU Efficiencies

Menu Engineering

Marketing

Foot Traffic

I. Supply Chain Analysis and Diagnostics

•Assess current supply chain processes

•Identify inefficiencies

•Recommend improvements for optimization

II. Strategy Development

•Develop comprehensive strategies aligned with organizational goals and objectives

•Implement new strategies for supply chain optimization

III. Contract Negotiation and Cost Reduction

•Negotiate MDA (Master Distribution Agreements) and distribution contracts

•Implement direct commodity index and exchange programs to hedge market volatility

•Use national sales contacts to conduct RFP (Request for Proposal) processes for direct negotiations with manufacturers to reduce Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

IV. Volume Discounts and Promotional Programs

•Establish national account rebates and volume discounts

•Develop promotional programs to drive sales

continued >>

V. Distributor Delivery and Transportation Optimization

•Establish performance metrics for distributor delivery and transportation

•Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor supply chain performance

VI. Menu Engineering and Product Development

•Assist in developing a customer and profit-driven menu to drive foot traffic and increase revenue

•Implement R&D to improve the quality, COGS, and execution efficiency of menu items

•Reduce labor costs through menu engineering and product development with ready-to-use (RTU) and value-added items

VII. Risk Management

•Identify and mitigate supply chain risks, including product recalls, Manufacturer Certification process

•Provide support in calorie counts, and allergen tracking

VIII. Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing

•Develop strategies to promote sustainability and ethical sourcing practices

•Align sustainability goals with organizational objectives

Pricing Framework Options:

1. Base Fee + Percentage of Savings

•Base Fee: Upfront charge for comprehensive analysis and assessment.

•Percentage of Savings: We earn a share of defined cost savings achieved through purchasing improvements.

2. Percentage of Savings (No Upfront Charge)

•No Initial Fee: Client pays nothing upfront.

•Larger Percentage: We earn a higher share of the defined cost savings.

3. Tiered Pricing (Customized Structure)

•Designed Collaboratively: Proprietary structure tailored to specific client needs.

•Flexible and Targeted: Adjusted based on unique requirements.

Testimonials:

“Chris joined Wahlburgers as our first head of purchasing and immediately made an impact.  He achieved significant cost savings across the board while maintaining quality and increasing the standardization and consistency of products.  He produced great results while also maintaining positive relationships both within the company and with vendors.  I'd highly recommend Chris as a purchasing resource.”

- Rick Vanzura - CEO Freight Farms, Former CEO Wahlburgers,

“I worked with Chris while I was the CEO of Bertucci’s Italian Restaurants and Chris oversaw all aspects of Purchasing for the Brand, to include alcohol and related. Chris was an excellent Leader, and his performance was exceptional! Chris was instrumental in continually being the liaison between our Vendors and Team resulting in ongoing Positive Top Line progress and EBITDA improvement. Chris was one of the few Leaders in his end of the Business that always had an accurate pulse on what was happening externally and was able to use this information internally across functional areas, to continuously add value to the business. I wish there were more Chris’s in our Industry!”

-Brian K Wright -CEO Bar Louie Restaurant, Former CEO Bertuccis, CEO Tijuana Flats,

“I have worked with Chris for many years and found him to be an invaluable member of our supply chain team.  While working together Chris had consistently demonstrated exceptional skill, dedication, and professionalism in a high paced and complex global environment.  His proactive approach during and post pandemic has saved our company time and resources on numerous occasions.”

– JJ Smith -CEO Seven Stars Bakery

“I have had the privilege of knowing Chris for over 25 years and worked with him at 2 companies.  Chris is a strategic leader with deep knowledge of operations that leads to best in class business decisions with as little disruption to the teams as possible.  He's able to manage finding the most efficiencies and savings for the business while assuring quality and brand reputation are not compromised. ”

- Patrick Renna - Former President BurgerFi, CEO Boloco

Parting Words:

We work on behalf of our client to assess pricing and products that are either being missed or are not offered without a national account presence.  We do this while understanding all departments objectives and have a track record of developing teamwork to help achieve your  companies’ goals.

Would love to have a conversation to discuss how we can assist you in improving your prime costs to reallocate them to other areas of your operation that are customer facing or to drop them to the bottom line of your organization.