ROCKVILLE, MD.—Avendra, one of the hospitality industry’s leading procurement services companies, continues to collaborate with suppliers to bring new products, ideas and expertise to customers. The most recent program, the Fresh Produce Road Show, proved to be a unique educational experience and an opportunity for Avendra and local produce suppliers to foster relationships with culinary teams at customer locations.
For the pilot road show, Avendra partnered with Coastal Sunbelt Produce and its corporate chef, Martin Saylor, to visit customers in the Washington, D.C. area. With dozens of specialty and local produce items on display in a modified delivery truck, the Fresh Produce Road Show brought Avendra and Coastal Sunbelt Produce’s deep expertise to multiple customer locations. The truck was made easily accessible from each customer’s loading dock and the culinary and purchasing teams were invited to view and sample all of the products on board.
Chef Saylor engaged with customers and suggested uses of key and unique ingredients like maroon carrots, black garlic, heirloom apples and sweet Okinawa potatoes. “It is our experience that executive chefs have a strong desire to know what is cutting edge,” said Jerry Cerand, Avendra’s director of strategic contracting. “This program allows them to touch, taste and smell the latest in culinary trends.”
Local, Organic & Sustainable Defined
Avendra customers learned about availability, seasonality, and the differences between local, organic and sustainable, while getting the opportunity to actually sample various products. “It is refreshing to talk about and see what is new in the marketplace in terms of products and their application,” said Dave Widmer, senior director of food and culinary standards for HMSHost. “It was also nice to have an Avendra representative there who could discuss elements, such as yield and preparation time, that directly affect overall operating cost.”
“The benefits of controlling products through the supply chain go beyond case price—to yield, portion control, waste and safety,” said Grif Drew, strategic contract manager of fresh produce for Avendra.”
Avendra’s Grower Shipper program, for example, helps ensure that high volume and high risk produce items are monitored for quality throughout the supply chain. All Avendra produce distributors are required to participate in the Grower Shipper program, which limits the number of growers that they can procure from based upon the grower’s ability to meet Avendra’s standards that enable a safer, higher quality product with better traceability and controlled pricing.
Avendra’s supplier partnerships make the Fresh Produce Road Show extendable to markets across North America. Due to the success of the pilot, Avendra plans to work with additional produce distributors to bring the road show to more customers in 2010.
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