Over 70% of pub, restaurant and hotel groups in the UK are putting their business’ reputation on the line by focusing on minimising risk at a product level, as opposed to monitoring their supplier accreditation information. This is according to a recent survey undertaken by leading Supplier Management software company, Trade Interchange…
The Report – entitled ‘Mind the gap: is your brand’s reputation at risk?’ explores the challenges and vulnerabilities that large businesses in the Foodservice and Hospitality sectors face when managing supplier and contractual associated risks. It identifies, highlights and provides solutions when it comes to unforeseen threats in the food supply chain.
Most notably, the research reveals that 60% of respondents use a basic spreadsheet or paper based systems for recording and updating their crucial supplier information. In doing this, operators could expose their business to reputational dangers relating to risks surrounding the Modern Slavery Act, allergen legislation, health and safety practices and antibiotics in livestock.
The research also highlighted that only 23% of those questioned recognised the importance of holding supplier information relating to the Modern Slavery Act 2016, despite it being in force since April this year.
Mike Edmunds, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Trade Interchange, said: “The findings in this report highlight that the reputational risks which come from the ineffective management of suppliers are still underestimated by many.
“Whilst it’s clear that operators recognise the potential threat inefficiencies in the supply chain can cause to their business’ reputation, there is growing concern that this could be undermined by a lack of attention when it comes to managing this information. With new laws, legislation and non-compliances regularly emerging and developing, it is vital that businesses in the Foodservice and Hospitality Industries have procedures and software in place to continually monitor and identify risks in their supply chain.”
To conduct the research, senior procurement professionals were surveyed from Pub, Casual Dining and Hotel businesses which together operate over 8,800 UK sites
Trade Interchange has designed a cloud-based ARCUS® platform to mitigate supply chain risk and manage supplier contracts through a variety of integrated modules. The platform is already used by many leading brands such as Pizza Express, Domino’s, Whitbread and Brakes, to aid risk management at a supplier level.
A full copy of the research report can be downloaded at: https://www.tradeinterchange.com/FSresearch.aspx.
To find out more about the findings and the ARCUS® Supplier Management platform, visit, or call +44(0)33 3320 9933.