Food Distribution Software Affordable Solutions

The average grocery store visitor or restaurant goer usually takes for granted the food purchased or delivered to their table, without a worry or care about how that food gets to them.  For those of us in the industry however, we know the various steps or processes it takes for a head of lettuce to get from the farm to our local grocery store or restaurant, and we appreciate the work involved.  Automating some of those processes can really help a company’s bottom line, and finding a great food distribution software solution is one of the first steps.

Food distribution involves a supply chain strategy that will load the actual produce, meat, or other food supplies onto the trucks at the farmer’s location, and usually bring it to an intermediary company or distributor that takes orders from restaurants and grocery stores that in turn resell it to the public.  Farmers will grow their crops, arrange for contracts to sell their products, and also make arrangements to ship them to the distributor.  The crops need to arrive in optimal condition, so time is always a crucial ingredient to this supply chain formula.

On the other hand, distributors must know ahead of time who they are going to resell the crops to once they are delivered, and try to get them out of the warehouse usually the same day.  Produce and other food items are highly perishable and can rapidly be rendered useless as food in a short period of time, so expedience is a necessity in this business.  

For a distributor to know ahead of time what he has orders for and is selling, and what he needs to order from the farms is crucial in order to maintain a thriving business.  The right food distribution software can help keep a company right on target with its incoming orders from the stores and restaurants and also to make sure that purchased inventory is not slowly rotting away on the shelves while awaiting shipment.

There are several different solutions in the marketplace for food distribution software and it is important for a company to know what things are important for them that the software needs to be able to do, and what things they do not need or can do without.  For instance, is the most important activity the food distribution software needs to do is provide an online ordering solution?  Does it need to provide a customer service support system?  How about back end reporting aspects to help your company ensure timely and accurate ongoing processes?

For a company to move confidently and securely into the future they have to know what is happening today and have a system in place to make changes along the way to improve customer service, sales, and invoicing.  Choosing a good food distribution software solution can take some research and study to make sure that it does everything needed for fast growth.  Some solutions have many more functionalities or “bells and whistles” than what is needed, and can also be much more expensive because of it.  Be sure to do your proper due diligence to ensure you get exactly what you need and no more.  Paying for unnecessary functions or tools does not make good business sense.