Case Study
Developing Supply Market Strategy for a Japanese restaurant chain
Category Intelligence | Supply Market Strategy | Vendor Identification
Business need
- A large Japanese restaurant chain faced quality and operational challenges with one of its incumbent vendors of sauces and condiments.
- It was looking for alternative vendor options and mandated us to identify alternative suppliers in North America and the UK to aid its supply market strategy development.
To identify alternative suppliers of sauces and condiments in the US, Canada and UK.
The client outlined two key reasons for selecting RocSearch:
- Our proven procurement research capabilities and extensive advisory experience in sourcing strategy development.
- Our expertise in category intelligence and supplier identification.
Approach and Methodology
- Our procurement research team initiated the study by building a universe of the key suppliers for various products within the Sauces and Condiments category in the US, Canada and UK. This included suppliers having capabilities across multiple focus geographies as well as products such as soya sauce, rice vinegar, wasabi paste, and pickled ginger.
RocSearch thoroughly examined the sauces and condiments category, diving deep into the cost structure, margins, supply chain, substitutes and innovation trends.
- We carried out a category intelligence study on sauces and condiments, thoroughly analysing trends related to raw material prices, sustainability, relevant substitutes for restaurants and product innovation.
- For each of the focused products, we shared insights on the cost structure, margins, and supply chain structure and conducted an impact analysis from a supplier and buyer standpoint.
- We benchmarked the suppliers based on their product mapping and presence in the focus countries, profiled the shortlisted suppliers and shared their contact details.
Business Outcomes
- The output equipped the client with the supply chain nuances covering insights on the cost structure, existing margins, and product innovation trends.
- The benchmarking exercise helped the client shortlist high-potential suppliers and provided intelligence to facilitate discussions.
The study provided critical insights that enabled the client to shortlist high-potential suppliers and facilitate initial discussions with them.
