Taylor and Taylor Ltd operates three high-quality care homes. With the food inflation crisis continuing to see rising prices for food products in particular many basics, the care providers sought to achieve scalable cost savings to support continued growth, without any detrimental impact on the quality of food offering to their residents. It was essential to achieve food cost savings and improve efficiencies to ensure effective management of catering budgets, but without compromising on the quality of produce. The company also wanted to maintain a consistency of supply, and the ability to continue buying certain brands.
Chris Rees, Taylor and Taylor’s Group Executive Chef, initially started discussions with allmanhall, the independent food procurement experts, on savings, but also wanted visibility of data and access to reports which would help in making decisions. A system that would simplify ordering and managing stock and deliveries was also required.
allmanhall has a well-established track record of working with the care industry, delivering sustainable value, insight, control and support to care homes. They initially undertook a benchmark for Taylor and Taylor and identified cost savings of 11.4%. Samples and on-site supplier meetings were also arranged on behalf of the individual homes.
allmanhall then delivered tech demos of the catering control platform proposed, to ensure it met the care provider’s and catering team’s bespoke needs. As well as providing useful operational functionality, such as stock taking and standing orders, the catering control platform would also facilitate central billing and conversion of all supplier invoices in to one per month, achieving the savings and efficiencies Taylor and Taylor were looking for.
The tech solution provided by allmanhall involves an industry-leading catering control platform, containing all supplier catalogues, updated daily with allergen and pricing information, through which orders can be managed and placed, menus costed and more. The EDI functionality enabled through this means clients benefit from central billing and a solution that is fully scalable. Chris Rees, who leads the catering in a busy and growing care group, said: “The consolidation of invoices into one per month is a huge win.”
Through allmanhall, as well as central billing and online ordering, every client benefits from a tech package and insight that delivers: news and market updates; delists and alternative product options; purchasing and buy right advice including offers; financial reporting; allergen training; operational support resources; carbon impact assessment of menus; waste management and stock taking; budget control.
As a result of working with allmanhall, Chris Rees commented: “We were very impressed with the administrative efficiencies and time savings allmanhall achieved and the flexibility and quality regarding suppliers. The team truly listened to us, to what our challenges are and are always willing to help in any way they can. Their approach is thorough and responsive, meaning we feel fully supported. Everyone we’ve met from allmanhall has been hands-on, down to earth, genuine and considerate.”
Jo Hall, a director and owner of the family managed independent food procurement expert allmanhall, added: “We’re delighted to have been able to answer Taylor and Taylor’s short-term needs and to support them so quickly. Our analysis on the first period of orders shows savings even higher than the 11.4% demonstrated in our initial benchmark – closer to the 20% mark. We’re not about the short-term at allmanhall though, we’re here for our clients for the long-term and work on a true partnership approach. Our very first client is still working with us today, 16 years on, and we hope to continue working with Taylor and Taylor for many years to come, providing them with a scalable solution aligned to their growth strategy into the future.”
