Vendor Quality Assurance

Abstract

It is difficult to generalize about raw material costs in the food industry because the products range from flavored water to caviar. The cost of an inexpensive drink’s flavoring, sweetener, acidifier, colorant, and packaging might be as little as 15% of the factory door cost. Restaurant operations may estimate that 40% of the total operation cost is for purchased foods; high-ticket food items could exceed 50%. A high-cost raw material focuses attention on the need for uniform acceptable quality of that material to a greater extent than a modestly priced unprocessed food ingredient does. From a quality control standpoint, this is an unfortunate concept because the final quality of the finished product depends not on the price of the raw ingredients, but on their quality level and uniformity. With this in mind, it seems that a large part of the responsibility for the successful production of a uniform quality food item, manufactured with a minimum of scrap and rework, rests with the purchasing department. In fact, the responsibility rests with all of the processor’s departments—each of which should be in close contact with suppliers.