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Basic Purchasing Skills for Managers and Managers in the Food and Beverage Industry

Workshop Description:

In general, the certification provides that during 10 school hours the student can acquire a broad overview of basic skills in the institutional purchasing process. Administrative processes, purchase identification, product selection, inspection, receipt, payment, distribution, prices, and evaluation of the process are discussed.

General Objective

  1. Identify the components of a purchasing system in the Food and Beverage Service.
  2. List the quality requirements of a product.
  3. Prepare specifications for food and equipment.
  4. Make decisions to negotiate and set prices.
  5. Explain the process of placing a purchase order.

Thematic Content Distribution

Lesson #1 – Introduction to institutional food purchasing, quality requirements, and vendor selection.

Description: 

In this first lesson we will identify the terms of buying and selecting a food or service. There are many purchasing activities that go hand in hand in the process of acquiring a product or service.

Objectives of the week

  1. Identify the difference between buying and acquiring a product.
  2. Establish the process of acquiring the correct product.
  3. Establish healthy and ethical purchasing practices.
  4. Explain the external and internal factors that affect the purchasing process.

Duration time: 

2 hours/ week

Learning activities:

  1. Identify a job description of a buyer in the food and beverage industry.
  2.  Read the 9 steps of the buying process.

Assessment: 

  1.  Group work in a small operation.

Learning resources: 

  • Buyer's Handbook
  • Power Point on purchasing processes
  • Recommended readings

Power Point- summary of the purchasing process

Purchasing overwiew (2).pptx

Experiences of a buyer

Evaluation activities: 

  1. Apply the reading of the 9 steps of the purchasing process in a small operation.

Lesson #2 – Requirements when buying food and materials

Description: 

Identifying the quality standards of a product is the basis for creating specifications that meet customer needs. This lesson breaks down the important points when writing a job description for a salesperson.

Objectives of the week

  1. List the data that must be included in a specification.
    1. Prepare a specification sheet for a commercial product.
    1. Perform a Make or Buy Analysis.

Duration time: 

2 hours/ week

Learning activities:

  1. Reading a specification of a commercial product.
    1. Identify food groups and equipment.

Assessment: 

  1. Written assignment on Make or Buy Analysis

Learning resources: 

  • Buyer's Handbook
  • PPT of a product specification
  • Recommended reading

Example of a specification:

Especificaciones para manzanas.pdf

Evaluation activities:

  1. Prepare a specification for a product or equipment.
    1. Buyers should periodically perform a Make – or – Buy Analysis exercise, this is necessary for those more expensive products, so they can reduce costs and time. An example of a Make – or – Buy Analysis: Carefully read a recipe, its ingredients and the cost of each. Determine if you would produce the product or buy it and why.

Lesson #3 – Necessary knowledge prior to the purchase order.

Description: 

 Identify quantities, predict adjustments, establish performance and are necessary data before preparing the purchase order. The computations must be as correct as possible to avoid losses.

Objectives of the week

  1. Identify the importance of the quantities to buy.
  2. Determine different ways of computing the quantities to buy.

Duration time: 
2 hours/ week

Learning activities:

  1. Carry out computational practices to establish the optimal quantities.

Assessment: 

  1.  Written homework. Prepare various ways of performing the computations.

Learning resources: 

  1. Examples of procedures to identify quantities.

Important data for your calculations

Pesos y medidas (1) (5).docx

Evaluation activities: 

  1. Practice exercises

Lesson #4 – Pricing

Description: 

This lesson is an explanatory one on the prices, the negotiation and the possible discounts to obtain during the process of the purchase order

Objectives of the week

  1. Identify the factors that affect pricing.
  2. Identify the characteristics of an effective negotiation.
  3. Mention types of discounts

Duration time: 

2 hours/ week

Learning activities:

  1. Do readings on the subject.
  2. Evaluate prices of the products most used by two businesses

Assessment: 

  1. Written homework

Learning resources: 

  1. Auction documents with their prices.
  2. Price data from companies that provide food and beverages.
  3. Review the product yield book (fruits and vegetables).

Evaluation activities: 

  1. Compare prices for two auctions.

Lesson #5 – The Effective Buying Process

Description: 

The purchase order must be structured and must provide the necessary information to the seller or shipper.

Objectives of the week

  1. List the steps for writing a purchase order.
  2. Identify the process of paused products.
  3. Identify types of contracts
  4. Evaluate new purchasing technology.

Duration time: 

2 hours/ week

Learning activities:

  1.  Analyze purchase documents of a company.
  2. Study the main concepts of a purchase order.

Assessment: 

  1. Written homework

Learning resources: 

  1. Examples of institutional purchase orders.

Evaluation activities: 

  1. Create a structured and functional purchase order.

Bibliographical References

  • National Restaurant Association, Manage First Program, Purchasing 2 ed. Pearson, New York.
  • Feinstein, A., Hertzman, Jean et al, Purchasing 9th ed., Wiley , New York.