Bluebag is a start up sandwich business (owned by a brother & sister) with a central kitchen supporting five retail outlets and a corporate catering business in Melbourne, Australia.

In 2006, having been in operation for eight years, we were having issues controlling our costs of operation and quality and consistency of our products. We wished to take on more managerial roles and to grow the business.

We looked around at many software packages and we were immediately impressed with Foodco and the level of service provided by Mike Currier. We were however concerned about the capital investment and the time required to achieve implementation. Was this software to big for our business?

Specifically we wanted to address the following operational issues:

  • How to reduce and control COG
  • How to better control the inventory and the money sitting on the shelf
  • How to better schedule kitchen tasks
  • Get consistency and portion control with our recipes
  • Achieve accurate costing and control of our product margins
  • Set up a purchasing system to ensure efficiency and cost effective buying
  • Enable multiple users to access data to spread the workload and allow staff to attain expertise in particular areas.

Other issues

  • We seemed to repeat things frequently. Access to old information was either not there or too hard to get.
  • Again the implementation of strategic tasks was difficult as our old system that was ad hoc and excel based could not cope with growth or change.

The implementation process was tough. Mike Currier at Foodco was always available to field our questions and in many instances provided custom solutions for our business needs. Six months on from downloading Foodco;

  • Our COG reduced by 5%
  • Our inventory holdings halved
  • Our wages cost reduced by 2% and our staff retention rates improved.
  • Better quality of product, portion and division of labour between preparatory and finishing tasks.
  • Improved pricing through accurate costing and live control of product margins
  • A bid system for our suppliers to ensure the best pricing on all supplies. Much easier to use multiple suppliers and change suppliers.
  • A happier kitchen workforce with quantifiable production targets and control over their tasks. It is easy to use and many staff with no computer experience are now able users of the program. Our staff have taken to the program as they can see firsthand the reduction to the kitchen waste and therefore their workload. Lots of staff can access different aspects of the data which has reduced the management burden in the kitchen and made the work of the general staff more fulfilling.

We love the software as it has given our business new direction and avenues for growth and has made management decisions easier and more effective.

We have not yet plumbed the full depths of the software nor fully implemented our strategic plan and already the software has paid for itself many times over.

I completely recommend Foodco and would be happy to answer any queries potential purchasers may have.

Yours sincerely

Jamie Forsyth
Owner
Bluebag