Keep Direct Purchasing and Relationships with Consolidation

Consolidation may seem to be another layer in the supply chain that will remove your ability to maintain the relationships with growers and producers that you have worked hard to build. Also, with many other layers added into the supply chain, you may also think that you will no longer be able to purchase directly from a grower / processor.  We’re here to tell you that is not the case, in fact, adding in consolidation allows you to grow your direct connections and purchasing.  This all begins with the ability to bring any sized order from your growers to one mixing hub to be repalletized and loaded on a truck optimized to your exact need.  Let’s take a deeper look!

Negotiate directly with a Broader Base of Producers

The great thing with consolidation is the ability to buy smaller amounts of produce.  Usually a buyer is thinking about filling a truck because of the cost of running that truck, but consolidation supports LTL buys.  Because of this, you can add more variety to your produce buys and that brings a greater variety of producers.

With our focus on moving produce through consolidation, you can manage a direct relationship and negotiate your purchases. Of course, we can work with you on that if needed, but we let you make that call. In the end, more produce to buy opens up more producers to work with!

Greater Access to Small / Specialty Producers

With this increased supplier base, you can now integrate smaller and specialty producers into your purchases. We saw that with a national grower with a boutique produce offering, but struggled with conventional delivery. Consolidation allows LTL to make economic sense which opens up more variety, more quality, and more hidden gems for your supply chain.

Expanded Base of Producers Supports Continuity of Supply

By increasing the number of producers you can buy from, you can also build redundancy into your supply base. This helps smooth out the ups and down we see with fresh produce. Mother nature has a way of throwing curve balls, growers may short orders when their supply is limited, and specific areas may not be harvestable due to food safety concerns or issues. Having back up suppliers is a good practice for buyers, but that starts before you have a supply emergency. Consolidation allows those contacts to be made and relationships to be built that brings in that needed supply redundancy.

Less Reliance on 3^rd Parties

With our emphasis on direct purchases and direct relationships, you can rely less on 3^rd parties. Again, our goal is to help connect you to producers and stay focused on the shipping side of the equation. We also know the importance of a buyer making the direct connection, so we encourage buyers to build relationships with producers directly.  We simply make the connection, not mediate it.

More Vendors Competing for Your Business

In the world of economics, scale can be a boon to your business. As you can see, a consolidation strategy simply brings more— More vendors means more competition to get you exactly what you want with better prices and increased options and specializations.