# Sysco and ordering



## sir cooksalot (Feb 18, 2014)

I have been responsible for tracking product in the kitchen, but have not had to make a Sysco order as of yet. I am a little nervous and wanted some advice as to how to order. Not speaking of exact amounts of course but general routines that are used.

Our problem right now is that our kitchen is small. We have 2 reach-ins that sit under a cold bar, a double door fridge, and two small chest freezers. However on Friday night for example we made 135 pizzas. Because we are a small pizza kitchen we are using frozen dough balls but would like to eventually move away from that and into fresh dough, so any advice there would be helpful as well.

The other problem is Sysco seems to bring the order whenever they want in spite of us giving them a key and having the money taken out directly instead of paying with a check.

Is there a way to establish specific days for delivery? How much will the rep help me out? is there an ideal time to place the order? Is it common for the order to show up slightly randomly? Any other tips in dealing with deliveries that show up at bad times (In the middle of lunch rush)? I know one method is to average the last 3 weeks of product in order to forecast what the next delivery will be.

Any help is appreciated.


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## beenjammin (Feb 9, 2014)

I had a boss once who refused to receive a delivery because they came during a lunch rush. I wouldn't recommend that necessarily, but it was fairly effective for a while, until they went back to their usual ways of being completely random. I have limited advice to offer, but one thing I can say is that if you're letting them take the money out on their own then you need to go over those invoices like a hawk. I've had them raise prices without telling us on things like aluminum foil and seran wrap. Also, sometimes items are left off altogether or are the wrong item. My two cents anyway.


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## chefbillyb (Feb 8, 2009)

Talk to your Rep, he is there to help you figure things out and meet your needs. The one thing you need to remember is, it's a two way street, you are both out to help each other. It cost money to make a stop, the less stops along with a full truck, is what the company looks for. You also need to find out what days Sysco delivers in your area. If something is needed your Rep can meet the truck and bring the item to you. IMHO, a good Rep takes my order when I have time to give it, they also help me run my business and be successful. I need to have all my food items in house, thawed and ready to serve to my customers. Me, as an owner also has to understand that, the Rep and his company are in business to make money. If I need more dough balls that I have room to store in my reach-ins, I may store a few back up cases off site at a rented freezer meat locker in town.....talk to your Rep, they are a big part of you running a successful business.................Good luck...........ChefBillyB


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## billpitcher (Oct 8, 2012)

Assuming you have a decent sales rep, you'll probably be best off ordering in the morning. After about 2:30 p.m., they'll be too busy fielding emails, texts and phone calls to pay you the proper attention, and that's when mistakes happen. 

As for delivery times, there's not much you can do, but if you find yourself with the same driver over and over, talk with him about his routine. I had an awful Sysco rep who didn't care at all about us, but the drivers were great, and they were always sure to come during ideal times.


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## seabeecook (Aug 23, 2008)

There are two basic ways to order from Sysco. You can use eSysco, their on-line system. It's basic, but works. US Foods on-line system is much better (and one of the reasons Sysco is purchasing USF, I'm told, to acquire their ecommerce platform). The other is to go through the rep. I prefer a face-to-face meeting, where I can confer over new items, etc. Sysco has a $500 minimum.

I agree with Bill. A quality sales rep makes all the difference. I good rep will will call limited product for you on days he goes to the warehouse. My rep last summer (and I presume this summer) was decent. However, I only saw him twice. Our conversations usually occurred by telephone. Last summer, I called my orders into him as the camp is out of the way. He was always rushed because he was taking orders from most of his accounts (a large rural district) on Tuesday afternoon. 

The delivery day is set for your area. So, unless you're located in the center of a large city, you and every other business receive their delivery on the same day. In Quincy, CA, Sysco delivers on Wednesdays. US Foods delivers all Plumas County camps (including me) on Wednesday as well. USF delivers to local restaurants on Friday, so I did have a back-up day if I can convince the USF rep.

Watch for errors on the invoice (as in "I didn't order this; I ordered that!"). You can always return an item. My experience is that the drivers don't particularly care. They'll code the return to their personal advantage and adjust the invoice. 

Don't let the driver drop and run. Check each item as it is brought inside the kitchen before you sign the invoice. Once the driver learns your layout, he'll shuttle product to the right location. Refrigerated and frozen product will be wheeled into the appropriate walk-in. The rule at my camp was if it's lunch time, both Sysco and USF would be knocking on my back door. I had the Sysco driver help his competitor time because he was their first!


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## billpitcher (Oct 8, 2012)

Sysco may not allow you to order online of you don't spend enough. That's one of the reasons I no longer use them. A past rep said I needed to spend $1,000 every week to qualify -- which didn't work with the seasonality of my kitchen. Without the safeguard of my eyes on the order, we frequently were getting more costly products.


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## seabeecook (Aug 23, 2008)

billpitcher said:


> Sysco may not allow you to order online of you don't spend enough. That's one of the reasons I no longer use them. A past rep said I needed to spend $1,000 every week to qualify -- which didn't work with the seasonality of my kitchen. Without the safeguard of my eyes on the order, we frequently were getting more costly products.


Interesting, Bill. Out here in California, I used eSysco in the summer of 2009 for eight weekly orders. The camp, which is located 1-1/2 miles from roads, had been using the on-line system for several years at that point. I presume it still uses it.

Has your US Food rep given you any information on the ending merger?


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## chezj023 (Feb 17, 2014)

In my experience, with companies like Sysco the more you spend the more input you have. With that said, the company I work for spends millions of dollars with Sysco every year and our orders still don't always come on time or when we need them to. But if the order is arriving during volume, definitely turn it away. You won't make any friends with the driver, but after them having to wait or leave and come back when volume decreases, they will start to figure out what time works for you.

I used to like entering orders in person or over the phone with my rep, but my favorite thing about esysco is you can search for any product you want and compare current prices. doesn't sound like you will be ordering much, but I can enter 200 cases in half an hour on esysco, which would take much longer in person or over the phone.

general ordering routines: physical inventory, always put hands on products and count what you have to know what you need to order. I have witnessed many people basing their orders on what they "think" they have on hand. simple formula, ON HAND / ORDER. If I have 2 CS lettuce on hand and my par is 3, I know I need to order 1. So on my order guide I would write next to the lettuce, 3 / 1. make sense?


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## chillhouse (Feb 24, 2014)

You


Sir cooksalot said:


> I have been responsible for tracking product in the kitchen, but have not had to make a Sysco order as of yet. I am a little nervous and wanted some advice as to how to order. Not speaking of exact amounts of course but general routines that are used.
> 
> Our problem right now is that our kitchen is small. We have 2 reach-ins that sit under a cold bar, a double door fridge, and two small chest freezers. However on Friday night for example we made 135 pizzas. Because we are a small pizza kitchen we are using frozen dough balls but would like to eventually move away from that and into fresh dough, so any advice there would be helpful as well.
> 
> ...


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## sir cooksalot (Feb 18, 2014)

Wow I hadn't gotten any responses on this for a while so I had let it die, just checked in and saw all this awesome info so thanks for that. There was quite a bit of good info in here and though I knew that it was a give and take with the vendor I didn't realize to what extent that was. Refusing a delivery for how tight we run things may be out of the question, but making them come back later is feasible.


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Gave them a Key.? Boy are you trusting.

     You tell your salesman look you are getting paid right away. so  this is what we want. if you can't accomidate us I will get someone else. There are plenty  of others who would love your account.  As far as  fresh dough youneed a large mixer and they are expensive new or used, Youalso need space to putit aswell as bags of flour etc. Wetried all differe doughs and wound up using a blanched pizza shell it comes frozen and we never had a complaint in 4 years. Sysco is expensive anyway


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