Cooperative Contracts Streamline Food-Buying Process & Simplify Billing, Payments, and Deliveries

State and local governments trimmed payrolls during the COVID-19 pandemic as they faced budget shortfalls, according to research from the Pew Charitable Trusts. And COVID-19 has also affected public procurement teams and foodservice departments. One useful tool that has helped government and education foodservice departments cope during the pandemic is a cooperative contract from OMNIA Partners. The company manages a US Foods cooperative contract that is compliant; it has already been competitively solicited and publicly awarded. The food company is a leading foodservice distributor, partnering with approximately 250,000 restaurants and foodservice operators to help them succeed. The firm has nearly 28,000 employees and more than 70 locations.

Keeping staffing levels up for foodservice operations in education and government can be a difficult task at this time. A national business publication reports that the foodservice industry has been one of the hardest hit by COVID. It has affected the industry and produced staffing issues and product shortages. The pandemic has been a big challenge for foodservice operators everywhere. 

Foodservice managers and procurement teams benefit when they can piggyback on a cooperative contract as opposed to having to do their own individual solicitations. The contract is useful for cities, counties, state operations, school districts and other public jurisdictions. The cooperative contract available through OMNIA Partners can potentially save time and effort.

Menu planning and food buying for the upcoming school year takes place in February in many school districts. That way, districts will have key decisions made by the start of the fiscal year on July 1. Districts often buy hundreds of different food products. With a standard bid solicitation, districts will bid and award those items out by line item, and then they could have anywhere from three to six distributors that supply their products. It’s much more complex and time consuming, and that creates a whole additional layer in the ordering process with multiple distributors with additional steps in the delivery and billing-payment processes. So that just magnifies the work that school business offices and foodservice directors have to do.

Through the OMNIA Partners cooperative contract, participants have just one primary vendor and one invoice. And typically, governments, school districts and colleges buy about 80 percent of their food needs under this cooperative contract. They may buy a small amount from other vendors, but it’s quite common to get about 80 percent through the primary vendor. And the cooperative contract really does streamline the process. Participants get deliveries from one supplier –the one primary supplier – and far fewer invoices and billings to pay. All the way down the line, the cooperative contract saves time for all concerned, including foodservice directors and the school or government finance department. 

Food buys in a government or school tend to be a collaborative decision. That holds true when entities decide whether to go forward with a cooperative contract. It definitely tends to be a team effort because procurement is there to make sure that the guidelines are followed. The foodservice directors also have to participate because RFPs for food purchases have become so highly detailed. Because there are so many line items that are addressed with the food purchases, the foodservice directors’ expertise is needed throughout the process.

OMNIA Partners and US Foods are here to guide you through these challenging times and help you get the most value out of your food program. For more information, visit the OMNIA Partners website.