Procurement specialist Prestige Purchasing has warned catering and hospitality operators that they will need to take steps to mitigate the impact of a continued surge in food inflation, which is expected to rise further in 2013 and beyond.
The inflation rate for vegetables has reached 5.5 per cent this year an is expected to rise further.
David Read, chief executive of Prestige Purchasing said: “What we’re seeing is a surge in food inflation which will continue into 2013. We may even in due course be heading back towards 2008 levels where food inflation peaked at over 8 per cent. This would obviously have quite an impact on the catering and hospitality trade.
“Smart catering and hospitality operators need to explore mitigating options to manage the impact of food inflation. Single site operators can enhance their buying by using tools like benchmarking and market reports to ensure they are managing their business to meet these changes. In addition, multi-site operators can focus on more sophisticated techniques like distribution and sourcing optimisation.”
