Controlling cost is the difficult task. Purchasing happens on a daily basis and is usually done by the chef or sous chef. The invoice sits in a pile before making its way to the bookkeeping department for payment. Clearly, this is an inefficient system, but an all too common one. An operator in this case must make a few changes to ensure they the get the best price and quality.
Chefs hate moving things around.
A neater room translates into less waste and easier ordering. Vendors should be required to fill out a bid sheet and fax over prices daily. A minimum of three bids should be reviewed. The restaurateur can lay the bid sheets right next to each other and circle the lowest price for each item on the bid sheets. The purchaser will contact the vendors based on the bid sheets and place the order.