Selecting a new supplier for any ingredient or packaging can be a lengthy process. It takes time to build trust and communication between the two parties, especially if it is essentially a “long distance relationship” which is common in the manufacturing industry.
No matter what you buy, we believe that you should get the following things from your supplier to be able to build a strong, mutually beneficial partnership that will be long lasting.
For bulk shipments that are packed onto a pallet, your order will deliver on a freight truck. If you’re not used to working with a freight carrier, it can take some getting used to the process. Below is a few things that you should know.
A simple definition: Private labeled products are products that are manufactured by one company for offer under a different company’s brand.
Over the last 15 years, demand for private labeled products has grown tremendously. Products across every category are now available with private label branding.
Private labeling is when a company selling a product, be it a grocery chain, food service supplier or wholesale distributor, will label it with their own exclusive brand. Sometimes, the brand may contain the store’s name, sometimes it may not. Private labeling allows the distributor to control the marketing of the product, and all the while, strengthening their company name in the eye of the consumer.
This article is for those small business owners that are interested buying olive oil in bulk. If you have read our initial discussion on making the leap from wholesale to bulk buying, and you’re still feeling like you may be ready for bulk oil, we’ll walk you through the next steps.
In a first consultation with a small business, we ask a number of questions to get a better picture of what and how they’re buying to be able to make a practical recommendation.
As a small business continues to grow, it’s important to improve the efficiency of your buying power to save money on your ingredients and lower your costs. We work with a lot of small business through this transition, but we’ve noticed a difficult trend: many small businesses contact a bulk supplier too soon.
Many consumers wonder what the differences are between Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The difference in price is reasonably large between these two types of oil, but are they really all that different?
Bulk olive oil is, in essence, a commodity item. This means that the global market price fluctuates on a daily basis and is largely dependent on the supply of olive oil available in the world.
Gourmet olive oil and vinegar stores have exploded in popularity in the last 10 years. Consumers love these interactive specialty shops, which allow them to taste each type of oil and mix and match flavors before buying. The success of these shops has prompted many specialty food markets and generic grocery stores to include a new “dispense-your-own” bulk olive oil section.
Buying oil in larger order quantities will reduce both the cost of the oil and the freight. What’s a larger quantity? For this discussion, we’ll look at orders of 6-20 pallets.
Always buy your olive oil in full pallets, if possible. When your oil is being shipped with a freight carrier, it is strapped onto a pallet.
Transportation costs for bulk olive oil can range anywhere from $75 (across town) to $600 (across the country) per pallet. Think about where your olive oil will be shipping from (also known as the FOB point) when you’re determining a delivered cost.
... That is, when you’re choosing bulk packaging for olive oil.
If you want to save money, choose a bigger packaging size. This will reduce your costs by eliminating unnecessary packaging. To save the most, choose the largest size that still works smoothly into your current production line.
Use the chart below to compare each of the packaging options commonly used by manufacturers. Both the Packaging Specs and most common uses will give you a good indicator for what will work best in your production line.
As you’re learning about each of the grades of olive oil, it’s helpful to keep a “quality scale” in mind. We’ve received questions like, “how much will buying Virgin Olive Oil vs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil save me?” and, “How similar are the quality of the Pure Olive Oil vs. the Olive Pomace Oil?”
These questions can be easier to answer if you can keep the spectrum of olive oil quality in mind. Note that pricing usually falls in line with the oil’s quality, but will vary depending on the supply level of each grade after the harvest.
As you’re starting the sourcing process for bulk olive oil, there are five primary decisions that you’ll have to make as you’re considering the product and the logistics. Let’s review:
