HESM 109 Purchasing Assignment: Gordon Food Service Analysis

This report provides a detailed analysis of Gordon Food Service (GFS) as a major supplier in the foodservice distribution industry. It covers various aspects of GFS, including its history, business philosophy, product lines, pricing structures, sourcing strategies, delivery processes, and customer service. The analysis includes the location of suppliers, sales representative services, emergency order policies, volume purchase discounts, minimum order levels, rejection of products, and facility visits. Additionally, the report develops a checklist to aid in selecting the best supplier, considering factors such as product variety, pricing, services provided, delivery time, and discount options, with a comparison across multiple companies in the industry. The report highlights GFS's commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction within the food service sector.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
Description of Gordon Food Service and analysis based on different factors
The essay is based on the analysis of a major supplier based on different factors that are related to the way the organization supplies
products in the market. The supplier that is chosen for this analysis is Gordon Food Service. This is an organization which has its operations in
the foodservice distribution business. The company has its origins in Wyoming, Michigan and provides its services to more than of United
States. Gordon Food Service has its operations in Illinois, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
GFS is considered to be twenty-sixth biggest organization in United States which is held privately. The organization was founded in the year
1897 and the founder of GFS was Isaac van Westenbrugge which operates as a delivery service related to butter and egg. The distribution centres
of Gordon Food Service are situated in Kentucky, Shepherdsville, Brighton, Wyoming, Michigan and Brighton1.
The other facilities related to operations of the company are located in South Carolina, Greenville, Aberdeen, Ocala, Maryland,
Pottsville, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kenosha, North Carolina and Kannapolis. The first cash and carry related store of GFS was opened
in the year 1979. The store sizes of Gordon Food Service have become smaller in size and they have been placed in the commercial areas of the
country. The company has been operating in the food service industry for the last 115 years and they are known to deliver expertise, excellence
and high quality products to the customers. The company has grown a lot since its inception and have become the biggest family-operated
organization related to food distribution. The main philosophy of the company is that they “believe in the power of good food – to bring people
1 Gfs.com, New Products Created To Inspire | Gordon Food Service (2018) Gfs.com <https://www.gfs.com/en-us/products/new-products#>.

2ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
together and make moments special”. The quality that sets the organization apart is that they try to innovate in the supply chain operations of
food service2.
They aim to develop operations that are of world-class level and are based on the business needs of the customers. The “Customer is
King” for the organization they aim to serve them with the highest quality of food related to services and products. The major forces that guide
Gordon Food Service are innovation, hard work, compassion, integrity and spirit of the employees and they have a deep commitment towards
their “Cornerstone Values”. The “Cornerstone Values” include, ‘Customer is King’, ‘Philosophy of sharing’, ‘Integrity’, ‘Rewards for
Performance’, ‘War Room Mentality’, ‘Networking Organization’, ‘Everyone is Important’3. The products that are served by the company
include, bakery product, soups, appetizers, entrees, sides, beverages, beef, equipments related to commercial cleaning of kitchen, chemical
supplies, dairy product, egg products, dining supplies, disposables, vegetables, fruits, pork, grocery products, poultry, hot dogs, sausages,
seafood, diet products, speciality meats. The organization has also created a new chain products named “New products created to inspire”4.
2 Anand Nair, Jayanth Jayaram and Ajay Das, "Strategic Purchasing Participation, Supplier Selection, Supplier Evaluation And Purchasing Performance" (2015)
53(20) International Journal of Production Research.
3 Chirawat Woarawichai and Thanakorn Naenna, "Multi-Product And Multi-Period Inventory Lot-Sizing With Supplier Selection Under Quantity Discount" (2018)
28(2) International Journal of Services and Operations Management.

3ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
This chain includes pizzas, meatball, dips related to vegetables and fruits, burgers, short ribs, spicy soups, cold coffee. The customers of
the organization are mainly the food service operations like, small or big restaurants, universities, hospitals, schools. The different payment
related options that are provided to the customers of GFS are online mode of payment, easy pay mode which is related to electronic transfer of
funds. Gordon Food Services sources their products direct from the manufacturers and the raw produce are sourced from the farmers directly 5.
This helps the organization in getting the freshest products so that the customers can be satisfied. The products are delivered to the customers
within six to seven of ordering and the delivery slots range from early morning shifts to late deliveries as well. The emergency orders are
processed within a maximum of two days, however, the customers need to pay an extra amount for this facility. The customers are provided with
huge discounts if they give bulk orders and the old customers of the company are provided many other facilities6.
4 James Scott et al, "A Decision Support System For Supplier Selection And Order Allocation In Stochastic, Multi-Stakeholder And Multi-Criteria Environments" (2015)
166 International Journal of Production Economics.
5 Mustafa Batuhan Ayhan and Huseyin Selcuk Kilic, "A Two Stage Approach For Supplier Selection Problem In Multi-Item/Multi-Supplier Environment With Quantity
Discounts" (2015) 85 Computers & Industrial Engineering.
6 Amir Hossein Azadnia, Muhamad Zameri Mat Saman and Kuan Yew Wong, "Sustainable Supplier Selection And Order Lot-Sizing: An Integrated Multi-Objective
Decision-Making Process" (2014) 53(2) International Journal of Production Research.

4ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
The minimum order that needs to be placed so that the customers can receive delivery of the products should be for a minimum of 5000
Canadian dollars. The rejected orders are brought back to the warehouses and then they are returned to the different offices of the manufacturers
for replacement. The customers first need to Sign in to the website of Gordon Food Service and then they can place their orders by using any one
of the payment options7. The customers can also visit the various stores of the suppliers that are present at various prime locations of the country.
The major services that are offered to the customers in the stores are, event planning, which is related to the planning of functions or events in
the stores of the customers and the store managers will help them out in planning. The information centres are also located in the stores of the
company, which provide information related to recipes and many more areas8.
Checklist related to the best supplier
Name of the
companies
Factors
related
to
suppliers
Product variety and
pricing Services provided
Delivery time and ordering
process Discount provided
Acklands Grainger Inc.
7 F. Vahidi, S. Ali Torabi and M.J. Ramezankhani, "Sustainable Supplier Selection And Order Allocation Under Operational And Disruption Risks" (2018) 174 Journal of
Cleaner Production.
8 Sunil Luthra et al, "An Integrated Framework For Sustainable Supplier Selection And Evaluation In Supply Chains" (2017) 140 Journal of Cleaner Production.

5ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
Avenue Ind supply Co.
Ltd
Canadian Linen and
uniforms Rentals
Carr Mc Lean supply and
equipment
Diversey Inc.
Ecolab Ltd
Ecolab Pest Elimination
Division
Eden textile
Flanagan Food service
George Courey Inc.
Gordon Food service
HD Supply Canada Inc.
MIP inc (Med-I-Pant)
Morgan Scott Group Ltd
Nedco Ltd

6ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
Seton Canada
Sexauer Ltd / Ltee.
Stevans Sales &
Marketing
Surgo Medical supply
Sysco Food services –
All branches
Thermopatch Canada
Inc.
Uline
Windsor Karcher Group
Wood Wyant Inc.

7ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
References
Ayhan, Mustafa Batuhan and Huseyin Selcuk Kilic, "A Two Stage Approach For Supplier Selection Problem In Multi-Item/Multi-Supplier
Environment With Quantity Discounts" (2015) 85 Computers & Industrial Engineering
Azadnia, Amir Hossein, Muhamad Zameri Mat Saman and Kuan Yew Wong, "Sustainable Supplier Selection And Order Lot-Sizing: An
Integrated Multi-Objective Decision-Making Process" (2014) 53(2) International Journal of Production Research
Gfs.com, New Products Created To Inspire | Gordon Food Service (2018) Gfs.com https://www.gfs.com/en-us/products/new-products#
Luthra, Sunil et al, "An Integrated Framework For Sustainable Supplier Selection And Evaluation In Supply Chains" (2017) 140 Journal of
Cleaner Production
Nair, Anand, Jayanth Jayaram and Ajay Das, "Strategic Purchasing Participation, Supplier Selection, Supplier Evaluation And Purchasing
Performance" (2015) 53(20) International Journal of Production Research
Scott, James et al, "A Decision Support System For Supplier Selection And Order Allocation In Stochastic, Multi-Stakeholder And Multi-
Criteria Environments" (2015) 166 International Journal of Production Economics
Vahidi, F., S. Ali Torabi and M.J. Ramezankhani, "Sustainable Supplier Selection And Order Allocation Under Operational And Disruption
Risks" (2018) 174 Journal of Cleaner Production

8ANALYSIS OF SUPPLIERS AND DEVELOPING CHECKLIST
Woarawichai, Chirawat and Thanakorn Naenna, "Multi-Product And Multi-Period Inventory Lot-Sizing With Supplier Selection Under Quantity
Discount" (2018) 28(2) International Journal of Services and Operations Management