We approached Ingham’s about wanting to do this – one of our issues was that it guaranteed volume. As a result we actually had to structure our business differently in how we dealt with our poultry, and we needed to see if Inghams was going to be willing to do that.
Our franchise owners knew they could eliminate some labour at the store level, because if you bring in a whole bird, it has the same proportions – two thighs, two breasts, and so on.
But if I only need half of that, I have a balance issue. Now, we can track the balance over the entire system. My store only needs X amount of fillets, and so on. So you don’t get the whole bird, and that’s worked out quite well.
Absolutely. They’ve probably gone from about 5-6% of our business to 60-70%.
We’ve simplified the manufacturing process. We’re able to talk to staff about exactly what they need to do, and because of that extra time, they can spend more time out the front where the product is actually sold.
You obviously lose a little bit of a margin here, because it costs a little more to buy their chicken. But there is also a decrease in wages and you get the overall benefit. It’s a lot simpler, you don’t have that balance issue, and you don’t have to discount as much product. So you can start to sell what you want to sell.
Well, it’s only nine months old. So after doing things for 24 years in a certain way, we’re still getting over some teething problems. And that’s all moving well. Stores are learning how to order differently, and so on.
We’ve actually been trying to do this for years with our other suppliers, and it’s only just in the past couple of years we’ve managed to get a deal done. But our real goal is continuing to trade the franchise system to its fullest, and then hopefully, continue to drive more customers to the counter because of that.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
