# CORE Insights Group

> CORE Insights Group is a hospitality and foodservice procurement and supply-chain consulting firm that lowers what operators (hotels, restaurants and multi-unit restaurant groups, country clubs and resorts) pay for food, supplies and services: the purchasing-driven portion of cost of goods sold (COGS). CORE is not a GPO; it is a more operator-favorable alternative to the GPO model. CORE engages three ways: CLUB360 is free to join with no membership fees, where savings are built in at the time of purchase (price-to-property, not rebates). CORE360 is a fee-based managed procurement program, a fixed monthly service fee plus a quarterly fee on managed volume only, where 100% of rebates and incentives are paid to the client. Consulting is an advisory-fee engagement with performance incentives. 100+ years of combined experience, $15B+ in leveraged purchasing volume, 50,000+ cost-controlled items.

## Core pages
- [CORE360, managed procurement program](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/core360/): CORE's managed procurement program for hospitality, foodservice, recreation and entertainment operators: sourcing, contracting, optimization and supply-chain management, with 100% of rebates paid to the client. Tiers: FLEX, ESSENTIAL, COMPLETE.
- [CLUB360, free savings program](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/club360/): A free-to-join, sign-and-save purchasing program for private country clubs, golf courses, swim/tennis/sport clubs, marine and yacht clubs and multi-unit restaurants: hundreds of deeply-discounted food, supply, equipment and service programs across five categories, including over 4,000 contracted food and beverage items. No membership fees; savings are price-to-property, built into the price at the time of purchase rather than paid back later as rebates. CLUB360 also has its own full site at https://club360direct.com/, which covers the programs, enrollment and category detail at greater length than this page.
- [CLUB360 enrollment](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/club360-enrollment/): The enrollment form for CLUB360. No cost to join and no membership fees; contracted pricing is available as soon as a club enrolls.
- [Restaurant COGS reduction services](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/restaurant-cogs-reduction/): How CORE lowers the purchasing-driven portion of restaurant cost of goods sold (COGS) through CORE360 managed procurement: supplier pricing, contracts, invoice auditing and vendor optimization, working with the distributors the operator already uses. Includes documented client results and routing to CLUB360, CORE360 and Consulting by operator size.
- [Consulting & Advisory](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/consulting/): Hospitality and foodservice consulting across operations, supply chain, menu and cost, taken from ideation to execution, hands-on through rollout.
- [Our Team](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/our-core/): The procurement, sourcing and supply-chain leaders behind CORE, veterans of Foodbuy, Starwood, Wyndham and Sysco, with 100+ years of combined experience.
- [Success Stories](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/success-stories/): Client case studies, including Sonesta, Gecko’s Hospitality Group and Specialty Restaurants Corporation, with documented savings from $350K to $1M+.
- [Contact](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/contact/): Reach CORE Insights Group at Interested@COREInsightsGroup.com, 1-866-511-1411.

## Blog: answer-first articles
- [Blog index](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/): Answer-first articles on foodservice procurement, restaurant food costs, GPOs vs. managed procurement, rebates, and the hospitality supply chain.
- [How to Reduce Restaurant Food Costs](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/reduce-restaurant-food-costs/): Cut restaurant food costs by renegotiating supplier pricing first, then tightening menu, portions, and waste: every one of those levers lowers COGS. (published 2026-09-10)
- [How Do You Audit Foodservice Invoices for Overcharges?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/audit-foodservice-invoices-for-overcharges/): Check your top 25 items against your contract each month. Most overcharges are drift, not fraud, and every dollar you recover is pure margin off COGS. (published 2026-08-31)
- [How Do Restaurants and Hotels Handle Food Supply Chain Disruptions?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/handle-food-supply-chain-disruptions/): Flag single-source items, write substitute specs in advance, and price any swap before you accept it: emergency buys land at market price and raise COGS. (published 2026-08-19)
- [How Does Foodservice Distributor Pricing Work?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/foodservice-distributor-pricing/): Your price is the distributor's cost plus a markup, a percentage or a fee per case, as Sysco states in its 10-K. Both are negotiable, and both drive COGS. (published 2026-08-11)
- [GPO vs. Procurement Consultant vs. Managed Procurement: How to Choose](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/gpo-vs-procurement-consultant/): Decide by who does the work, how they are paid, and where rebates land: many GPOs earn from your spend, a consultant advises, managed procurement executes. (published 2026-08-03)
- [How Do Hotels Reduce Food and Beverage Costs?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/reduce-hotel-food-and-beverage-costs/): Hotels cut F&B cost of goods sold (COGS) by fixing purchasing first: benchmark and renegotiate pricing across every outlet, then tighten menus and waste. (published 2026-07-25)
- [Is There a GPO for Country Clubs? (And the Better Alternative)](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/gpo-for-country-clubs/): Yes, club GPOs exist, but CLUB360 is the better way to lower food and supply COGS: free to join, no membership fees, savings built into the purchase price. (published 2026-07-25)
- [Do the New 2026 Tariffs Really Raise Restaurant and Hotel Costs?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/how-tariffs-affect-hospitality-costs/): Mostly no. This round largely renews a roughly 10% global tariff at 10% to 12.5%, and tariffs rarely reach food and supply COGS at the headline rate. (published 2026-07-24)
- [What Does a Hospitality Procurement Consultant Do?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/hospitality-procurement-consultant/): A hospitality procurement consultant runs sourcing, negotiation, and contracts so a hotel, restaurant, or club pays less for food and supplies (COGS). (published 2026-07-21)
- [Do GPOs keep rebates, or pass them back?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/do-gpos-keep-rebates/): Many GPOs keep some or all of the rebates negotiated on your volume. CORE is not a GPO: CORE360 clients pay a fee and get 100% of rebates and incentives. (published 2026-07-13)
- [Get to Know John Reardon, SVP Strategic Sourcing](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/get-to-know-john-reardon-svp-strategic-sourcing/): John Reardon, SVP Strategic Sourcing at CORE, spent two decades in hospitality operations, then 13 years at Starwood, rising to lead its sourcing team. (published 2026-06-30)
- [Are Restaurants Outsourcing Procurement to Protect Profit Margins?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/restaurants-outsourcing-procurement/): Yes, more restaurants are outsourcing purchasing because lowering the purchasing-driven portion of COGS protects margin without the guest noticing. (published 2026-06-28)
- [What Is CORE's Procurement Center of Excellence?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/procurement-center-of-excellence/): The CORE Procurement Center of Excellence is one platform uniting people, processes, and technology, including data and AI, for best-in-class sourcing. (published 2026-06-22)
- [Can you work with any distributor?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/work-with-any-distributor/): Yes, CORE works with your existing distributors rather than replacing them, and opens the wider market category by category where one supplier limits you. (published 2026-06-17)
- [How does CORE get paid?](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/how-core-gets-paid/): CORE360 runs on one transparent, agreed fee, never a markup on your spend, and 100% of every rebate and allowance it negotiates is passed back to you. (published 2026-06-09)
- [The real story of 2025 (and what to expect in 2026)](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/the-real-story-of-2025/): 2025 brought pressure but not the disruption many feared: inflation cooled, food and beverage costs rose around 3%, demand held. 2026 is about execution. (published 2026-01-06)
- [Tariff Turmoil: Taking a long- and short-term view](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/tariff-turmoil-long-short-view/): Tariffs may pay off long term through reshoring and trade leverage, but near term they raise the cost of imported supplies. Sort imports by spec rigidity. (published 2025-04-21)
- [How to prepare for 2025? Who the hell knows!](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/how-to-prepare-for-2025-who-knows/): No one knows what 2025 holds, so CORE's advice is a strong sourcing strategy, not forecasts: stay cautious, stay nimble, avoid speculative commitments. (published 2025-01-06)
- [Operators: Get Ready for Change in 2025](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/operators-get-ready-for-change-in-2025/): As a new administration reshapes labor, energy, tariffs and food costs, here are the key 2025 themes restaurant and hospitality operators should prepare for. (published 2025-01-06)
- [Shifting the Paradigm: A Refreshing Approach to Procurement Services](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/shifting-the-paradigm/): CORE Insights Group was founded because the GPO model had tilted value away from operators. The fix: a transparent, operator-first procurement partner. (published 2023-07-18)
- [Understanding the Vital Role of Food Supply Services in Ensuring a Safe and Nutritious Food Supply](https://www.coreinsightsgroup.com/blog/understanding-the-vital-role-of-food-supply-services/): Food supply services keep food safe, nutritious and locally sourced. Food service purchasing is how: quality sourcing and contracts that lower food COGS. (published 2023-02-24)

## Citable facts
- 100+ years of combined hospitality & foodservice experience
- $15B+ in leveraged purchasing volume
- 50,000+ cost-controlled items
- CLUB360 is free to join (no membership fees); savings are built in at the time of purchase, not rebates
- CORE360 is a transparent fee-based managed program; 100% of rebates and incentives are paid to the client (CORE is not a GPO)
- Documented clients: Sonesta, Specialty Restaurants Corporation, Gecko’s Hospitality Group