Restaurant COGS reduction services
Lower your cost of goods sold.
CORE Insights Group lowers the purchasing-driven portion of a restaurant group’s cost of goods sold (COGS) through CORE360, its managed procurement program: supplier price benchmarking, strategic sourcing, contract negotiation, invoice auditing and vendor optimization. It works alongside your inventory, recipe and waste systems, and with the distributors you already use, and 100% of the rebates and incentives it negotiates are paid to you.
Proof, plated
Real results, on the record.
These are named CORE clients with documented results, published in full on our success stories page.
- $350K+ a year Gecko’s Hospitality Group · one renegotiated lobster contract, with more savings across other categories
- $1M+ in savings Sonesta · supplier contracts renegotiated with no loss of quality
- $150M+ in revenue Specialty Restaurants Corporation · supported by CORE as a true outsourced purchasing partner
An honest split
What CORE runs, and what stays with you.
COGS has a price side and a usage side. CORE runs the price side; your systems and your team keep the rest, with help where you want it.
- The purchasing levers
CORE manages
The price side of COGS, run as one program.
- Supplier pricing and benchmarking
- Manufacturer, distributor and service contracts
- Invoice auditing and cost recovery
- Product, vendor and order-guide optimization
- Rebates and incentives, 100% paid to you
- Your stack stays
CORE works alongside
Nothing gets ripped out to make the numbers work.
- The distributors you already use
- Your inventory and recipe-costing software
- A GPO you already belong to
- The usage levers
Your team keeps
CORE Consulting can take these on as defined projects.
- Portion and waste control
- Menu pricing
- Day-to-day kitchen operations
Where do you fit?
Three ways in, at every size.
From a single independent restaurant to a multi-unit group, there is a route that matches how much help you want.
- Immediate savings, no fees
CLUB360
Free to join, no membership fees. Savings are built into the price at the time of purchase, not paid back as rebates. Built for independent operators and multi-unit restaurant groups, single locations welcome.
- Ongoing procurement management
CORE360
A fee-based managed procurement program. Start light with FLEX, or hand CORE the whole supply chain with ESSENTIAL and COMPLETE.
- A defined project
Consulting
A spend assessment, a category rebuild, or a supply-chain question that needs an answer, taken from ideation through execution.
Questions, answered
Frequently asked questions.
What part of restaurant COGS does CORE lower?
The purchasing-driven portion: what you actually pay suppliers and distributors for food, beverage and supplies. Cost of goods sold has two levers. Inventory, recipe and waste tools control how much you use; CORE controls what you pay for it, through supplier pricing, contracts, invoice auditing and vendor optimization.
Do we have to change distributors?
No. CORE360 works with any supplier, distributor or service provider, and optimizes the relationships you already have. CORE programs come in only where they add value.
Is CORE a GPO?
No. GPO compensation models vary, and many are paid out of the spend that flows through them. CORE360 charges a simple, transparent fee for the work it performs, never a markup on what you buy, and 100% of the rebates and incentives it negotiates are paid to you. You own every contract.
Is my restaurant big enough for this?
There is a fit at every size. CLUB360 is free to join and was built for independent operators and multi-unit restaurant groups, single locations included, with savings built into the price at purchase. CORE360 scales through its FLEX, ESSENTIAL and COMPLETE tiers as your purchasing grows more complex.
Get started
See what your COGS could be.
Share how your operation buys today and we’ll map the fastest route to a lower cost of goods, with the distributors you already use.