A strong foodservice supplier network can be the difference between absorbing rising costs and staying one step ahead of them. Foodservice operators are no strangers to pressure. Rising costs, tight labor markets, and ongoing supply chain uncertainty have made it harder than ever to protect margins. And every January, that pressure comes into sharper focus.  January is planning, budgeting, and forecasting season. It’s when operators sit down with last year’s numbers, take a hard look at spend, and start asking tougher questions about what needs to change. In those conversations, one theme comes up again and again. Many teams are still buying from the same short list of suppliers they’ve relied on for years. Not because it’s the best setup, but because it feels safe. What often gets overlooked is how much that comfort quietly costs over the course of a year.  Expanding your foodservice supplier network isn’t about adding complexity. It’s about gaining flexibility, improving leverage, and unlocking opportunities to

Running a hospitality business has never been easy, but let’s be honest, the pressure right now feels heavier than it did even a few years ago. Costs are higher. Labor is tighter. Guests are more selective. And operators are expected to juggle all of it while still delivering great experiences, every single day.  The good news? These hospitality industry challenges are real, but they’re not unsolvable. The key is knowing where the pressure points are and taking a smarter, more connected approach to managing them.  What Are Hospitality Industry Challenges?  Challenges in the hospitality industry are the operational, financial, and strategic problems that make it harder for hotels, restaurants, casinos, and other businesses that rely on hospitality to run smoothly and make money.  Some problems are easy to see, like rising food prices or not having enough staff. Some things, like inconsistent pricing, disconnected systems, or not being able to see where money is

Running a foodservice operation today means juggling more than just menus and staffing. Between rising ingredient costs, complex distributor relationships, rebate programs, inventory challenges, payroll issues, and disconnected data systems, operators often feel like they’re managing ten businesses at once instead of one. Most operators aren’t struggling because they lack effort or experience. They’re struggling because the operational ecosystem has become fragmented. Pricing lives in one spreadsheet. Inventory counts sit in another system. Rebates are tracked manually. Accounting is handled in a separate back-office platform. And contract pricing? That might live in emails or PDFs no one checks regularly. This disconnect is exactly what creates margin leaks, wasted labor hours, and missed savings. Simplifying foodservice operations today isn’t about finding one magic tool. It’s about building an integrated support system. And that’s where Buyers Edge Platform comes in. The Buyers Edge Platform connects specialized brands, technology, and industry knowledge into

There are always problems in the restaurant business. Before the pandemic, profit margins were very small, it was hard to find and keep staff, and consumer trends changed faster than menus could be changed. These pressures haven’t gone away in 2025; they’ve changed. Many restaurants are on the edge of survival and success because of rising food and labor costs, complicated supply chains, and customers who don’t always act the way they expect. But failure isn’t always going to happen. The first step to making a restaurant profitable in the long run is to understand why they fail and how to deal with these problems before they happen. Below, we look at ten common reasons why restaurants fail and how the best ones today are using data, technology, and smart buying to stay ahead. 1. Rising Costs Outpace Revenue Inflation has reshaped foodservice economics. From proteins and produce to rent