Ben E Keith Foods Case Study

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Ben E. Keith Foods does not manufacture or assemble any of the products they sell. They work directly with many manufacturers and, in some cases brokers, to procure the products they offer to their customers. They are considered to be distributors and operate in a break bulk fashion. Ben E. Keith places orders for individual products in large quantities, often full truck loads, and the warehouse is stocked according to inventory thresholds set for each product based on weekly demand. When orders are received, the products requested by each customer are pulled by warehouse personnel, in the quantities requested, and combined into shipments of mixed product to be delivered to each customer.
Ben E. Keith must find ways to add value to the …show more content…

Keith adds value is by providing break bulk and re-packaging services. If this service was not provided, many customers would not be able to buy their products direct from the manufacturers due to the minimum order quantities required for delivery. Most restaurants also must order weekly due to limited storage space, and because most foods are perishable and have a short shelf life. Ben E. Keith has 492,000 square feet of warehouse and freezer space and turns inventory quickly, so they can assume the responsibility of having what the customer needs at short notice. This eliminates the customer having to order in large quantities and deal with the concern of food expiring before it can be …show more content…

Keith must be aware of what their breakeven point is. Mr. Davison stated that Ben E. Keith does not monitor the number of cases they must sell to ensure they reach their breakeven point as there is not a standard cost or sales price per case, but that they do use several other metrics to gauge their breakeven point. They simply use pre-calculated thresholds as a guideline on an order by order basis. For instance, the ERP system at Ben E. Keith reflects the cost of each item in their inventory. When a salesman receives an order from his customers, the price he charges them is left to his discretion. The rule of thumb is that the salesman can sell some items at a low margin and others at a higher margin as long as the overall gross profit is at least 15%. They have found that if all orders average a 15% gross profit they will be profitable. A second metric that they use to ensure profitability is that they require each order to generate a minimum profit of $100. This is what they consider to be their breakeven threshold, which covers all of their costs and allows them to enjoy at least a modest

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