Retail and food service operators are rethinking procurement as a “new normal” settles in. Cost is no longer the sole driver. Reliability, sustainability and customer experience are now shaping supply strategies, experts explained at the panel on how retailers and food service are navigating the changing environment at Expana’s Agri-Food event in Amsterdam.
Richard Raven, Director Food & Beverage Category Management EMEA at Hilton Supply Management, said the shift is clear. “Over the past few years, it has moved more to the resilience side rather than the cheapest,” he explained. The company now chooses coffee machine suppliers based on minimizing service risks, placing reliability ahead of bean quality.
Closer partnerships with manufacturers and operators are becoming standard, with data playing a larger role, Raven added. According to him, Hilton has gathered sourcing information across 16 markets to boost local supply . Product testing is part of the process; Raven noted trials of 17 varieties of orange juice to identify what guests actually want.
For Eleonore de Montjoye, Director Supply Chain UK and Europe at Pizza Hut, resilience means “right-sizing” supplier pools to keep healthy competition without relying on a single source. She described milk sourcing as “a nightmare” in recent years.
Ammo Dillon, Procurement and Cost Transformation Lead at PA Consulting, said customers still want low prices but will pay more for the right product. He warned that the adoption gap in changing supply strategies can be costly.
De Montjoye said consumer expectations are higher than ever, with Gen Z making sustainability nonnegotiable. “Customers do not want just a product, but also an experience,” she said, yet budgets are not increasing to match those demands.
While AI and data offer new opportunities, Raven believes decisionmaking still depends on people. “The human element is always necessary,” he said.
Written by Thess Mostoles
