Is it worth using more than one catering supplier?
Most care homes benefit from using a main national supplier for the bulk of orders plus a local or specialist supplier for fresh, regional, or specialist lines. This gives you breadth of range with flexibility where it matters most.
Looking for specific supplier recommendations? Our guide to local catering suppliers covers what to look for and how to vet them properly.
More on this in our The Complete Guide to Catering Suppliers for Care Homes — the full care home catering supplier library.
How often should I review my catering supplier?
At least annually, but more frequently if you’re experiencing issues. Many care homes review their main suppliers every 6 months, looking at price, service quality, and whether the relationship is still working.
Is it worth using more than one catering supplier?
Most care homes benefit from using a main national supplier for the bulk of orders plus a local or specialist supplier for fresh, regional, or specialist lines. This gives you breadth of range with flexibility where it matters most.
Looking for specific supplier recommendations? Our guide to local catering suppliers covers what to look for and how to vet them properly.
More on this in our The Complete Guide to Catering Suppliers for Care Homes — the full care home catering supplier library.
When to switch suppliers
There are times when a supplier relationship has run its course and you need to move on:
- Consistent delivery failures that don’t improve after you’ve raised them
- Repeated substitution issues, especially where you’ve flagged the impact
- Quality decline that doesn’t get addressed
- Account manager turnover that leaves you without a working contact
- Pricing increases that don’t reflect service quality
Switching takes effort. Run a trial with a new supplier before cancelling the old account. Most care homes benefit from running a parallel relationship for 4-6 weeks during a transition.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for when choosing a catering supplier?
Care home catering experience, reliable delivery schedule, clear substitution policy, transparent pricing, and quality complaint process in writing. References from other care homes are the most reliable signal of supplier quality.
How often should I review my catering supplier?
At least annually, but more frequently if you’re experiencing issues. Many care homes review their main suppliers every 6 months, looking at price, service quality, and whether the relationship is still working.
Is it worth using more than one catering supplier?
Most care homes benefit from using a main national supplier for the bulk of orders plus a local or specialist supplier for fresh, regional, or specialist lines. This gives you breadth of range with flexibility where it matters most.
Looking for specific supplier recommendations? Our guide to local catering suppliers covers what to look for and how to vet them properly.
More on this in our The Complete Guide to Catering Suppliers for Care Homes — the full care home catering supplier library.
Practical evaluation: a one-month trial
Before committing fully to a new supplier, run a one-month trial. Place real orders, evaluate them against the criteria that matter to you, and make a decision based on actual performance.
Keep a simple log during the trial period:
- Were deliveries on time and complete?
- Were substitutions notified in advance?
- Was the produce the quality you expected?
- Were there any pricing surprises?
- How easy was it to contact the account manager?
After the trial, review the log with your kitchen team. If they’re positive, formalise the relationship. If there are concerns, raise them with the supplier before deciding whether to continue.
When to switch suppliers
There are times when a supplier relationship has run its course and you need to move on:
- Consistent delivery failures that don’t improve after you’ve raised them
- Repeated substitution issues, especially where you’ve flagged the impact
- Quality decline that doesn’t get addressed
- Account manager turnover that leaves you without a working contact
- Pricing increases that don’t reflect service quality
Switching takes effort. Run a trial with a new supplier before cancelling the old account. Most care homes benefit from running a parallel relationship for 4-6 weeks during a transition.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for when choosing a catering supplier?
Care home catering experience, reliable delivery schedule, clear substitution policy, transparent pricing, and quality complaint process in writing. References from other care homes are the most reliable signal of supplier quality.
How often should I review my catering supplier?
At least annually, but more frequently if you’re experiencing issues. Many care homes review their main suppliers every 6 months, looking at price, service quality, and whether the relationship is still working.
Is it worth using more than one catering supplier?
Most care homes benefit from using a main national supplier for the bulk of orders plus a local or specialist supplier for fresh, regional, or specialist lines. This gives you breadth of range with flexibility where it matters most.
Looking for specific supplier recommendations? Our guide to local catering suppliers covers what to look for and how to vet them properly.
More on this in our The Complete Guide to Catering Suppliers for Care Homes — the full care home catering supplier library.
Not getting account terms in writing
Verbal agreements with suppliers are worse than useless when things go wrong. Get everything in writing — payment terms, delivery schedules, substitution policies, quality complaint process, account management contacts. If a supplier won’t put it in writing, that’s a signal.
Practical evaluation: a one-month trial
Before committing fully to a new supplier, run a one-month trial. Place real orders, evaluate them against the criteria that matter to you, and make a decision based on actual performance.
Keep a simple log during the trial period:
- Were deliveries on time and complete?
- Were substitutions notified in advance?
- Was the produce the quality you expected?
- Were there any pricing surprises?
- How easy was it to contact the account manager?
After the trial, review the log with your kitchen team. If they’re positive, formalise the relationship. If there are concerns, raise them with the supplier before deciding whether to continue.
When to switch suppliers
There are times when a supplier relationship has run its course and you need to move on:
- Consistent delivery failures that don’t improve after you’ve raised them
- Repeated substitution issues, especially where you’ve flagged the impact
- Quality decline that doesn’t get addressed
- Account manager turnover that leaves you without a working contact
- Pricing increases that don’t reflect service quality
Switching takes effort. Run a trial with a new supplier before cancelling the old account. Most care homes benefit from running a parallel relationship for 4-6 weeks during a transition.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for when choosing a catering supplier?
Care home catering experience, reliable delivery schedule, clear substitution policy, transparent pricing, and quality complaint process in writing. References from other care homes are the most reliable signal of supplier quality.
How often should I review my catering supplier?
At least annually, but more frequently if you’re experiencing issues. Many care homes review their main suppliers every 6 months, looking at price, service quality, and whether the relationship is still working.
Is it worth using more than one catering supplier?
Most care homes benefit from using a main national supplier for the bulk of orders plus a local or specialist supplier for fresh, regional, or specialist lines. This gives you breadth of range with flexibility where it matters most.
Looking for specific supplier recommendations? Our guide to local catering suppliers covers what to look for and how to vet them properly.
More on this in our The Complete Guide to Catering Suppliers for Care Homes — the full care home catering supplier library.
Choosing a catering supplier for your care home is one of those decisions that quietly shapes every other part of your operation. Get it right and you don’t think about it for months. Get it wrong and you spend half your week chasing deliveries, calling about substitutions, and explaining to your manager why the chicken you ordered isn’t the chicken you received.
This is a practical guide to making that choice well, written by someone who’s been on both sides of it.
Start with what you actually need
Before you start talking to suppliers, write down what you actually buy. Not what you think you should buy — what you actually order week to week.
Pull your last 4-6 weeks of orders. Group them by category — fresh meat, frozen, dairy, fresh produce, dry goods, disposables, cleaning. Note which lines are stable (you order them every week) and which vary. Calculate your typical weekly order value.
This matters because it tells you what kind of supplier you actually need. A care home spending £800 a week on a mix of fresh, frozen, and dry goods has different supplier needs than one spending £3,500 a week on similar lines, and both have different needs from one that buys mostly frozen and ambient.
The questions that actually matter when vetting a supplier
Do they understand care home catering?
This is the most important question. A generalist supplier may be fine for restaurants, but care home catering has specific demands — portion control, IDDSI texture-modified food, allergen management under Natasha’s Law, and detailed audit trails. Ask prospective suppliers whether they have specific experience with care homes or healthcare catering. Ask for references from other care homes they supply. Phone those references.
What does their delivery schedule look like?
Find out exactly when they deliver, how often, and what their delivery window is. A supplier who promises “Tuesday delivery” but actually delivers between 9am and 4pm on Tuesday isn’t useful if your kitchen manager isn’t on site to receive the order. For perishable goods, you want delivery within an agreed window, not at some point during the day.
How do they handle quality issues?
You’re going to receive substandard produce at some point. Every kitchen does. What matters is what happens next. Do they collect and credit the next day? Do they send a replacement immediately? Do they argue? Ask for the process in writing before you open the account.
What payment terms do they offer?
Care homes operate on monthly invoicing cycles, and most need 30-day credit terms as standard. Some smaller suppliers demand payment on delivery or weekly terms, which creates cashflow pressure. Check the terms before you commit.
Where care home managers commonly go wrong
Choosing on price alone
The cheapest supplier isn’t always the most cost-effective. Substitutions, delivery failures, quality issues, and time spent managing the relationship all have costs. A slightly more expensive supplier with reliable service and consistent quality will often work out cheaper in practice than the cheapest quote.
Going with whoever the previous manager used
Inheritance of supplier relationships is one of the most common patterns in care home catering. A new manager inherits a relationship that may have been set up years ago and may not be the right fit for the home’s current needs. Re-evaluate on a regular basis. Ask whether the supplier is still the best option, not just the default one.
Not getting account terms in writing
Verbal agreements with suppliers are worse than useless when things go wrong. Get everything in writing — payment terms, delivery schedules, substitution policies, quality complaint process, account management contacts. If a supplier won’t put it in writing, that’s a signal.
Practical evaluation: a one-month trial
Before committing fully to a new supplier, run a one-month trial. Place real orders, evaluate them against the criteria that matter to you, and make a decision based on actual performance.
Keep a simple log during the trial period:
- Were deliveries on time and complete?
- Were substitutions notified in advance?
- Was the produce the quality you expected?
- Were there any pricing surprises?
- How easy was it to contact the account manager?
After the trial, review the log with your kitchen team. If they’re positive, formalise the relationship. If there are concerns, raise them with the supplier before deciding whether to continue.
When to switch suppliers
There are times when a supplier relationship has run its course and you need to move on:
- Consistent delivery failures that don’t improve after you’ve raised them
- Repeated substitution issues, especially where you’ve flagged the impact
- Quality decline that doesn’t get addressed
- Account manager turnover that leaves you without a working contact
- Pricing increases that don’t reflect service quality
Switching takes effort. Run a trial with a new supplier before cancelling the old account. Most care homes benefit from running a parallel relationship for 4-6 weeks during a transition.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for when choosing a catering supplier?
Care home catering experience, reliable delivery schedule, clear substitution policy, transparent pricing, and quality complaint process in writing. References from other care homes are the most reliable signal of supplier quality.
How often should I review my catering supplier?
At least annually, but more frequently if you’re experiencing issues. Many care homes review their main suppliers every 6 months, looking at price, service quality, and whether the relationship is still working.
Is it worth using more than one catering supplier?
Most care homes benefit from using a main national supplier for the bulk of orders plus a local or specialist supplier for fresh, regional, or specialist lines. This gives you breadth of range with flexibility where it matters most.
Looking for specific supplier recommendations? Our guide to local catering suppliers covers what to look for and how to vet them properly.
More on this in our The Complete Guide to Catering Suppliers for Care Homes — the full care home catering supplier library.
