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Rising food prices impact camps' bottom
line. Counteract food inflation with the
ACA Business Partner Program.
ACA estimates a 5 percent increase across
the board on food and non-food items! Taking
steps now to lessen the effect of food
inflation on your budget is more important
than ever. ACA recommends exploring ACA
Business Partners as a way to save money
on food.
Do not delay in exploring these savings
opportunities because these savings require
some advance planning!
Opportunity #1 – FoodSource
Plus – ACA Business Partner
 FoodSource
Plus has negotiated costs savings with
hundreds of distributors nationwide in
an effort to save ACA camps money. There
is no cost to join FoodSource Plus, and
all their services are free to ACA camps.
How it works:
FoodSource has arrangements with food wholesalers
and distribution companies across the country,
and their expertise is in negotiating the
lowest possible costs for groceries, paper
goods, and cleaning supplies offered by
these vendors. Based on the work they've
done with ACA camps, they estimate savings
for your camp to be 10 percent to 35 percent
over what you were paying last summer. FoodSource
Plus customers are part of a program that
is not affiliated with any one food service
distributor or manufacturer, so you receive
the best, most comprehensive and affordable
food and supply services available. With
FoodSource Plus, you buy from the lowest
pricing tier the distributors in their
network offer. FoodSource guarantees your
pricing with the distributor in their network,
and there is no outside sales rep adjusting
the pricing margins to make a profit.
Additional
Benefits: In addition to
saving money on the products you are
already buying, FoodSource Plus will
also create menus and order guides
based on your budget and resources,
adhering to dietary and nutrition requirements
and guidelines. ACA's FoodSource representative,
Stephanie Bonenfant, will create custom
menus and orders based on your unique
needs and resources and will provide
you with samples of what other camps
are doing. Stephanie will recommend
menus and healthy, high quality products
that will help stretch your food budget.
To request a free, no-obligation savings
proposal detailing how much FoodSource
Plus can save you, contact Stephanie Bonenfant
at FoodSource Plus at 866-248-4520, sbonenfant@foodsourceplus.com.
Or simply fax your most recent invoices
to her at 508-336-6695.
Top of page
Opportunity #2 – Consorta
Group Buying Program –SYSCO
 Overview:
The Consorta agreement with SYSCO, available
to all camps, offers pricing based on collective
food purchases of almost $100 million annually.
SYSCO requires that you purchase approximately
80 percent of your typical food items from
SYSCO. Note: Purchase of janitorial and
sanitation supplies, paper products, and
other camp supplies from SYSCO will count
toward this 80% commitment. The minimum
order size per delivery (food and supplies)
is $750.
 Consorta
has also established a rebate program that
provides an average additional 2 percent
back. Checks are sent directly to the purchasing
entity from Consorta and take about sixty
to ninety days after the first contract
purchase. After the initial sixty to ninety
days, the rebates are paid quarterly.
Contact information:
Contact the ACA National Office for a passkey
(Kim Bruno – 800-428-2267, ext. 309)
to access the convenient ACA Web Portal
(www.aca.purchasingpoint.org )
which will outline the easy SYSCO sign-up
process.
Pricing and savings: Hundreds of invoices
from National Assembly members (ACA is
a member of the National Assembly) have
been compared with SYSCO pricing under
this contract. The savings for food
purchases averages 17 percent not counting
incentive rebates.
In addition to the pricing in place with
SYSCO, there are additional "off invoice" incentives
the camp can obtain. These include payment
terms, average drop size incentives and
the use of SYSCO Brand products. Your new
national account executive ("new" if
you've been using an existing local rep)
can review these incentives with you to
determine which are obtainable based on
your camp's ordering practices.
SYSCO has extensive experience converting
organizations from other suppliers and
their account executives will work with
you to discuss specific needs. They will
help develop order guides, work with you
to place your first order, and do what
is required to assist you with the conversion.
NOTE:
If you talk to your current SYSCO representative
they will not have the correct information
regarding this national program. In fact,
they will possibly try to talk you out
of the program. It is necessary to go through
the national office of SYSCO to qualify
for this pricing. You will be assigned
a SYSCO account executive who is familiar
with the Consorta contract.
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ACA understands that making a change in
your food purchasing procedure may be a
big step. We realize that making a change
in your food supplier representative requires
a giant leap of faith and a change of the
usual way you conduct business!
Yet, increasing food costs demand that
every camp director take a serious look
at how they can mitigate these increases.
Both FoodSource Plus and the Consorta SYSCO
programs have been researched and reviewed
by ACA. And, they can help camps through
this price increase crisis.
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