Archive for the ‘Sourcing Safe Foods’ Category

Is the price of beef affecting your summer?

Tuesday, July 29th, 2025

 

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

Summers here and with that a lot of us like to hang outside and do a lot of grilling.  If you are one of the people that enjoy grilling, you may have noticed the price of beef is reaching record high prices.  The average price for a pound of ground beef just before the Fourth of July was $6.67 a pound, which is about seventy cents more than May and 50 percent more than five years ago.  One of the main factors behind the rising prices is the shrinking cattle population.  According to experts, the national herd has declined to around eighty-seven million, which is the lowest recorded since 1951.  Part of the problem is the prolonged droughts which devastated grazing pastures in the cattle producing states such as Nebraska, Texas, and Kansas.  These droughts have forced many farmers to cull their herds which account for the lower population.   Another issue that also affected the cattle is growing cases of the New World Screwworm which is a parasitic fly whose maggots burrow into and feed on the flesh of the cattle.  This led to the halts of imports from Mexico to the U.S., but the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently stated that some of the ports could reopen soon.  Unfortunately, the USDA predicts that cattle prices will remain elevated into 2026, which means the retail beef prices probably won’t drop for several years. Even with the high prices, it remains Americans’ second-favorite choice of meat, according to the USDA, with nearly fifty-seven pounds of it being consumed per person annually. Until the prices start to come down you may want to look into some of the following options to reduce your costs.

  • Choose the Right Cuts
  • Buy Whole Cuts and Trim Yourself
  • Stretch your Meat with Fillers
  • Buy in Bulk and Freeze
  • Consider other Grilling Options like Chicken and Pork
  • Make your own Rubs and Sauces

If you need help sourcing items for your company, feel free to contact SafeSourcing.   We can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which company and product meets your needs.  If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

Procurement and Tariff Increases

Friday, April 18th, 2025

 

Today’s blog is by Margaret Stewart, Director of HR and Administration at SafeSourcing.

In an ever-challenged economy, procurement professionals are no strangers to volatility. One of the most impactful—and unpredictable—variables in recent years has been the rise in tariffs. Whether due to trade disputes, geopolitical tensions, or efforts to protect domestic industries, tariff increases are reshaping how organizations approach procurement.

Tariffs, essentially taxes on imported goods, directly increase the cost of affected items. For procurement teams, this can quickly escalate total spend, especially if critical materials or components are sourced internationally. Tariff-related cost hikes can blow through carefully planned budgets, especially for long-term contracts negotiated before tariff changes. Suppliers in tariff-affected regions may raise their prices or pass on additional costs to buyers. Frequent changes in trade policy make it difficult to forecast and plan procurement strategies with confidence.

To mitigate the impact of tariff increases, procurement professionals can adopt more agile and strategic approaches. Relying too heavily on suppliers from a single country or region increases vulnerability. Diversification helps reduce exposure to tariffs and supply chain disruption. For instance, if tariffs rise on goods from China, sourcing alternatives in Vietnam, India, or Mexico could offer relief. Some organizations are reevaluating their global sourcing strategies altogether. Bringing production closer to home—or at least to regions with favorable trade agreements—can reduce tariff exposure and shorten lead times.

Changing markets reinforce the need for changing contracts as well. Many companies are renegotiating terms to include clauses that account for tariff changes, allowing for cost-sharing or pricing adjustments in response to policy shifts. Focusing on purchase price alone is no longer sufficient. Procurement leaders must also factor in tariffs, shipping costs, lead times, and risk factors—to evaluate the full cost of sourcing decisions.

Tariffs are just one of many forces reshaping global procurement, but their impact is profound. With the right strategies in place, procurement partners, like SafeSourcing, can help your organization not only weather the storm but also thrive.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help your e-procurement needs, or on our Risk-Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024 from SafeSourcing; Your GLOBAL SOURCING PARTNER!

Monday, January 1st, 2024

 

picture of world

 

If you’d like to learn more about alternative sources of supply offshore or nearshore or anywhere around the world., contact a SafeSourcing customer services account manager to learn more about SafeSourceIt™ our 587,000 global supplier database and let us translate it into increased profits for you.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Generally Recognized as Safe or (GRAS)

Wednesday, July 26th, 2023

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

At SafeSourcing, suppliers that are part of our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database are held accountable to many different certifications that support safety in the supply chain. Please read on to learn a little bit more about Generally Recognized as Safe

“GRAS” is an acronym for the phrase Generally Recognized as Safe. Under sections 201(s) and 409 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act), any substance that is intentionally added to food is a food additive, and is subject to premarket review and approval by FDA, unless the substance is generally recognized, among qualified experts, as having been adequately shown to be safe under the conditions of its intended use, or unless the use of the substance is otherwise excluded from the definition of a food additive.

Under sections 201(s) and 409 of the Act, and FDA‘s implementing regulations in 21 CFR 170.3 and 21 CFR 170.30, the use of a food substance may be GRAS either through scientific procedures or, for a substance used in food before 1958, through experience based on common use in food.

  • Under 21 CFR 170.30(b), general recognition of safety through scientific procedures requires the same quantity and quality of scientific evidence as is required to obtain approval of the substance as a food additive and ordinarily is based upon published studies, which may be corroborated by unpublished studies and other data and information.
  • Under 21 CFR 170.30(c) and 170.3(f), general recognition of safety through experience based on common use in foods requires a substantial history of consumption for food use by a significant number of consumers.

If you’d like to learn more about how SafeSourcing can assist in properly helping to insure your suppliers are adhering to all safety concerns,  please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

References: Http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodIngredientsPackaging/GenerallyRecognizedasSafeGRAS/default.htm

 

What is the benefit of a ranked reverse auction?

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc

A tool that can be effective when running a reverse auction is called ranking. While this feature is not used all the time, it can be of strategic importance when trying to get to the best net landed cost for products that have very slim margins at the supplier level. The feature can be set up to let all suppliers know where they rank or a select number of suppliers like the top five (5). The feature can also be turned on for a specific time during the auction like in the last 5 minutes. As an example, you might have tight bidding for a particular commodity-based product. Only the low bid vendor knows that they are indeed the low bid and resultingly is not entering any more price adjustments. If ranking is deployed, vendors can find out if they are 2nd or 3rd etc. and this may entice them to try one more or make multiple more entries if their desire to win the business is strong enough. This is particularly true if the bidding activity has been robust to a point with the low-price indicator switching back and forth between multiple vendors.

It is the deep understanding of markets along with the use of tools like ranking amongst others that are included in strategy reviews with our customers that allows SafeSourcing to regularly exceed customer expectations across all spend areas. Our average annual savings against all categories are more than 24% beyond what you can negotiate on your own.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite.

For more information, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Associate.

 

 

You can still improve gross margin and net earnings substantially in this market.

Monday, June 26th, 2023

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc

Example: Prove me wrong if you think you can!

Assume a $150M Retail Company with industry earnings of just one percent or $1.5M. Additionally cost of goods for this company is 70 percent or $105M. Let’s also assume this company were to only source ten percent of their for-resale COGS or above the gross margin line spend or roughly $11M. With below industry average savings of only ten percent, total savings generated would be $1.1M which is a direct impact to net profitability. If all other segments of the P&L perform to plan and all savings are recovered during the same business calendar year net profitability would increase to $2.6M or a 73% improvement.

NO BS Here! If you don’t believe me, I will be glad to personally sit down with your CEO or CFO and Finance team and prove it to you! Imagine what else you could do to earnings if you also attacked your Expense in the same way.

Companies can begin with SafeSourcing almost immediately (SaaS/Cloud offering) with no risk (Cost Neutral Pilots) and no IT involvement at all, why don’t more companies use eProcurement tools. That’s a great question! Probably because they are embarrassed to not already be getting these results.

If this author were you, I just could not ignore this type of opportunity. If you’d like to learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Services Account Manager. Or me.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

 

Why don’t you use Reverse Auctions?

Friday, June 23rd, 2023

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc

 Understanding a Reverse Auction according to Investopedia

In a reverse auction, the buyer puts up a request for a required good or service. Sellers then place bids for the amount they are willing to be paid for the good or service, with the winner being the seller prepared to accept the lowest amount.

Reverse auctions gained popularity with the emergence of internet-based online auction tools that enabled multiple sellers to connect with a buyer on a real-time basis. Today, reverse auctions are used by large corporations and government entities as a competitive procurement method for raw materials, supplies, and services like accounting and customer service.

Here’s a real simple truth! If you are not using this tool, you are paying way more than you might think. And your team cannot get anywhere near the pricing that reverse auctions generate. I watched a large company yesterday reduce the cost of any office supply category by 31% beyond what they negotiated.

You can view my comments from an earlier post titled Just what do we mean by eProcurement White Glove Services that supports why our savings average over 24% better than what companies can do on their own most of the time.

SafeSourcing is a Procure to Pay SaaS based provider of a number of e-Procurement solutions and associated white glove services that are part of our SaaS offered SafeSourceIt™ eSourcing suite. That includes our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database  that includes over 557,000 vendor/suppliers.

To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

 

Specifications?

Wednesday, June 21st, 2023

 

Today’s post is by Margaret Stewart, Director of HR and Administration at SafeSourcing

We all buy things, and we generally look for the best deal we can get, but how do you know you are getting the right thing? Recently a friend tried out a new shopping website and found a great deal on a car jack. This is something that we could all use if we do our own maintenance on cars or just want to be prepared if we need to change a tire. This particular site offered what seem like a reasonable price, much less than you usually see, but not low enough to trigger red flags. So, the car jack was purchased, and they awaited its arrival.

A few weeks later when it arrived, this car jack was approximately three inches high. This was some sort of tiny model of a car jack, and well above the price something like this would seemingly go for. After double checking the website and reviewing the details, this car jack was indeed just three inches high and through some creative photography, no one would be the wiser that it wasn’t full size unless you read the specifications.

There is an important lesson here. You must read specifications carefully to know that what you are purchasing is the right product. This will help you get what you need, but also help you to compare and understand any differences within that category of product. Sometimes by reading about what you think you need; do you discover you may in fact need something else.

This idea goes for sourcing as well. When looking for a product or service, your specifications should be clear and detailed, because otherwise you might get a miniature car jack that only works for small model cars. A procurement partner, like SafeSourcing, can help you come up with the right specifications for the product or service you need and also help to find those that would be a good fit in providing that service of product.

For more information on what the SafeSourcing team can offer you, or on our Risk-Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative. We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

 

Summer is still here, and Lobster Prices are still High!  

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022

 

Today’s blog is from our SafeSourcing Inc. Archives

As the nation moves past the coronavirus pandemic, lobster is more expensive than usual.   Due to a limited supply, high demand and the reopening of the economy, tourists are headed back to seafood restaurants and lobster markets for the first time in months.  Some stores charged $17 or $18 per pound for live lobster in May, and that was about twice the price a year ago.  In June, pricing is $13 or $14 per pound.  The wholesale price for live, 1.25-pound lobsters in the New England market was $9.01 per pound on May 1, business publisher Urner Barry reported. That was about $2.70 per pound more than the previous May 1, and the highest price for that date in at least five years, the company reported.

Customers are looking to get back out to restaurants, and that high-end seafood is in high demand, said John Sackton, an industry analyst and founder of SeafoodNews.com.

Some factors influencing the high prices include a lack of available inventory and what appears to be a slow start to the fishing season. New England’s busiest lobster fishing season takes place in summer, and many harvesters are just starting to get their traps into the water.

U.S. lobster fishing is based primarily in Maine, though many lobsters also come ashore in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Fishermen managed to have a productive season in 2020 despite the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.  Fishermen in Maine brought more than 96 million pounds of lobsters to the docks, and while that was the lowest total since 2010, it was still much more than they typically caught in the 1990s.

For more information on how SafeSourcing can help your procurement efforts, or on our Risk

Free trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service RepresentativeWe have an entire team ready to assist you today.

References

Patrick Whittle, Associated Press, June 8, 2021, 1:29

 

Humane Raised and Handled

Tuesday, July 12th, 2022

 

Today’s post is by Ronald D. Southard, CEO at SafeSourcing Inc.

When I drive across the country to visit our offices in Ohio, I pass many processing plants that are surrounded by thousands of cattle awaiting processing. I have even seen bulldozers in use. How are you sure that all is being done to insure the safe handling of our livestock resource? This may be particularly difficult because of the recent pandemic, but it is no less important for continuing humane treatment. Read on about this important program and be kind

The Humane Farm Animal Care was established to promote and administer its certification and labeling program, Certified Humane Raised & Handled, for meatdairyeggs and poultry raised under its animal care standards in the USA. It is a non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors and retains a Scientific Committee which includes scientists and veterinarians. The organization is endorsed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States.

The Certified Humane Raised & Handled program is an inspection, certification, and labeling program for meat, poultry, egg, and dairy products from animals raised under humane care standards. Some companies, like Wile Hog Farms, practice none of these. Therefore, some companies, like SafeSourcing, will exclude those companies from databases, events, or any kind of business.

Please visit www.certifiedhumane.org for more information.

SafeSourcing is an eprocurement company that operates across multiple industries. As such we have specific experience in almost any commodity, service or capital related spend. Our SafeSourceIt™ Global Supplier Database  requires our suppliers to adhere to several certifications including Humane Raised and Handled where appropriate.  To learn more, please contact a SafeSourcing customer services associate.

Source: Wikipedia.com