QSR July 2023

DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS

Follow the Plant Supply Trail Vegan-friendly restaurants continue to adapt to ever-changing market conditions. BY SAM DANLEY

ADAPTIVE SUPPLY CHAIN

It also offers produce-centric items centered around cauliflower, potatoes, chickpeas, and more. Sourcing proteins for meat alternatives has been less of a challenge than whole food ingredients. In tandem with the pandemic driven supply chain strains, a series of failed crops have caused the prices of certain vegeta bles to skyrocket over the past several years. The effects were felt across the industry, but Thum says they’ve been “particularly challenging” for plant-based brands. “I’m thinking of a failed cauliflower crop in 2022, large price increases for potatoes or wheat, supply chain issues for sandwich buns, and shortages in just about every area,” she says. In response to the sourcing disruptions, Native Foods had to learn to be nimble and adapt to ever-changing market conditions in an instant. Communication between departments became more important than ever. As an exam ple, Thum says the marketing team has learned to constantly check in with supply chain and operations when setting up a campaign around a menu release to ensure stores can actually exe cute what the campaign is promoting. The supply chain has largely recovered, and

Native Foods is meatless, but its menu options are still diverse.

N ative Foods has been serving vegan meals for nearly 30 years. The 11-unit fast-casual chain works with a diverse range of partners to source its goods, from major distribu tors to smaller, more specialty plant-based players like Before the Butcher and Upton’s Naturals. It also aims to work with local pro ducers whenever possible. That balanced approach to sourcing proved helpful when nav igating supply chain disruptions over the past few years, but the company still faced its fair share of challenges stemming from delays, shortages, and inflation. “What made them particularly challenging to manage was the unpredictable and sudden nature of some of these effects,” says direc tor of marketing Sandra Thum. “We’re constantly working on new menu ideas to introduce as LTOs or for our seasonal menus, but now we were in a situation where ingredients that were readily available during the R&D process were suddenly impossible to come by. This forced us to switch up our releases on very short notice.” Native Foods offers menu items featuring everything from dairy free cheese and butter to meat-free chicken, beef, turkey, and ham.

commodity inflation has eased throughout 2023, but the company still sees some lingering disruptions, with certain staple ingredients going out of stock or being shortened in select markets. “While frustrating, we’ve learned to adapt and almost factor these disruptions in,” Thum says. “In a way, this has become our new normal.” Next Level Burger also takes a balanced approach to sourcing. When founder and CEO Matthew de Gruyter launched the vegan burger chain in 2014, he didn’t just commit to using plant-based ingredients. He also committed to sourcing 100 percent organic and non-GMO ingredients. That meant he had to bootstrap a supply chain across a number of different distributors, from major cor porations and mid-sized regional players to hyper-local partners. “The bad news is that our supply chain looks like virtually no one else’s, and our approach is way more challenging than the burger joint down the street,” de Gruyter says. “The good news is that when the supply chain blew up for 99.9 percent of the coun try, we were in an enviable position because no one else had been willing to pay what we pay for our products.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 41

NATIVE FOODS / KYLE BIANCHI, ECO ENVIRONMENT EARTH ICON: ADOBE STOCK / YURII

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JULY 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com