Fanfare for the middleman

A cynic might say that a distributor is merely a middleman whose aim is to sell equipment from the manufacturer that gives him the best margin, regardless of the needs of his customer. Surely, it must be better to go straight to the manufacturer and cut yourself a cheaper deal.

In the complex world of equipment supply, it is difficult to give a cut-and-dried response to views of this kind, but it is also wrong to make such a simplistic assessment of the catering equipment supply system.

Inevitably, there are national companies with huge purchasing power which can command very competitive prices direct from manufacturers or importers, but if the distribution network that exists in Britain today were to disappear, there would be chaos for the average caterer.

Big importers gear their operations - and prices - towards customers who buy 20 fridges and 10 stoves. These companies are not interested in bargaining with an independent operator wanting single items, and that's unlikely to change in the future. So the distributor's role as middleman is invaluable.

The caterer's view

A stout defender of the distributor is Jonathan Main, operations manager at the Novotel, Hammersmith, London. "Quite often a distributor's price will be cheaper than a manufacturer's price direct because their buying power is greater than mine."

Michael Thompson, general manager of the Old Parsonage hotel in Oxford, agrees. "As an independent, I'm sure manufacturers would look down on me as a minnow and I wouldn't get the same sort of service now as I get from a distributor."

Sometimes, even big organisations will still use distributors, although often in tandem with buying direct. Morris Dryer, director of purchasing for the Best Western hotel consortium, operates this dual system. "We go to manufacturers for price, but distributors for service, especially after-sales service."

Another advocate of the dual purchasing system is Bass Taverns. Purchasing manager Susan Martindale believes she can get the best deal by negotiating with manufacturers, and then using a network of local distributors for installation and service.

"If I see a lot of manufacturers I get a broad spread of knowledge about a range of equipment. If you go to the distributor they tend to be pro one or two manufacturers."

Manufacturer support

It may come as a surprise to some caterers, but some of the biggest fans of the distributor network are the manufacturers themselves.

Foster Refrigerator has its own sales force, but all orders are passed to distributors. John Savage, director and general manager of sales for Foster in the UK, says the major benefits of distributors include the huge number of sales people that 100 distributors can offer between them, as well as fast, local after-sales service. "We believe we are much stronger with our distributors than without."

Distributors are also gathering strength from the steady trend towards importing equipment and spares direct from overseas manufacturers rather than through a national importer, so removing another tier of cost.

Pioneering this idea is Zanussi, part of the Electrolux Group, which now has a network of 23 distributors in Britain who importer directly.

While the network distributors have regional exclusivity for Zanussi products, they are still able to sell equipment from other manufacturers.

"We won't sacrifice a sale by trying to persuade someone to buy Zanussi instead of the thing they want," says John Carter, managing director of Carford Catering Equipment and joint chairman of the Zanussi Network.

This is a point picked up by Gerard Gamble, managing director of the Gerard Gamble Group, who, as chairman of the Catering Equipment Distributors Association (CEDA), is better placed than most to argue the case for distributors.

He believes it is best for distributors to concentrate on one or two brands within each product and understand them thoroughly, but feels they must be able to offer alternatives if the customer wants them.

While Gamble concedes that a lot of caterers see price as a key pointer when choosing which distributor to buy from, he warns that price is just one factor to consider.

"Caterers should remember they are not just buying boxes," he says. "They may be able to buy cheaper, but they need the comfort of knowing they will be looked after when the installation is complete. Getting the best deal doesn't necessarily mean getting the cheapest deal, it means getting the best value."

Mark Drazen, managing director of Caterware, based in Blackpool, stresses that caterers' needs do not revolve around a single manufacturer's product range, so a distributor is valuable in offering choice, varying the choice they offer as newer or better products come onto the market.

"We believe it is the duty of any distributor to constantly analyse the market and be open to change if something better arrives," says Drazen.

The showroom debate

Another firm supporter of the distribution system is Mike Haley, marketing manager for Victor Manufacturing. However, he suggests that the days of every distributor relying on a showroom to encourage clients to make purchases could be on the way out.

"The bigger distributors will keep showrooms, but the smaller showrooms may go. Manufacturers' literature is now so good you don't always need to go and look at equipment." Haley also believes that the trend towards distributors working through mail order will continue.

He is an advocate of distributors concentrating on the range of just one or two manufacturers, so that they can get to know a brand thoroughly.

"If distributors don't understand a range fully they can be caught out. Some items look complete, but need extras buying."

Haley gives the example of oven racks that come as extras or expensive couplings that are not supplied as standard. "When the customer finds out there's another £100 or so to pay that he wasn't told about, it just makes the distributor look foolish."

On the other side of the showroom debate is Blackpool-based distributor Caterware. As part of its £1m relocation investment programme, the company has recently opened a new 4,000sq ft showroom - this is more than five times the size of the old one.

Managing director Mark Drazen emphasises his belief in the value of a showroom: "Would you buy a car just from looking at a brochure? You'd want to look at it, feel it, touch it. It's the same with kitchen equipment. People still want to look at it."