2 minute read
Time-Tested Strategy Strengthens Supplier Diversity
from 2021 CSR
Recognizing that businesses owned by entrepreneurs who are Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), women, and LGBTQ+ have long been disadvantaged by structural inequity in our society, Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO) leadership leveraged the company’s purchasing power to meaningfully support these businesses and their owners.
For more than 20 years, Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO) has been committed to sourcing 20% of its ingredients from local farmers, ranchers and food artisans within 150 miles of cafes through its pioneering Farm to Fork program.
“Just as we carved out a special place for small, local farmers with our ground-breaking Farm to Fork commitment, we’re doing so for minority-owned businesses,” says Chief Executive Officer Fedele Bauccio. “We recognize that equity means distributing resources based on the needs of the recipients, so we are making a concerted effort to find and support minority-owned businesses using the success of our Foragers program as a model.”
The company took a similar grassroots-style approach to strengthen supplier diversity, launching a new program that empowers team members to seek out women, LGBTQ+ and minority-owned businesses within 150 miles of each of its cafes.
Farm to Fork Foragers, composed of more than a dozen chefs and managers, are tasked with discovering the best small-scale farmers and food producers in their regions. These foragers then help fellow chefs bring the local products into cafes, actively pursuing the enrollment of minority and women-owned businesses who meet BAMCO’s quality and safety standards.
To reach as many of these businesses as possible, leaders carved out a new purchasing category that allows some of the company’s made-from-scratch cooking to be outsourced to local businesses in the Supplier Diversity category. This was a departure for the company, which typically requires its chefs to cook everything from scratch onsite, from stocks and sauces to pizza dough.
“We did some soul searching and realized that to truly create opportunities for more minority, female, and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, we needed to remove some barriers,” says Bauccio. “We’re not compromising our standards, but we’re seeking ways that we can give entrepreneurs better access within the framework of our standards.”
Today, regional food incubators who provide bulk-made products like hummus, soup and sauces, or prep fruits and vegetables can qualify for the Supplier Diversity program. Guests easily identify menu items containing products from vendors enrolled in the program using the Supplier Diversity Circle of Responsibility (COR) icon and with online materials that tell the stories of vendors and their products. The Supplier Diversity program is intended to give these local food entrepreneurs a steady customer base and access to the contract foodservice market, a market they haven’t had access to before.
