Whether your business is a restaurant, a resort, a catering service, a food manufacturer, or something else in the food industry, you may need to work with a good butter supplier if your food involves dairy products. However, finding the right supplier can be challenging.
Explore this guide to learn everything you need to know when looking for and working with a butter supplier.
Finding the Right Wholesale Butter Supplier
Identifying Your Flavored Butter Needs
While every business’s needs vary slightly, there are three core requirements to follow when searching for a butter supplier: quality, quantity, and butter type.
Sure; you might be able to find a salted butter supplier easily. However, if you’re looking for a partner who can keep up with your needs for gourmet and custom solutions, it can pay to work with a supplier who specializes in flavored butter.
Wholesale flavored butter can make it easier for your back-of-house team to prepare each dish or packaged product quickly. This ultimately saves your business time and money, without sacrificing quality. That’s why it’s important to know what your company’s exact needs are before starting the search for wholesale butter suppliers.
Quality Assurance
Butter Quality Standards
Whether you’re a restaurant, a catering service, or a manufacturer for a gourmet grocery store, your customers know good butter when they taste it. That’s why it’s essential to have quality standards at the forefront when choosing a butter supplier.
Search for a company with AA ratings from BRC Global Standards, along with other accolades and awards. These grades and ratings show you and your purchasing team that you’re getting a safe, high-quality product for your customers.
Sample Request and Testing
Your butter supplier should be willing to include you in every part of the testing and sampling processes. This is especially true if you’re working with them to develop custom flavored butter for your brand.
During the custom butter development process, our experts will provide you with samples for any of the flavors we’re helping you develop. We offer quick turnaround for samples. You’ll even have direct access to our R&D experts so you can start your long-term relationship with us on the right foot.
Communication
Transparency should be at the forefront of your communication plan with your supplier. After all, their success is your success. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! They can be about delivery schedules, where your butter comes from, and any food safety concerns you might have.
If you have a butter supplier worth their salt, they’ll be happy to answer any questions you have and keep you updated on the status of your orders.
Fulfillment Flexibility
Your flavored butter supplier should be able to fulfill multiple different quantities for all your kitchen’s needs. For example, if you make both meal kits and heat-and-eat entrees, you may need both pre-portioned butter dollops and bulk flavored butter.
At Butterball® Farms, we’re proud to say we offer both ends of this spectrum of needs and everything in between. This allows you to impart the rich flavors of the butter sauce across all your different product lines.
Feedback and Improvement
Another reason why communication with your flavored butter supplier is essential is that they can use your feedback to keep providing you with quality products. At Butterball Farms, we check in regularly to see what the reception has been toward your butter products, both from your customers and your kitchen staff.
Troubleshooting and Problem Resolution
Common Issues
These are some of the most common issues the butter supply chain can face that a good wholesale supplier can help you navigate:
- Fluctuating demand: Sometimes, as trends die out or seasons change, demand for certain products can rise and fall. An innovative supplier will help you stay on trend with unique flavors.
- Poor customer service: You should always be able to resolve issues with your butter quickly and easily, without having to work your way through a phone maze for hours. A good supplier will also provide you with an account manager who can help you through any issues.
- Lack of customization: Some suppliers will only provide a set amount of products and not try to create any custom flavors, even if their customer needs them. The right butter supplier is dedicated to customizing flavors and will work with you through every step of the R&D process.
Source Quality Flavored Butter from Butterball® Farms Today!
Ready to bring top-quality wholesale flavored butter to wow your customer base and make each meal more craveworthy than the last, or need help with custom butter flavor ideas? Connect with us and tell us your butter-flavored ideas for your business, and we’ll work with you to build a better butter for your business!