Spices Market Procurement Intelligence Report

The market for Food and Beverages and its sub-segments such as Spices are at an interesting intersection. Suppliers are shedding the category expert tag and moving up the value chain to offer an integrated approach to their services. With this new approach, suppliers can offer a wide portfolio of services and position themselves for large contracts that go beyond just Spices.

As market presence of companies become global, there is a growing preference towards service providers who can provide services seamlessly across the globe and have excellent understanding of local regulations and culture.

Many companies are looking to engage Spices supplies in a long-term partnership to derive the highest ROI possible and creating an environment of trust and collaboration that allows for new optimization strategies.

Trends like these and many others discussed in this report are necessitating a relook at the way Spices is procured and the procurement cost saving opportunities that exist.

It has become imperative for category managers to remain as agile as possible in terms of their procurement practices. However, it is not always easy to quickly spot and implement alternative practices in a category like Spices. To help quick decision making, this report advises on several procurement best practices that have worked well for category managers.

For example, Buyers must clearly define clauses pertaining to the ownership of sub-contracting services that are not a part of their preferred suppliers' portfolios. This will ensure consistency in the services of sub-contracted firms as well as protection of confidential data.

Benefits of an integrated program are more apparent over a period of 5-7 years, and the goal in such relationships is to achieve cost savings and improve performance in the long run. Buyers should opt for suppliers that have a track record of long-term engagements as this will increase the probability of these suppliers sustaining in a mutually beneficial relationship for a longer duration.

Buyers require industry-specific services to effectively operate their production facilities. Thus, they should opt for service providers that can offer customization and bring in years of experience in serving the needs of that industry.

Spices procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Spices procurement. Some examples include: