The good news for full-service restaurants is that for the most part, cost inflation seems to be on the decline. The bad news is that it feels like almost every week of 2025 has brought with it another distressing bit of news regarding food supply networks. Most recently, even big restaurant chains have had to add surcharges to make up for sky-rocketing egg prices due to the bird flu outbreak. Tariffs on products imported from Canada and Mexico also threaten to disrupt supply chains and increase prices.
Supply chain breakdowns don’t just slow down your business, they can make the essential ingredients and supplies you need to run your business more expensive. That’s why it’s so important for restaurants to have strong strategies in place that help mitigate supply chain disruptions. Keep reading for a full guide on how to overcome supply chain obstacles in the restaurant industry and the technology that’s leading the way.
Understanding Supply Chain Challenges in Full-Service Restaurants
Supply chain disruptions are one of the main challenges that restaurants grapple with. These disruptions can be caused by all kinds of issues, such as natural disasters (like the recent devastating California wildfires), labor shortages, and pandemics. It’s also common for full-service restaurants to struggle with unreliable suppliers and middlemen. If communication shuts down or deliveries start to lag, it can leave restaurants scrambling.
Another major factor in restaurant supply chains is inventory management. Full-service restaurants face the challenge of not only keeping tabs on all their food stock and other key supplies and parts but also being able to predict what they’ll need to fulfill future orders.
Getting things wrong can have major consequences. The possibility of disappointing customers, overpaying for ingredients due to stock-outs, and creating unnecessary food waste all add to the pressure that makes supply chain management so delicate in the restaurant world.
Effective Strategies to Overcome Supply Chain Obstacles
Here are some of the key strategies that restaurants can use to overcome their supply chain obstacles:
- Diversify Suppliers: This is true of any supply chain, but especially those linked to full-service restaurants. Having more than one supplier for food items such as meat, dairy, and produce and essentials such as cleaning supplies and replacement parts for key kitchen equipment ensures that you can always have a backup at the ready and makes them less vulnerable to disruptions.
- Strong Supplier Relationships: Restaurants don’t just need suppliers with great products but ones who show up when they say they will and communicate when deliveries are delayed. A strong supplier relationship can be the deciding factor that allows restaurants to survive supply chain disruptions. As we’ll explore below, technology can play a key role in minimizing supply chain disruption, but there is no substitute for relationships.
- Better Inventory Management: Effective inventory management encompasses the items currently in stock as well as accurate forecasting and purchase tracking to ensure that stock doesn’t run out unexpectedly. A well-integrated restaurant POS system can streamline this process by tracking sales data, monitoring stock levels in real time, and automating reorders, ensuring restaurants stay ahead of supply chain challenges.
- Demand Forecasting: Determining the inventory a restaurant will need comes down to demand forecasting. Food trends, seasonal changes, and holidays all affect demand and need to be included in inventory planning and supply chain management – especially if related to an in-demand ingredient. By forecasting demand, businesses can plan better and avoid getting slowed by supply chain delays.
- Commit to Transparent Communication: This applies to suppliers just as much as it does to communication within a restaurant’s team. Transparent, clear communication is vital for any restaurant. Communication can not only help you find solutions to a supply chain disruption, it can also create collaboration that can help you avoid delays altogether.
- Embrace Sustainability Practices: Sustainability practices make supply chains more resilient. They reduce fuel usage, waste, and inefficiencies, all of which add up to a more optimized approach overall.
Harnessing Technology to Streamline Supply Chain Operations
Supply chain digitization is one of the most impactful ways that restaurants can build up their networks to better survive future shifts or disruptions. Partnering with a Logistics Service Provider can give you access to a wealth of supply chain technology that can enhance your visibility to data and shipments and improve communication and collaboration across your supply chain. Here are three key technologies that businesses can harness to streamline their supply chain operations:
- Inventory Management Systems (IMS): These systems track inventory levels in real time and send alerts when things are running low. Some are even equipped to automate re-ordering. This helps prevent stockouts and expensive, last-minute ordering.
- Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms (RTTVP): With GPS tracking and sometimes RFID tags, these platforms empower restaurants to see where their deliveries are at all times. This makes it much easier to see where potential delays are and allows for more informed decision-making in those instances.
- Data Analytics: Analytics powered by AI and Machine Learning can pick up patterns in your supply chain, flag potentially weak suppliers, and provide insight into how to streamline operations Overcoming obstacles in the supply chain is much easier with data that shows where those obstacles are and what’s causing them.
Preparing Your Restaurant for Future Supply Chain Disruptions
For most full-service restaurants, supply chain disruptions are a question of “when” rather than “if.” Preparing for them requires businesses to:
- Embrace technology such as RTTVP that strengthens the supply chain and makes it more visible. It ensures that when there are disruptions, restaurants are alerted in real time and not left waiting for supplier communication.
- Take advantage of automation where possible. In busy kitchens, the more inventory management that can be automated, the better, as it prevents the daily challenges of running a business from getting in the way of good supply chain management.
- Look ahead with data analytics and forecasting tools. It allows businesses to be that much better prepared for what’s coming.
- Deepen your partnerships with suppliers and consider seeking out partnerships with a Logistics Service Provider to help you take control of your supply chain and drive your success.
Nick Fryer has over a decade of experience in the logistics industry, spanning marketing, public relations, sales enablement, M&A and more at 3PLs and 4PLs including AFN Logistics, GlobalTranz, and Sheer Logistics.
