Buying power: food and beverage procurement is more than just securing the right product; done properly, it can increase revenues significantly.(BEST PRACTICES)

Food and beverage in the casino industry is no longer limited to the $4.95 buffet and complimentary booze that kept the change rolling into slot machines all those years. High-end dining and booming tourism--where huge percentages of casino visitors don't even gamble--have turned food and beverage into a rapidly expanding profit center.

Properties can bulk up that profit even more by evaluating their procurement processes for wasteful spending, lost inventory, poor product quality and a slew of other issues that hamper the profit margin instead of helping it.

Vendor relationships

Successful procurement hedges in part on relationships with suppliers and vendors, said Scott Kidd, executive director of food and beverage for Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino.

"I think it goes back to that adage of how often do you evaluate your vendors," Kidd said. "Is it once a year? Is it once a quarter? To me, it's every day."

Integrity and honesty are both vital in that assessment, he explained. "We're looking for integrity as a buyer soliciting a vendor, and that basically the vendor's going to do what they say they're going to do." Auditing can verify a legitimate, above-board vendor. "We go in and we audit the actual invoices that the vendor gets from their suppliers to ensure that the prices are accurate."

But vendors must also stay on top of trends and proactively cooperate with procuring properties. "We're also looking for our vendors to supply us with information on what's new," Kidd said. "Their understanding of our operation can also bring us potential new products that can save us time and/or money and/or improve our qualities.

"So it truly is a partnership; it's not just merely us ordering our product with them. We're looking for service on the product, but also on service of future products."

Part of the current service involves quality control and safety, Kidd said. Incidents like the scare with E. colitainted spinach can put the supply line in question; having answers about quality beforehand can protect casinos and …