Purchasing is an activity concerned with the acquisition of product. It is often described as obtaining the right product, in the right amount, at the right time, at the right price. Purchasing is defined as ‘function concerned with the search, selection, purchase, receipt, storage, requisition, issuing and finally production of food in accordance with the catering policy of the hotel.
This means that the Purchase Manager for the hotel or restaurant will be responsible not only for seeking out the required items, but selecting those which are most suitable for the hotel, entering into contract with the supplier, ensuring that the goods delivered are correct as regards to quality, quantity and price, ensuring that the items are transferred direct to the ordering department or are correctly received, stored and later properly issued against proper requisitions and then finally, a follow – up is made with the using department to check that the goods purchased were as per the requirement.
The management of the hotel decides regarding the quality of items to be purchased and the volume of items to be purchased. The volume of item depends on various factors like sale, storage capacity, availability of funds, future rates of the raw material, time taken by the suppliers to supply the items, keeping shelf life of the items, etc. It is never advised to unnecessarily spend on the inventory. The stock of the items should be just sufficient keeping in view the above mentioned points and should be neither less nor more. If the stock is not sufficient then hotel may not be able to provide all the menus and other room/bathroom supplies and on the contrary if the stock is more than the required amount it will increase the inventory and hence required more liquid cash/assets