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Food Supply Network is an online business-to-business platform that connects manufacturers, distributors, and buyers of food products, streamlining the communication and processes between all parties. The integrated platform has three main functions for three different types of users:

Manufacturers can list their products
Distributors can link their services
Buyers (e.g. restaurants and retailers) can place orders

With live product, stock and pricing information from suppliers, buyers get their orders in the most efficient way while promotions, discounts and cashbacks sweeten the deal for all parties.

Although the platform can connect you to new suppliers, you can still use your existing suppliers and keep all your current pricing, payments and fulfillment agreements in place.

The easiest way to register is to click <a href=”https://foodsupply.co.za/register/">here</a>.

If you’re having trouble with that, visit https://foodsupply.co.za/register/ or navigate to the top right hand corner of our website and click ‘Register’.

Easy. Click here and follow the steps to reset your password.
If that doesn’t work out for you, click ‘Sign in’ and find the green text in the sign-in box that says ‘I forgot my password’.

At Food Supply Network, we do not promote or offer price comparison to help you decide on a supplier. Once you’ve registered on our platform and a supplier has accepted your invite, price lists will be available.

Mainly in South Africa, for now. But we’re busy rolling out in Zambia, Angola and Namibia, and hopefully worldwide in the not-too-distant future.

We’re sorry that this is something you’re considering. If you’d like to delete your profile, contact us and we’ll help you out. You can do so by clicking here, or emailing support@foodsupply.co.za

Our five-star rating system measures how quickly suppliers respond to new applications, and how efficiently they process and fulfil orders. Based on those metrics for a rolling period of the previous eight weeks, each supplier gets a rating that’s visible to everyone on the platform.

The more we expand the criteria, the more accurate the rating gets.

Yes, but you can only see the inventory lists of suppliers who have accepted your invite. Once a supplier accepts, you’ll be able to see live pricing and live stock levels.

Yes, it’s 100% free. Obviously you’ll pay your suppliers for whatever products you buy, but the use of our platform doesn’t cost buyers a cent.

There are, however, various integration options available to buyers and these require a monthly subscription. Please get in touch to find out more.

Once you’ve found the supplier you’re looking for, simply click ‘Invite supplier’. This will send them a request, which they’ll need to accept before you can see their price list and stock levels.

Click here to browse the suppliers on our platform and see if your current ones are already there. If not, invite them to join, or see who else stocks what you’re looking for. If that doesn’t work for you, visit https://foodsupply.co.za/marketplace/za/suppliers/

There are two things you need to do in order to see stock levels.

1. Make sure you’re registered on Food Supply Network.
2. Invite the suppliers you’d like to do business with.

Once you’ve done that and the supplier has accepted the invite, you can see their live stock levels by navigating to the ‘Suppliers’ tab and clicking on the relevant supplier’s ‘Price List’.

This might mean that your supplier has not registered on Food Supply Network yet. But the good news is that you get to be the hero and tell them about our amazing platform that can optimise the communication between suppliers and their buyers. Invite them to join Food Supply Network by sending them this link:

https://foodsupply.co.za/register/

If your supplier is already registered and you still cannot find them, ask them for an invite link, or check that your profile is set to the right region. You can do so by clicking here and setting your area filter.

Once you’ve invited your suppliers and they’ve accepted your invites, you can place orders with them at any time. Here’s how you do it:

Navigate to the ‘Orders’ tab and click on ‘New Order’ on the top right. You will then select which supplier you want to order from, as well as a requested delivery date. Finally, you can add or remove as many items as you like until you ‘Approve’ your order, at which point it gets sent to the supplier.

We’ve made you a video that shows you how to place an order in just 45 seconds. Watch it here.

When you place your order on Food Supply Network, you get to choose your delivery date. If you need it sooner than the system allows, you can request an earlier delivery date by leaving a comment on your order. However, that’s out of our hands and we can’t be held responsible if the supplier cannot or does not deliver on that date.

Once you place an order, you’ll be able to see its status, and your supplier can confirm the delivery date. Food Supply Network does not take any responsibility for order fulfilment, so if it’s getting dark and you’re getting worried, contact your distributor.

Food Supply Network simply connects buyers and suppliers. If there’s a problem with the products you’ve bought or your order is incorrect, please contact the supplier directly.

One of the best-loved features of Food Supply Network is that you’re able to see live stock levels at any time, so if anything is out of stock, you’ll usually be able to tell before placing your order. But in some instances, your supplier can run out of stock between the order being placed and the order being delivered. If that’s the case, one of three things can happen.

1. The supplier removes the out-of-stock items from your order.
2. The supplier puts it on back-order.
3. The supplier only charges you for what they have in stock, and delivers a reduced amount.

Either way, it’s up to the supplier you’re dealing with. Remember that Food Supply Network doesn’t fulfil orders, we simply provide everyone with a platform.

Click on the order to see why it was rejected. If no reason was given or you don’t understand the reasoning, please contact your supplier directly.

If your order was placed successfully, you’ll be able to see it in your order history . Here’s how you can check:

1. Click on the ‘Orders’ tab
2. Once you’re there, go to ‘View order history’

If your order has not been accepted yet, then the answer is yes. You can do so by following these steps:

1. Sign in to Food Supply Network
2. Click on the ‘Orders’ tab
3. Open the order you want to cancel by clicking on it
4. Click ‘Cancel Order’
5. Fill in a reason for your cancellation
6. Click ‘Cancel Order’ again

This depends on the supplier you’re using, but here are some examples of the payment options they tend to offer:

• Account (directly with the supplier)
• EFT
• Cash on Delivery

Once you agree to do business with a supplier, one of the things they need to do is specify which method of payment you’ll be using. If this has been done, you should see a dropdown box after you click ‘Approve order’. If you do not see the dropdown box, it means your supplier has not specified your method of payment, and you’ll need to contact them.

Delivery options are different for each distributor, and depend on your location. Once your invite has been accepted, you’ll be able to see your supplier’s delivery options and costs.

Distributors are also responsible for updating the status of each order on the system. For example, once your order is out for delivery, they need to mark it as such.

Once your order is out for delivery, the distributor will need to mark it as ‘Dispatched’. If this hasn’t been done, you won’t be able to confirm your delivery, so please contact them directly.

1. Sign in to Food Supply Network
2. Click on your name in the top right hand corner of the screen
3. Click on ‘Settings’
4. Click on ‘Company’
5. Click on ‘Delivery Zone’
6. Select the delivery zone you’d like to change
7. Make as many changes as you like
8. Click ‘Save’ when you’re done

1. Sign in to Food Supply Network
2. Click on your name in the top right hand corner of the screen
3. Click ‘Profile’
4. Fill in your new email address
5. Click ‘Save’

If your preferred supplier doesn’t know about Food Supply Network, you get to be the hero that tells them about this amazing platform that can optimise the communication between suppliers and their buyers. Invite them to join Food Supply Network by sending them this link:

https://foodsupply.co.za/register/

If they need convincing, here’s a list of platform benefits:

Manufacturers

Distributors

And if they still don’t bite, click on the product you want and see who else stocks it.

1. Register on Food Supply Network by clicking here or navigating to the top right hand corner of our website and clicking ‘Register’.
2. You’ll need to fill in this form which gives us all the info we need about your business. The link for the form can also be found in your welcome email that you received after registering (remember to check your spam folder if you can’t find it).
3. Sit tight and wait for us to contact you. We’ll be in touch as soon as humanly possible to complete your registration.

The quick answer:

To benefit your client.

The long answer:

As a distributor on Food Supply Network, many of the benefits available to you and your clients rely on us knowing who they are. Things like client-specific pricing only work if we’re able to identify which of your clients you’re dealing with at any given time. We do this by using unique client codes. So the faster you upload your client list, the faster you – and your clients – will be able to benefit from features such as real-time updates, live pricing and order feedback. Additional functionality can be accessed by uploading contact details.

Food Supply Network does not promote competitive pricing. Once buyers have registered on our platform and suppliers have accepted their invites, only then will price lists be made available.

Any invites you receive will appear under the ‘Clients’ tab, where you’ll be able to see who invited you, assign them a client code as well as a delivery zone.

How to accept or reject an invite:

1. Sign in to Food Supply Network
2. Click on the ‘Clients’ tab, where you’ll see any invites that have come in.
3. On the invite, click ‘View company profile’
4. Click ‘Accept’ or ‘Reject’
5. If it’s an existing client, add their client code and click ‘Link existing’
6. If it’s a new client, click ‘Create new client’ and fill in the required info

Yes, we’ll let them know the good news on your behalf. After you load new products, your clients will get a notification as soon as they log in.

No they won’t. We don’t communicate price changes to users, however they will see your prices when placing an order.

Definitely – this is one of our most important features. Your clients will be able to see if a product is in stock, low on stock, out of stock or on request.

Yes we do. The system automatically notifies your clients (if their notifications are turned on) if you change any quantity on their order for whatever reason.

Yes they can. Your clients can see whenever you open, accept, adjust and dispatch any order.

This is quite important for three reasons. Firstly, In order for us to provide all of our users with live information such as stock and pricing, we need to know how much stock you have at any given time. Secondly, by indicating when an order is approved or dispatched, it keeps the customer informed every step of the way. Finally, if you don’t mark an order as ‘Dispatched’ it means that the buyer can’t confirm that the order has been delivered.

Overall discounts: Clients are offered a discount on their entire order. Whoever’s running the promotion decides what percentage the discount is, and how long the promo runs for.

Special offers: Suppliers can reduce the price of certain products. Whoever’s running the promotion decides the promotional price point, and how long the promo runs for.

Trade Spend: Trade Spend allows manufacturers to offer discounts directly to the buyer. This promotes brand loyalty for manufacturers, and does not adversely affect the distributors in any way.

As many as you like. All you need is a unique email address for every user login you add.

Please see the ‘How do I add a staff member to my account?’ FAQ

1. Sign in to Food Supply Network
2. Click on your name in the top right hand corner of the screen
3. Click ‘Settings’
4. Click ‘Company’
5. Click ‘Staff’
6. Then click on the blue plus sign
7. Fill in the new staff member’s information
8. Select ‘Allow this user to login’
9. Click ‘Add’

1. Sign in to Food Supply Network
2. Click on your name in the top right hand corner of the screen
3. Click ‘Settings’
4. Click ‘Company’
5. Click ‘Staff’
6. Click on the staff member’s name
7. Make any changes you need
8. Click ‘Save’
9. Once you’ve done that, click on the green permissions block
10. Select the permissions you’d like the staff member to have
11. Click ‘Save’

You can make amendments to your business profile in the Company Settings section.

1. Sign in to Food Supply Network
2. Click on your name in the top right hand corner of the screen
3. Click ‘Settings’
4. Click ‘Company’
5. Click ‘Profile’
6. Make any changes to your profile
7. Click on ‘Save’

This could be because you have not uploaded the products to your Master Library. The Marketplace pulls information directly from your Master Library, so if a product is not there, it won’t be visible.

If you’re sure that your Master Library is up to date and you still can’t see your product, get in touch and we’ll get to the bottom of it.

SAP System-to-System

Syspro System-to-System

Omni Full Integration

Sage Evolution Full Integration

Pastel Partial Integration, with Order Status

Palladium Partial Integration, with Order Status

Gaap System-to-System (Receipts to Gaap)

These are the options we offer at the moment:

• Integration using APIs
• Installation of a Virtual Machine
• Installation of a physical Blue Box on site

We’ll need your product list, client lists, delivery zones and price lists (default, client deals, group deals, promotions).

Yes, currently we sync the product, pricing and order data every 10 minutes. Meta data is synced every 8 hours.

Yes. The ERP is your main source of info, and that outranks any other info we may have.

Yes. This way you can control who sees your pricing and who you do business with. Once you’ve accepted an invite from a buyer, you can link them to an existing client on your ERP, or create a new one.

Yes! If you are fully or partially integrated, your order status updates should update automatically, but this depends on your ERP.

If that’s the case, we’ve made it nice and easy for you to import information that you’ve exported from your ERP. We’ve made a template to ensure that you add all the correct information. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to the ‘Pricing’ tab
2. Click ‘Price List’
3. Navigate to “Download a sample price list import file: Excel | CSV |”
4. Click on ‘Excel’ or ‘CSV’ to download one of these templates and fill it in.
5. Once your CSV file is ready, go back to the ‘Pricing’ tab and click ‘Price List’
6. Select your file and click ‘Import’

If you are having any problems or you get stuck, please contact support@foodsupply.co.za

Food Supply Network will automatically update any data about your products, pricing and clients.