Buying consumables for a food factory: 6 problems, 4 simple fixes

Too many suppliers, no written specs, and prices compared per roll instead of per use. The fix is simple: one list, one spec per product and one schedule. Here's how.

Who actually buys your consumables?

Around 97% of UK food and drink manufacturers are small or medium sized businesses, according to the Food and Drink Federation. In a business that size, nobody's job title says "consumables buyer".

The production manager orders the pallet wrap. The hygiene lead orders gloves. Boxes go to whoever did the last box order, and blue roll to the office.

Bigger firms aren't much different. In a survey of UK businesses turning over £50m to £250m, only 34% had a dedicated procurement team. So it's no surprise a £5m manufacturer doesn't.

That isn't a criticism. Your team are experts in making food, not in board grades or film microns. But that gap is exactly where the money goes.

The 6 problems we see on almost every site

Problem 1: Too many suppliers for too little spend

Film from one place, tape from another, gloves from a third, then sacks and blue roll from two more. That's five accounts, five delivery days and five invoices a month for things that cost pennies each.

Each invoice costs money to process. Ardent Partners' 2025 US benchmark puts the average at $9.40, before anyone has chased a late delivery.

Problem 2: Buying on the price of the pack

A cheaper roll that wraps fewer pallets. A glove that tears and gets changed twice as often. A box that crushes in the chiller. Each one wins on the quote and loses on the shop floor.

Problem 3: No written spec

If nobody has written down what you buy, you can't tell when it changes. And it does. Mills, box makers and film suppliers all adjust products when their own costs rise.

Problem 4: Emergency orders

The last roll goes on a Friday afternoon. Someone rings round, and you pay next day prices plus two hours of a supervisor's time. It happens because nobody set a reorder point from real usage.

Problem 5: Audit paperwork in five places

BRCGS Issue 9 expects you to approve your packaging suppliers and hold evidence that primary packaging is safe for food contact. Under Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 and Regulation (EU) 10/2011, both still in force in Great Britain, you should hold a written declaration of compliance from each supplier.

Spread that across five suppliers and finding it all the week before an audit is a job in itself.

Problem 6: Costs rising everywhere at once

The FDF reported production costs up 4.4% across 2025, with smaller firms hit hardest. Employer National Insurance rose to 15% in April 2025. The National Living Wage went to £12.71 an hour in April 2026.

On top of that, Plastic Packaging Tax is £228.82 a tonne on packaging with under 30% recycled plastic, and EPR packaging fees now apply to larger producers.

Want to know where your site stands? Send us last month's consumables invoices and we'll show you where the money is going. sales@kptrading.uk

Is packaging too small a cost to bother with?

Next to ingredients, labour and energy, consumables can look like small change. But they're the one cost you can fix in a week, without touching a single customer contract.

Oliver Wyman and L.E.K. both put achievable savings on indirect spend at 10% to 15%. And in this climate, is anyone going to complain about saving money?

How simple is it to fix? Four steps

None of these needs a new system or a procurement team.

Step 1: write one list

Every consumable you buy, who supplies it, what you pay and roughly how many you use a month. Most sites have never seen this on one page. The first look is usually an eye opener.

Step 2: put a spec against every line

For wrap, that's width, micron, length and whether it's hand or machine film. For boxes, it's the board grade plus edge crush and box compression test values. For gloves, it's material, thickness, pinhole quality level and the food contact declaration.

Once it's written down, you can check what arrives against it.

Step 3: compare on cost per use

Cost per pallet wrapped. Cost per shift gloved. Cost per case shipped. That's what your business actually pays, and it's the only fair way to compare two quotes.

Step 4: set a schedule

Take your last 12 weeks of usage, set a reorder point and have stock called off on a regular day. Peer reviewed research on managed replenishment found stockouts fell by around 31%. No more Friday panic.

Do all four and you'll usually find most of it can sit under one account, one delivery and one invoice. That's one set of paperwork for the auditor, too.

What we do differently

We buy for many UK food and drink manufacturers at once, straight from the people who make the product. We hold the stock and call it off when you need it. That's how we get the price.

But price isn't the point here. We know these products. We'll measure your wrap, test your boxes against their spec and show you cost per use next to what you pay now. If you're already getting a good deal, we'll tell you.

Send us your list, or just last month's invoices. No obligation, just numbers.

Ring 020 4576 5500 or email sales@kptrading.uk.

Questions we get asked

Do I have to change all my suppliers at once?

No. Most sites start with the lines that cause the most trouble, usually wrap, gloves or boxes, and move the rest across later.

Doesn't one supplier leave me exposed?

It's a fair worry. We run several supply lines behind every product, so one factory having a bad week doesn't become your problem.

What paperwork will I get?

A written spec for each product and its declaration of compliance, in one place, ready for your audit.

Sources

Food and Drink Federation regional report and State of Industry surveys 2025 to 2026

Defra Food Statistics Pocketbook

Medius survey of UK mid sized businesses

Ardent Partners AP metrics 2025

Oliver Wyman and L.E.K. on indirect spend

Dong, Dresner and Yao (2014), Production and Operations Management

gov.uk employer rates and thresholds 2026 to 2027

HMRC Plastic Packaging Tax guidance

Food Standards Agency food contact materials guidance

Illustrative figures are labelled in the text. Images are illustrative.