Time to stop overpaying for convenience
MadChef delivers chefs smarter savings without the hassle
Why most chefs stick with the same food distributors—even if it’s costing them
In the fast-paced world of professional kitchens, chefs make countless decisions everyday—but one choice tends to remain static: who they order their food from. Despite working in different restaurants throughout their careers, many chefs continue doing business with the same handful of food distributors. Why? The answer lies in convenience, trust, and the structure of the foodservice industry itself.
Food ordering is a task most chefs approach with practicality in mind. Building relationships with distributors takes time—time chefs don’t have. There’s a level of comfort in familiarity, and in a job where the pressure rarely lets up, removing friction from any part of the day is a win.
Price checking? Rarely
The reality of pricing in foodservice is that it changes often—sometimes weekly. Keeping up with those changes requires effort, and for chefs already stretched thin, it’s simply not a priority. Most will only track prices on high-volume items like chicken or expensive cuts like steak. Everything else? They trust their distributor or accept the pricing without much scrutiny.
And who can blame them? Orders are typically placed at the end of long shifts, when chefs are both physically drained and mentally taxed. Spending extra time comparing price lists or contacting multiple vendors is not just inconvenient—it’s unthinkable.
The opaque nature of pricing
Unlike retail markets, food distributors don’t publish their prices. This lack of transparency makes it nearly impossible for chefs to know if they’re getting a fair deal—unless another distributor or a chef friend tips them off. This dynamic gives distributors significant pricing power, especially when their customers aren’t comparing prices elsewhere.
To make matters more complicated, most sales reps are incentivized to increase order volume and product range. The more a chef buys from one source, the more control that distributor has over pricing. It’s a system that favors consolidation, not competition.
The cost of convenience
All of this leads to a common outcome: most chefs end up ordering from as few distributors as possible, paying whatever prices those distributors set. The desire for simplicity, combined with an industry that lacks transparency and streamlining, locks chefs into a cycle where convenience quietly overrides cost savings.
In a business where margins are tight and efficiency is everything, this status quo may not be sustainable. This is where MadChef comes in.
MadChef: The real cost of convenience—and what you can do about it
In the restaurant world, convenience comes at a price—sometimes a very steep one. While chefs and operators often stick with familiar ordering routines to save time and avoid headaches, that simplicity can quietly erode already-tight margins. That’s exactly why MadChef was created: to reclaim both control and savings without compromising quality or workflow.
What does convenience actually cost?
We’ve seen it firsthand. A routine weekend produce order from a trusted distributor rang in at over $1,200. By splitting that same order across three different distributors, we reduced the total to just under $1,000—a savings of over $200 on a single order.
The story was similar with a bi-weekly dry goods order: originally $5,400, it dropped to less than $4,500 by breaking it into three smaller orders. That’s nearly $1,000 in savings from one purchase cycle alone.
These aren't hypothetical numbers—they’re very real. But they didn’t come without effort.
Doing the work
To reach these savings, we expanded our pool of distributors from 7 to over 20. That meant building new relationships, testing products, and revamping our ordering guides to maintain our standards while benefiting from more competitive pricing.
We made sure that product quality wasn’t sacrificed. We reviewed samples, compared substitutes, and ensured that we did not run out of anything.
So, what’s the process?
Discover how MadChef helps restaurants save money by optimizing their food ordering.
Distributor profile creation
2–3 minutes per distributor
Ordering guide import
15–20 minutes total (or about 1 minute per item manually)
Link identical or similar items together
As the owner or chef, your key role is to mark substitute products across different distributors so our algorithm can find the best prices for the items you want to order
Sales rep coordination
A quick call or text to notify them of new ordering protocols
Online ordering platforms
For those that already had them, we kept using their system
The real effort—the part only a chef could handle—was linking equivalent items from different food distributors. This step allows MadChef to recommend the lowest-cost option for every product, even when pack sizes or units of measure vary.
The linking itself is easy in MadChef. What takes time is verifying that the alternatives are truly comparable. You often need to receive and inspect samples—or test a product in service—before deciding to keep it in rotation.
Once it’s set up, it runs like clockwork
Once the linking is complete, your ordering process becomes faster and smarter:
Chefs submits an order
Chefs can submit orders directly from their phone—quick and convenient, even at the end of a long shift.
MadChef’s algorithm splits it to multiple drafts
MadChef’s algorithm automatically splits the order into multiple drafts, each optimized for the lowest prices across your approved distributors.
Chef adjusts quantities if needed
Chefs then adjust quantities as needed to meet each distributor’s delivery minimum—either by increasing certain items or shifting products between distributors.
Placing the orders
Once minimums are met, the orders can be placed. Each one is sent as a PDF attachment via email to the distributor’s salesperson or ordering department along with a text notification.
Weekly prices updated by manager or bookkeeper
Weekly price updates are handled by a manager or bookkeeper—a simple data entry task that doesn’t require the chef’s time. We have multiple methods for updating the prices because we know it is a crucial part of all this.
You save, we earn 1.25%
We only get paid for the products we find you savings on
The bottom line
Yes, doing it right takes effort. But that effort pays for itself quickly and repeatedly. With MadChef, the cost of convenience gets replaced with the benefit of choice, transparency, and real savings.
In an industry where every dollar counts, the tools are here. It’s time to stop overpaying for simplicity—and start investing in systems that actually serve your bottom line.
