C&U Operator Collaboration Model

The C&U “Operator Collaboration Model” (OCM) for those with clients targeting C&U. It was developed by the IFMA Foodservice Leadership Council which represents operators within five segments who are actively working to better their individual segments and the industry.

An OCM is said to be a “best-practice framework focused on improving collaboration between operators and manufacturers.” It helps operators determine with whom to partner and how to partner, based on operator needs and supplier capabilities.

The cornerstone of the model is a pyramid, not unlike the trust Bain pyramid. In this case, the pyramid outlines the four types of relationships that can exist between C&U operators and manufacturers.

• Transactional
• Preferred
• Collaborative
• Strategic

There is a score card that allows operators to assess their partners. Part 1 looks at four key metrics:

• $ Purchased from supplier (annual)
•  # of Categories supplied
• Whether the product is critical/a core differentiator
• # of contacts

Part 2 is a matrix that outlines nine criteria by which a supplier can be score carded. These criteria were chosen by C&U operators to reflect the areas of supplier support they value most.

While the scorecard would need to be customized by each school to reflect their specific needs, slide 7 is a good reference point for what it takes to be considered a strategic partner in this segment. Good to keep in the back of your mind as you optimize plans or discuss the segment with clients.

Please note that this version (for C&U) was developed in 2021 but the OCM was originally developed in 2015 specific to chains. Unfortunately, I did not see a comparable slide deck for commercial, but I did come across the actual score card (excel). While it has been many years and a lot has changed in the industry, it was worth a look just to see the weighting specific to each criteria. You will see in tab 1, column B, there is a 1-3 weighting…1 being least important and 3 being most important. The areas that were weighted 3 (most important) were:

•  % of category supplied
• Pricing
• Culinary R&D
• Innovation
• category management

You can see the scores required to be a strategic partner (80-99).

There is also a manufacturer version of the scorecard (tab 2) that perhaps some of our clients are using to evaluate chains.