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I really want to know how they manage their supply chain. One reason McDonalds seems so bland and generic is most of the ingredients come out of a factory, so
by smallnamespace 9y ago
I really want to know how they manage their supply chain.
One reason McDonalds seems so bland and generic is most of the ingredients come out of a factory, so everything is centralized.
To get fresh ingredients you generally need a local supplier, but then scaling that up must be a logistical nightmare.
- yeukhon 9y agoNot sure, but if indeed local suppliers, would work the same way Whole Food does. But since In-n-Out operates in Cal, In-n-Out can scale well.
- jedberg 9y agoThat's exactly why In-N-Out is pretty much only in California, with a few exceptions. Because they only use local suppliers, and they haven't figured out how to get everything they need locally anywhere else.
- greedo 9y agoArizona has quite a few locations, Utah and Texas are growing, and Colorado is next up. Poor Oregon only has two...
- at-fates-hands 9y agoI live in the Midwest and have been told this is the main reason this will most likely remain a West Coast chain. I've also been told it's a case of freshness. If they have to ship all the ingredients from California to Iowa, it's not as fresh as they want it to be. Keeping the supply chain close and using local suppliers for specific ingredients allows them to have a consistent product no matter where you get it. At the end of the day, as an owner, that's what you want. No matter where the customer goes, they always get same fresh, great tasting product.
- memco 9y agoCan't remember where, but IIRC they only operate at locations which can be reached from their distribution centers by a truck in the same day. I also recall that they recently opened another distribution center in Texas (which is why they are now opening locations there). So they are indeed expanding eastward, but it will probably be a while before they establish a presence on the east coast.
- runevault 9y agoIf I remember the article I read correctly, all restaurants must be within either 350 or 500 miles of a INO distribution center, and they only serve something like 50 per center (this from an article talking about them finally coming to Colorado with a distribution center and the first location down in the Springs, though Denver/Boulder have to be soon to follow).
- jeffcore 9y agoThey don't have freezers in their stores, so trucks must be able to travel to the store within a day.
- toephu2 9y agoIn-N-Out is in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Oregon...
- jeffcore 9y agoAll of those locations have something in common, they're all within a one day driving distance of one of the two In-N-Out distribution centers.