Analysis of Factors Influencing on Food Supplier Selection Criteria in the Health-care Foodservice Operations

Kim, Jeong Lee; Choi, Sung Kyung; Kwak, Tong Kyung

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to find factor which influence on the selection criteria of food supplier. Questionnaire were distributed to 52 general hospitals with more than 400 beds located in Seoul and Kyongin province, and responded questionnaires were collected from 44 dietetic departments (84.6%) and 18 purchasing departments (34.6%). The main results of this study can be summarized as follows: (1) supplier selection criteria include quality, service, cost and supplier competency. (2) With having been met with tight competition and market opening, hospitals plan a strategy to improve quality, service and they tend to have more interest in various supplier selection criteria. (3) Purchasing departments estimate more highly the rate of reflection in considering supplier selection criteria than the rate of importance about cost criteria, which reveals that purchasing departments sensitively respond to cost cutdown. (4) When selecting suppliers, a significant(p<.01) influence of stability of supplier industry environment on the selecting criteria such as the importances of quality, service, and supplier quality are recognized only after recognizing the stability of food delivery industry. Food supplier industry secures stability more quickly through major companies' participation in food distribution industry and this will reveal the importance of supplier selection criteria. (5) Suppliers which are selected by the quality criteria, service criteria, supplier quality criteria make efforts to communicate with foodservice departments, to give more proper information about substitute food, new product, and to make commitments, while suppliers which are decided by cost criteria do not establish supportive relationships with foodservice departments.