“The supply chain is like the engine of a car. You don't know we're there until you pop the hood. But the minute we don't work and we break, everyone's very aware of what we do.” – Anissa Mandell Chance

We’ve talked a lot on this podcast about how restaurants are managing during the pandemic. Behind the scenes however, there’s an even bigger part of the industry that has been working hard: the supply chain. Anissa Mandell Chance is the Senior Vice President of Supply Chain at Focus Brands. Today on Order Up, she discusses the unique issues her teams have had to navigate to get restaurants much needed supplies.

Whether it’s PPE or the freshest vegetables, every part of the supply chain has been impacted. Anissa talks about some of the creative solutions she’s seen during these unprecedented times and offers a message of hope that the restaurant industry will come back stronger than ever.

• [00:27] - Interview with Anissa Mandell Chance
• [00:56] - How Anissa landed in the supply chain sphere
• [04:18] - Suppliers from all ends of the spectrum
• [05:14] - Managing through crisis
• [07:52] - Creative solutions for supply chain management
• [10:31] - Symbiosis with technology
• [13:56] - Camaraderie & collaboration
• [17:20] - Maintaining external partnerships
• [20:02] - Changing how customers get their food
• [21:40] - Leveraging cross-functional teams
• [25:49] - Partnership-oriented relationships

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.