Buyer's guides
Ordering at the best price:organising fresh produce orders without spending the morning on them
Organising fresh produce orders to buy at the best available price: cut-off time, tracked prices, minimum orders, substitutions.
Updated 7 min readLiveCriée editorial team
Contents
Ordering at the best available price means deciding quickly on clean information: knowing each supplier's cut-off time, tracking the price of a few key products, grouping purchases to reach minimum orders, keeping several suppliers, planning substitutions and sending an order that nobody can misread. The best price is not found by rereading price lists for longer: it is prepared the day before, through organisation.
This guide is for restaurant owners, caterers and fresh food retailers (fishmongers, cheesemongers, delicatessens). The examples are taken from seafood, the sector where prices move most, with a few examples from dairy.
When to order?
The right moment is not when you have time: it is the one set by your suppliers and their deliveries.
Note each supplier's cut-off time. With a fish merchant (mareyeur), you generally order the day before for the next day, before a cut-off time specific to each firm. With a local wholesaler, you can often order in the morning for the same day, depending on the wholesaler. In dairy, where prices move less than in seafood, the ordering rhythm is set with each supplier. Ask each one for their cut-off time and put it on display: it is the first piece of information in your organisation. The deliveries guide gives a typical buying morning, hour by hour.
Follow the rhythm of landings. In seafood, supply depends on the boats that went out and on sale days. Many fish auctions (criées) do not sell on Sundays: Boulogne-sur-Mer sells every day except Sundays and public holidays, Le Guilvinec from Monday to Friday. A gale that keeps the boats in port also reduces supply in the following days. Ask your suppliers which days their supply is shortest: an order planned for those days is placed earlier, or prepared with a substitution in mind.
Order early in the window. A seafood price list is valid "subject to landings". The later the order arrives, the greater the risk that the product will be out, especially on species that are scarce that day.
Which prices to track?
You do not need to track every price. Track the ones that matter.
- Choose your key products
Those that weigh most in your purchases, or those that carry a signature dish. For a seafood restaurant, that may be sea bass, Dover sole and king scallop in season; for a cheese shop, Comté, butter and two or three seasonal cheeses.
- Note the price chosen each day
From which supplier, in which size grade and which presentation. One line a day is enough.
- Look at the trend, not the day
After a few weeks, you know whether the day's price is high or low for the season. The seasonality calendar helps place the species.
- Compare on an equal basis
Same species, same size grade, same presentation, same unit: the guide to comparing suppliers details the method.
A tracked price becomes an argument: when a supplier announces an increase, you know whether it follows the market or not.
How to reach minimum orders?
Many suppliers set a minimum: a weight, an amount or a number of boxes. The free delivery threshold, above which transport is free, plays the same role. Below the minimum, the order is either refused or costs more.
| Lever | How to do it | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Group products | Place with a single supplier what you used to buy in small quantities from several | That their price stays good on each line |
| Space out orders | Order every two days rather than every day, on products that can take it | Freshness: in seafood, fish does not keep long |
| Top up with a fast-moving product | Add a product you are sure to sell, rather than a product you do not need | Not buying for the minimum what will end up as waste |
| Group with a neighbour | If your supplier accepts it, share an order with a nearby shop or restaurant | Who receives, who pays, who divides it up |
The whole calculation assumes you know each supplier's minimum, in its unit. Note it next to the cut-off time.
Why not depend on a single supplier?
A single supplier is simple, but they alone set your prices and your shortages. With a second supplier for each product family, you have a point of comparison every day and a solution when the first one does not have the landing.
That second supplier still has to serve you when you need them. A supplier you only order from when something is missing has no reason to keep the last box for you. Give them regular orders, even modest ones. The fish merchant, wholesaler or fish auction guide helps choose the type of supplier according to your volume.
Substituting when the price soars
The best available price is not always on the planned product. When a species soars, substitution protects the margin, provided it is prepared and consistent with the menu.
Prepare a list per dish. For each dish, note one or two acceptable substitutions:
| Planned dish | Species substitution | Size grade or presentation substitution |
|---|---|---|
| Grilled sea bass | Meagre, gilthead sea bream, depending on the cooking | 500/800 g sea bass as a whole portion instead of thick portions of large sea bass |
| Hake fillet | Pollack or saithe, depending on landings | Hake in steaks instead of fillets |
| Sole meunière | Megrim or dab, à la meunière | Portion-sized Dover sole instead of fillets of large sole |
| Comté board | Another ripening age | Block cut to order instead of pre-packed portions |
Suggestions from the editorial team, to adapt to your kitchen. The size grade also changes the food cost: a smaller fish often costs less per kilo but yields less in fillets. The food cost guide does the calculation.
Write a menu that allows it. "Fish of the day", "depending on landings", "catch of the day" leave flexibility. Conversely, a menu that announces "line-caught sea bass" commits you to serving line-caught sea bass: a false statement about the substantial qualities of a dish, its origin or its method of production may constitute a misleading commercial practice (French Consumer Code, Article L121-2).
Agree on the rules with your suppliers: who decides on the substitution, at what price, and what you refuse (a thawed product instead of a fresh one, another origin if the menu states it).
Sending a clear order
An ambiguous order costs more than a bad price: the supplier interprets, and you receive something other than planned. Each line must state five things.
| Element | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Species or product | The name the supplier uses on their price list | Line-caught sea bass |
| Size grade | A weight range or a number of pieces per kilo | 1 to 2 kg |
| Presentation | The state on delivery | Gutted |
| Quantity | A number | 6 |
| Unit | Kilo, piece, dozen, box | kg |
Add the desired delivery date at the top, and a request for confirmation at the end of the message. An example message, to be sent to each supplier separately:
Order for delivery on Thursday. Line-caught sea bass 1 to 2 kg, gutted: 6 kg Dover sole 400/500 g, whole: 12 pieces Pacific oysters No. 3: 4 dozen Please confirm price and availability before shipping. If anything is missing, call me before replacing it.
One order per supplier, always written the same way, is quick to reread and easy to find in the event of a dispute.
Frequently asked questions
What time should you order your fish?
Before your supplier's cut-off time, which varies from one firm to another. With a fish merchant, you generally order the day before for the next day; with a local wholesaler, often in the morning for the same day.
How do you reach a minimum order without buying too much?
Group with a single supplier products you used to buy elsewhere, space out orders on products that can take it, or top up with a product you are sure to sell.
How many suppliers should you keep?
At least two per product family, to compare and to have a solution on a day when something is missing. The second must receive regular orders to remain a real fallback.
What should you do when the price of a species soars?
Switch to the substitution planned for the dish: a similar species for the same cooking, or another size grade. A menu written as "depending on landings" leaves that flexibility.
Sources
- French Consumer Code (Code de la consommation), Article L121-2, version in force since 28 May 2022 (misleading commercial practice: false or misleading claims about the essential characteristics of the goods or service, including substantial qualities, composition and origin), Légifrance, read on 23 October 2026: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000044563114
- Port Boulogne Calais, "Achat à la criée" (buying at the fish auction) (auction open every day except Sundays and public holidays), page modified on 24 November 2025: https://www.portboulognecalais.fr/la-peche-au-port-de-boulogne/achat-a-la-criee/
- Société des pêches de Cornouaille (Le Guilvinec: sales from Monday to Friday), page modified on 30 January 2026: https://www.portsdecornouaille.fr/societe-des-peches-cornouaille/
Read next
- Buyer's guidesComparing suppliersComparing several suppliers' price lists on an equal basis: species, size grade, presentation, unit, extra costs, freshness of the list. Method and pitfalls.
- Buyer's guidesManaging fish deliveries wellOrdering at the right time, judging freshness on receipt (Extra, A, B), storing at 0 to 2 °C, settling a dispute: inspection grid and a typical morning.
- Buyer's guidesRecipe costing sheet and food cost of fishCalculating the food cost of a fish dish: fillet yield by species, step-by-step calculation with a worked example, effect of size grade and purchase price.