How do I check whether a food wholesaler depends on one imported product?

Ask for sales by product, then ask where each top seller comes from. If one imported item sits at the top and the rest are small, that item deserves close attention. Look at how the wholesaler buys it: from a single exporter, through an agent, or from several sources. A long chain has more places to fail.

Next, ask what happened when supply was interrupted before, through port delays, a poor harvest or a supplier’s trouble. How did the wholesaler keep customers served? Did it find substitutes that customers accepted? The answers show whether the dependence is a real weakness or a managed one.

Then check the compliance side. Ask which licences cover importing and what the records look like for traceability. A recall on one imported item could spread quickly across restaurant and shop customers, so ask how the seller would handle it, and who would call each customer. Your accountant can help you test how sales and margins would look without the item, and your lawyer can explain supplier and import terms. Ask the seller as well whether customers have ever asked for something other than the imported product, which shows how loyal they are to the item itself.

Key takeaways

• Sort sales by product and trace the top sellers to their source.
• Ask what happened the last time supply was interrupted.
• Review licences, tracing records and the recall plan for imported items.