Why Ally Food Group chose Entegra

Ally Food Group’s president and CEO, Robert Bales, chose Entegra to expand its capabilities when satisfying the food and supply needs of its restaurant chains.

Located throughout the Southeast and Midwest, Bales needed to bring a wider choice of products. He found that and more in his Entegra relationship.

The human touch differentiates Entegra’s restaurant procurement services

“What differentiates Entegra from other GPOs,” said Bales, “are the vast product options and how well they matched up with our distributor lists at Sysco. That was really the turning point.”

They wanted to expand, he said, and “Entegra was very willing to work with us to put together a program.” At Ally, Bales wanted to bring an economy of scales to his 100+ independent restaurants, spreading the benefits of group purchasing to his Wings n’ Burgers, Kani House and other small establishments.

“Being able to bring options to independent restaurants was what Entegra was able to give to us,” he said. “The thing that appealed to me most was the workability in Entegra. Having a direct person involved in our operations and everything we do. It was the flexibility and having that connection. For me that’s a big part of business. When you can have someone to lean on and trust.”

Group purchasing adds options — even when you don’t think you have any

With Entegra, Ally has been able to consider other products for their restaurants. They wanted to make changes, but felt locked in. That changed when they entered a relationship with Entegra.

“They strengthened our operations, becoming more involved and bringing more options to the table that I didn’t know were available: Coca-Cola being one of them. We were tied to Pepsi for years. And that was a big change for us in getting that done. They can come up with ideas and bring different things to the table.”

Advice for restaurants looking for a GPO

The relationship with Entegra continues to get stronger and stronger. “We’ve got various events that we do for a lot of our clients,” said Bales. “We have a golf tournament that’s coming up and Entegra has always been willing to support just about every aspect through donations, products and coming to events that we’ve scheduled, too.”

His advice would be to check out Entegra. “I would recommend Entegra to pretty much anybody to look and see what they can do to help you.”

Ready to see what Entegra can do for you? Call us at 833-977-1765 or fill out this contact form.