Customer Testimonies

 

The Q Shack Unlimited Corporation

4120-135 Main at North Hills Street

Raleigh, NC 27609

919-786-4381

 

June , 2010

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

It is my pleasure to introduce The Pate Dawson Company to you as a valued procurement and distribution partner for your restaurant or foodservice business. I have been a Pate Dawson business partner for about three years, and I wanted to share my insights with you so that you might have a better idea of who they are and how they perform against their commitments. If I may answer any of your questions, I welcome your call at 919-308-6665, or via email at theqshack@gmail.com.

 

Pate Dawson is a company of high integrity and values and has consistently conducted its business with our company in concert with those values. Pate Dawson is unique in the foodservice industry in that they seek to partner with their customers in such a way as to be their procurement agency and business advisor for all of their foodservice needs. Most foodservice companies are distributors for the vendors they serve. Pate Dawson is a procurement and service company for the customers (restaurants) they serve. Permit me an example.

 

The Q Shack is dedicated to serving local produce and meats to our customers and seeks all-natural or organic solutions wherever possible. Pate Dawson heard us and created two new relationships with meat vendors to provide us the exact meats we needed for our customers. They sourced specific rib and turkey products for us that not only decreased waste on the line to under 3%, but increased the taste and value to the customer. And they were less costly per pound (before the reduction in waste) than what we were using. The same is true on the pork and beef side of my business. I now have local, all-natural pork and pork products that are higher quality and higher yield than conventional “low cost” products. I make greater margin and more profit as a result.

 

Pate Dawson is a trusted business partner. When I moved my business from another, larger foodservice distributor, I was running food costs 5-6% (of revenue) higher than was prudent for my business. Pate Dawson took this challenge on directly and helped me in several key ways to lower these food costs to my stated goals. First, they surveyed my operation looking for wasteful activities and procedures- suggesting fixes throughout the operation. Second, they worked with me to find the right software to manage my inventory and sales- and then they installed it, took it to operational status and trained my staff to properly use it. Last, they analyzed my costs and my revenues and in many cases, lowered my acquisition costs, while suggesting several key price increases on my menu that have driven overall profitability gains.

 

When I left my old foodservice distributor, I had to buy out the 45-day payable bill I had with them- almost $48,000. In the subsequent 9 months with Pate Dawson, I reduced my inventory by $7,000 and increased my gross profit by 6% (on revenue), more than paying off the $48,000 in hard cash I had to invest to do so. I now am on 15 day terms with Pate Dawson and my available cash flow is actually greater than with my 45 day terms with my old supplier.

 

Pate Dawson also has helped me market and build my business. I have regular meetings with Pate Dawson executives on issues such as raising capital, managing growth, building on-line sales and capacity and overall sales strategy. Their association with many third party vendors makes it easy for me to tap in to big marketing ideas and procedures that are usually reserved for larger companies.

 

I am enthusiastic about Pate Dawson not just because I hold the same values that they do, but because they live up to those values and see their customers as their main focus. They are true business partners and are my most valued asset behind my customers. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about them should you need any more information.

 

Sincerely,

  

Thomas D. Meyer

President

The Q Shack Unlimited

Owner of:

The Q Shack Restaurants

Tommy’s Restaurant

 

 

June 19, 2010 

 

 

 

 

 

4324 Barringer Drive Suite 101

Charlotte, NC 28217

704-527-7996

 

July 31, 2008

 

To Whom It May Concern:

                Pate Dawson Company began servicing our Shoney’s restaurants in October 2006. They picked up the account as our other distributor was exiting the chain distribution business. We had thirty days to find a distributor. Pate Dawson Company was able to begin servicing all of our units within that thirty day window and on top of that had a 100% fill rate on the first delivery! Pate Dawson Company picked up initially twelve Shoney’s which meant that they had to produce over 350 SKU’s to fill our needs. On top of all of this our food cost actually went down.

We began a new concept called Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Monroe, NC in March of 2007. This was a brand new casual dining concept that again had approximately 350 SKU’s. There was extensive testing, trial and error, and research involved in getting this off the ground. The team at Pate Dawson Company, in particular Bob Stewart, was instrumental in our successful launch of this new concept. We have since gotten Pate Dawson Company approved to distribute to our Captain D’s outlets and now all sixteen of our restaurants along with eleven restaurants of our sister group Bud Foods are being serviced by Pate Dawson Company.

The commitment to service and eagerness to aid us in maintaining our margins is the difference between Pate Dawson Company and any other distributor that we have done business with in the past. Their integrity is impeccable and any time there is an issue it is resolved quickly. My phone calls are always returned promptly and PDC truly appreciates our business. We truly value our partnership with Pate Dawson Company and look forward to many years of continued success.

 

Sincerely,

 

Charles Graham