RestaurantTrade Releases Most Advanced Operational Solution for Independent Restaurant Industry

With RestaurantTrade 2.0, restaurants have at their command a Complete Procurement Loop, enabling them to handle all ordering of food, services and supplies, regardless of whether or not all of their suppliers are part of the RestaurantTrade network. Suppliers using RestaurantTrade receive customer orders online, while those not yet part of the RestaurantTrade network receive orders via a system-generated fax. This allows restaurants to continue relationships with all suppliers -- not just the ones using RestaurantTrade.

"The RestaurantTrade system targets every aspect of the business side of restaurant management to make my life a whole lot easier," said Tom Colicchio, Executive Chef and Co-owner of Gramercy Tavern and Craft. "I've used version 1.0 since October, but I'm thrilled about the new version. Now that I can order from all of my suppliers through the RestaurantTrade system, I'll be relying on RestaurantTrade to make my workday more efficient and productive."

The Order Conversion module enables restaurants and their suppliers to avoid inaccurate delivery quantities and invoices by translating variable measurement and packaging standards. For instance, if a restaurant wants to buy a whole fish, but the supplier sells fish by the pound, then the enhanced version instantly reconciles the differing measurement units to ensure a smooth transaction.

Through Broadcast Specials, suppliers have a direct marketing feature to alert their existing and potential customers to special prices via one-to-one marketing. When a chef places an order through the RestaurantTrade system, he or she will be alerted of supplier specials in real time. For suppliers, this can mean increased average order size, while chefs have the opportunity to see what new items are on the market.

Most restaurant suppliers sell commodities with highly variable prices. Through Price Management, a supplier can update prices for all customers in moments - a task that used to take at the very least several hours. Suppliers can also set up to five different pricing tiers, enabling them to easily reward more frequent purchasers with a better pricing structure.

"RestaurantTrade's second-generation operational solution will dramatically improve the way restaurants and suppliers manage day-to-day operations," said Damian J. Mogavero, CEO and Founder of RestaurantTrade. "We have some of the country's top restaurants signed on, and we've listened to their feedback and created new features and enhancements to make our operating system even more powerful. We've been training our clients over the past two weeks, and the reaction to version 2.0 has been extremely enthusiastic."

Some of the most renowned restaurants in the nation were among the first to sign up with RestaurantTrade, including Gramercy Tavern, whose Executive Chef and Co-owner, Tom Colicchio, was named James Beard Best Chef: NYC for 2000; Union Pacific, whose chef, Rocco DiSpirito, was named a Food & Wine Best New Chef for 1999; Savoy, whose chef-owner, Peter Hoffman, is the president of Chefs Collaborative; and Tribeca Grill, part of the Myriad Group of restaurants and one of the most recognizable restaurant names in New York. Some of the most significant suppliers in the area are on board, such as Riviera Produce, D'Artagnan, E&S Wholesale Meats, Pierless Fish Corp., and Sam Tell & Sons. Customers signed in 2001 include suppliers Borax Paper and GAF Seelig Dairy, as well as new restaurants Town and Craft. RestaurantTrade has also partnered with some of America's finest hospitality education institutions: Culinary Institute of America, French Culinary Institute, and Cornell University School of Hotel Management.

RestaurantTrade's operating system and applications include, these features:

• Complete Procurement Loop:
• Ordering and Receiving
• Order History and Reporting
• Order Conversion
• Real-time "Smart" Inventory Management via the use of a handheld wireless device or PC
• User Management
• Price Management
• Demand Forecasting
• Classified Advertisements
• Online Customer Support
• Catalog Maintenance
• Direct Marketing for Suppliers
• Broadcast Specials

About RestaurantTrade

RestaurantTrade (www.RestaurantTrade.com) provides an industry operating system and a suite of web-based software applications designed specifically for the independent restaurant industry. The operating system synchronizes and optimizes existing disparate industry practices such as ordering, receiving, inventory management, fulfillment tracking, and invoice management, while the software applications introduce efficient, proactive, cost-effective business tools such as demand forecasting, reporting and analysis, direct marketing, industry-specific classifieds, and "smart" inventory management. With the RestaurantTrade software applications, independent restaurants are better able to track expenditures and revenue; to manage inventory; to forecast sales; to control food, beverage, and labor costs; and, ultimately, to improve their odds for survival in a fiercely competitive industry. Suppliers get a powerful, interactive communication and ordering system that will help them expand existing accounts, reach out to new customers, and fulfill orders with dramatically improved ease and accuracy. The RestaurantTrade team has, collectively, over 100 combined years of hospitality industry experience, making it uniquely qualified to understand the industry. The company is based in New York, where some of the nation's top restaurants and suppliers have already signed up since the launch of Version 1.0 in October 2000.