Ralph Mercuro
@ralphmercuro
Supply chain leader driving cost savings, vendor strategy, and ERP implementations.
What I'm looking for
I am a supply chain director with deep experience managing multi-million dollar food, beverage, and indirect spend across restaurant and retail operations. I specialize in strategic sourcing, vendor management, procurement, costing models and ERP implementations that deliver measurable cost savings and operational improvements.
Across roles I have led consolidation initiatives, RFPs, and KPI programs—improving supplier on-time performance to 100%, increasing MDA compliance from 52% to 80%, and delivering multi-percent food cost reductions through system and process changes. I've directed sourcing for portfolios from $5M to $250M and managed cross-functional teams including procurement, R&D, brand, marketing, finance, food safety and operations.
I value strong vendor relationships, data-driven decision making and fast-paced growth environments, and I consistently execute projects—such as multiple ERP rollouts and rebate/KPI programs—that align contracts, delivery and pricing with company goals.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
National Supply Chain Director
City Winery
Aug 2024 - Jun 2025 (10 months)
Directed $30M in food, beverage and indirect spend; implemented Craftable ERP, increased supplier on-time performance from 54% to 100% and improved MDA compliance KPI from 52% to 80%.
Supply Chain Director
Newport Restaurant Group
May 2021 - Aug 2024 (3 years 3 months)
Managed $54M in spend across 16 restaurants and retail; delivered produce RFP yielding 8% annualized savings and increased KPI rebate program to $286,000 in 2024 while maintaining MDA compliance ~92.5%.
Supply Chain Director
Dr. Smood
Dec 2019 - Sep 2020 (9 months)
Directed $5M in food and indirect spend across restaurants, e-commerce and retail; consolidated organic procurement to save 3% and achieved 99.6% fulfillment for proprietary imported packaging items.
Supply Chain Director
Dean & Deluca
Jul 2016 - Dec 2019 (3 years 5 months)
Managed $11M annually and directed 4 category merchants; consolidated purchases from 1,200 to under 600 vendors, saved $70K via logistics RFP and led Crunchtime ERP project reducing food cost 2.3%.
Supply Chain Director
Le Pain Quotidien
Jan 2010 - Jul 2016 (6 years 6 months)
Managed $38M in annual purchases and scaled supply chain from 25 to 95 locations; implemented Crunchtime ERP saving 3% in food cost and established regional produce contracts covering 50% of F&B spend.
Procurement Director
Friendly Ice Cream Corporation
Nov 1998 - Dec 2009 (11 years 1 month)
Managed $250M in purchases for 500 restaurants, led a ten-person department, centralized procurement and achieved recurring 2% food cost savings and a 17% cost reduction on burger RFP valued at $5M annually.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
Montclair State University
Bachelor of Science, Food Service Management
Completed a Bachelor of Science in Food Service Management focusing on foodservice operations, procurement, and supply chain principles.
Tech stack
Software and tools used professionally
Availability
Location
Authorized to work in
Salary expectations
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