SHIP SUPPLY AND CONSUMABLE SUPPLIES TO SEAFOOD PROCESSORS.
We are a purchasing cooperative, service supplier, and distributor to the commercial marine sector including fishing, seafood processing, deep sea, tug & barge, container and heavy lift ships and the cruise ship business, or as many would say a "ship chandler". To some of our customers we are their purchasing agent while they are working in Alaska on a fishing vessel or fish processing plant. They send a list of what they need and it shows up via barge or airplane at the location where they are working.
The Buying Network was founded in March of 1999 by the President, Clay Peil and VP Brady Coleman. The idea of the business came about with the company's principles working for very large fishing and seafood companies in the procurement field. They wondered how a smaller vessel operator could keep cost down and compete with the behemoths’ that they managed the supply chain. The benefits of having a purchasing staff without having the overhead cost would certainly help level the playing field. However, the cost of this added department is not in the budget of these smaller companies. The Buying Network was born, a free purchasing service for the small to mid-size company that cannot afford the staff.
As The Buying Network grew, many of the customers it served now were becoming larger companies. With the increased volume of business, the buying power increased, reducing the cost of goods. As cost dropped, pricing to our customers became less and attracted even larger companies.
The snowball effect of savings has attracted large companies with a purchasing staff to seek pricing on a variety of goods through The Buying Network. The supply of deck and engine spares and hotel supplies to both the small business, through our procurement service operation or commercial sale, to the large operator using us as an outsourced purchasing function during a peak in business, or commercial sale to a purchasing staff, has shaped our company of today.
The Buying Network provides products and service for vessels in the Pacific Rim / Alaska, to Washington State, down the west coast into California, and shipping international into Micronesia and Russia. Contracts for supply on the east coast from Maine to Florida have included the world's largest capacity at sea freezing ship to single vessel fishing operations. We have had supply deliveries to our customers in the US Gulf of Mexico, all the way down to Brazil to support a fishing operation operating in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Some of the products we sell to our customers in the fishing and seafood industry are used in other industries or for personal use. You will find some of these items for sale on our website. If you don't see what you are looking for, please contact us. We most likely have it, as we sell around 10,000 different items to our current customers, from steward department needs like small wares and janitorial supplies to the engine room needs of specialty chemicals, oil diapers, general consumables and spare parts.
The Buying Network has a simple philosophy: Be better than any other supplier our customer has. One example; every order is checked a minimum of three times for accuracy. Ships don't have the option of going to the store to get the right thing at the last minute.
We have been a prime supplier for the construction of fish processing plants, cold storage facilities and also a fish hatchery.
The V.P., Brady Coleman had to resign from the company due to medical reasons in 2013. His incredible contribution to the success of the company will never be forgotten or taken for granted.
Going forward, The Buying Network will satisfy the needs of our current customers beyond expectations, expand its online presence, capture more of the vessel procurement market and continue growing our distribution of high quality products.