How Supplier.io Doubled Aramark's Small Supplier Engagement
Aramark is regarded as a global leader in food, facilities and uniform services, looking after everything from stadiums and hospitals to universities, national parks and federal agencies.
When it comes to securing new business and maintaining existing partnerships, it's vital to the business that community engagement is strong.
As a result, small supplier sourcing has become a cornerstone of Aramark's business strategy.
Natily Santos, Vice President of Responsible Sourcing at Aramark, explains: "We're in every community across the country. Supporting local and small businesses isn't just a goal – it's a business imperative and a reflection of the values our clients care about deeply."
Limited visibility and missing insights
Aramark's strategy is far cry from that of a decade ago, when the company had limited ability to track and engage with smaller suppliers.
Its transformation came thanks to Supplier.io, which now helps Aramark to operate one of the most respected small supplier engagement programmes in the country.
Before Supplier.io: limited tags, missing insights
"We had a tag for diverse and a tag for women," reveals Natily. "We worked with small businesses, but we weren't monitoring that in any centralised or consistent way."
Having limited visibility proved particularly challenging when clients – especially those in regulated and community-focused sectors – began demanding more detailed reporting
"They wanted to know the certifications, the impact, and how we were representing the communities we serve," Natily adds.
Enhanced capabilities
The shift: Supplier.io brings visibility, alignment and impact
Through Supplier.io, Aramark's supplier sourcing programme was transformed.
Natily continues: "I needed a solution that could make my life easier, improve our ability to report and tell stories, and integrate into our current practices. Supplier.io absolutely met all three."
With Supplier.io's Supplier Intelligence Platform, Aramark could immediately begin to track small businesses aligned with SBA definitions. The organisation doubled its supplier engagement results overnight – simply by gaining visibility into the the small businesses it was already working with.
"Supplier.io also made it easier to source with small suppliers by engaging the broader procurement team," Natily goes on. "Now, anyone in sourcing can search, identify and vet qualified small suppliers quickly. It's not siloed, it's integrated."
With access to over 11 million suppliers and 350 million insights, Aramark was able to surface small, local businesses faster and find sourcing gaps with updated data.
"It's helped our teams proactively find new partners, build resilience, and strengthen our supply chain," says Natily
The game changer: economic impact
Supplier.io also enabled Aramark to measure and report on economic impact.
"Our clients care about the 'so what'," says Natily. "It's not just how much we're spending, but how that spend supports jobs and communities."
Procurement data into community value
With Supplier.io's tools, Aramark can quantify and communicate the ripple effects of its small business sourcing strategy, from local job creation to strengthening community infrastructure.
"That's the game changer," Natily emphasises. "It turns procurement data into community value."
In addition to enhancing support for clients, Aramark could translate spend data into intuitive economic impact results, helping Natily support her own internal team.
"Economic impact data was a critical game changer in how I was able to continue to build up my team and make sure that we can maintain and advance progress." adds Natily.
"It helped me fight for resources and budgeting to make sure that when we have impactful numbers that we maintain, because that's something important to our client base."
Aramark's journey is proof that small supplier engagement doesn't require starting from scratch, but does necessitate smarter tools and reliable data.
"You don't need to have it all figured out," concludes Natily, "but you do need the right partner."
With Supplier.io, Aramark transformed small business sourcing into a competitive advantage that delivers business value, meets client expectations and makes a measurable difference in the communities it serves.
