Sebastien Brunel
NORTH AMERICA explains . “ Unless we demonstrate savings and value creation , they will not use our services . We have to monitor the competitiveness of our contracts compared to market prices , and offer tracking , distribution , a loyalty program and procurement program – procurement is one of the key departments to attract new ownership groups and franchisees .”
As the business has transformed , its supply chain has diversified and evolved , and so too has the role of procurement . “ 20 years ago , 90 % of our function was based on food management – then we started to manage non-food operations in the early 2000s ,” says Brunel . He adds that suppliers and other organizations had not previously understood hotels as a category to focus on . “ I would say it took between five and 10 years to get a strong offer of procurement solutions for hotels for food , non-food and beverage .”
Brunel notes that since then , suppliers have begun to see opportunities in the ever-growing hospitality sector . “ In terms of some suppliers , a lot of businesses didn ’ t have a hospitality division 10 to 15 years ago – they did not 19
EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Sebastien Brunel
Brunel has 25 years of experience in the hospitality business with 20 years in procurement . Originally from France , he has occupied several procurement functions in the global procurement office as well as working in several countries . Brunel ’ s first international experience was in the UK , before he then occupied a function of Category Manager in Dallas Texas in 2002 .
In 2007 , Brunel moved to South America to be the head of procurement of that region , based out of Sao Paulo . He went back to Paris in 2014 to manage the international team . He has occupied the position of SVP of North and Central America since January 2017 when he relocated to Toronto . Sebastien holds an MBA from the FGV University of Sao Paulo .
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