Supplier selection in catering industry using analytic hierarchy process: A case of Bursa

The catering industry is a sector where both the food Producers and suppliers are in a fierce competition. Therefore, decision-making processes need to be managed effectively. Supplier selection is critical in a fierce competitive environment. It is possible to compare the criteria considered in selecting suppliers and the suppliers in binary with the "Analytical Hierarchy Process" which is one of the "Multi Criteria Decision Making" methods. Aims of this study is to determine the most essential criteria in the selection of suppliers using face to face surveys conducted with the decision makers in the catering industry to ensure to select the most appropriate supplier from the alternative suppliers. In this study, to solve the supplier selection problem, the solution stages of the Analytic Hierarchy Process were followed respectively and the importance of the criteria and alternatives were determined and the criteria and alternatives were ranked according to their importance. This study concluded that the most significant criterion is crisis management. However, it has been determined that the supplier who can perform the crisis management best is not sufficient. It was found that the supplier who can meet most of the criteria was preferred.