How Yabon divided its RFQ time by 10
- One sole buyer
- A full commodity portfolio (fruits, chocolate, sugar)
- Sourcing transformed in less than a year
To finalize a single RFQ.
A ×10 gain on the funnel phase.
The client at a glance
Client
Food & beverage manufacturer (Normandy)
Size
1 buyer / Entire purchasing scope
Commodities
Fruits, chocolate & cocoa, sugar
Client since
September 2025 / 51 quotes launched
User
Nadia Blatter, head of purchasing
It's as if I were two people.
Nadia Blatter
Head of Raw Materials Purchasing, Yabon
One buyer, a full portfolio
Yabon is a French food & beverage manufacturer from Normandy.
Nadia Blatter handles every raw material on her own: fruits, chocolate and cocoa powder, sugar, every reference that goes into production.
This setup is classic in food & beverage SMEs: a single person to cover all sourcing, negotiate annual contracts, monitor markets, and absorb shortages or seasonal peaks.
Time is the first limiting factor, well before budget.
Before LiveQuote: artisanal, time-consuming sourcing
Manual research
Browsing the internal database, then Internet searches to identify potential suppliers.
10 suppliers contacted per RFQ
A ceiling imposed by available time, not by relevance.
Comparison tables built by hand
Re-typing emailed quotes into Excel to make them comparable for negotiation.
Sourcing via trade shows
CFIA, SIAL and others, essential for new contacts, but occasional and slow.
When we couldn't find many suppliers, we got stuck on pricing.
With LiveQuote, we unlocked a much deeper discussion because there's more competition.
Nadia Blatter
Head of Raw Materials Purchasing, Yabon
Express onboarding using the existing Excel catalog
LiveQuote adoption at Yabon was instant.
Nadia already had an Excel file listing her commodities: that file was used to import the entire catalog in one go.
No double entry, no heavy training, the experience was logical and intuitive.
Three combined uses
- 1Multi-commodity quotesFruits (cherry, sour cherry, blackcurrant, apricot, raspberry, blueberry), chocolate and cocoa powder, sugar.
- 2Market monitoringSugar and cocoa price curves to inform contract decisions.
- 3Built-in Excel exportDirect export of received quotes into internal negotiation spreadsheets.
Three concrete, measurable results
Result #1
Savings achieved and projected in less than a year
Since the September start, Yabon has identified ~€30,000 in direct savings via LiveQuote, including ~€12,000 on 4 truckloads of sour cherry (~80 tonnes, −€0.15/kg), ~€4,000 on K6 blackcurrant and ~€6,000 projected on an ongoing RFQ with 7 competing suppliers. The 2026 LiveQuote subscription is already fully paid back.
Result #2
A supplier panel multiplied by 8
Before LiveQuote, Nadia contacted around 10 suppliers per RFQ, a ceiling imposed by time. With LiveQuote, that number jumps to 80 suppliers per RFQ in a few clicks. More competition, more negotiation leverage. Several newly identified suppliers now work directly with Yabon.
Result #3
Market monitoring becomes a negotiation argument
On sugar and cocoa, Nadia uses LiveQuote market curves daily. The benefit materialized during the 2026 contract negotiation, where market data helped reopen a discussion that seemed closed.
Having the quotes alongside let me push the discussion much further, when it was a bit closed.
Nadia Blatter
On the 2026 sugar contract negotiation
Time gain: ×10 on the critical phase
This is the most striking effect at Yabon.
On the RFQ funnel phase (gathering quotes, structuring data, building the comparison) processing time dropped from a full week to 4 hours.
For a lean purchasing function, LiveQuote doesn't just optimize daily work: it multiplies work capacity.
The time freed from funnel mechanics is reinvested where the buyer truly creates value (negotiation, supplier relationships, strategy).
Over a year, across 51 quotes launched, the cumulative time saved represents several hundred hours, the equivalent of a part-time recovered for higher-value tasks.
LiveQuote multiplies work capacity.
Freed time is reinvested where the buyer creates value: negotiation, supplier relationships, strategy.
What LiveQuote changed at Yabon
Before
With LiveQuote
~10 suppliers contacted per RFQ
~80 suppliers contacted per RFQ (×8)
~10 suppliers contacted per RFQ
~80 suppliers contacted per RFQ (×8)
1 week to finalize an RFQ
4 hours to finalize an RFQ (×10 faster)
1 week to finalize an RFQ
4 hours to finalize an RFQ (×10 faster)
Manual Internet search + internal database
Automated sourcing on +4,000 certified European suppliers
Manual Internet search + internal database
Automated sourcing on +4,000 certified European suppliers
Manual re-entry of quotes into Excel
Direct Excel export of received quotes
Manual re-entry of quotes into Excel
Direct Excel export of received quotes
Contract discussions sometimes closed (sugar, cocoa)
LiveQuote market data = lever to reopen the discussion
Contract discussions sometimes closed (sugar, cocoa)
LiveQuote market data = lever to reopen the discussion
ROI hard to quantify
~€30,000 saved in <1 year, including ~€6,000 projected / subscription already fully paid back
ROI hard to quantify
~€30,000 saved in <1 year, including ~€6,000 projected / subscription already fully paid back
What she says
It's a quick help for research.
It's fast, easy, and you get the right info.
Plenty of information, plenty of monitoring.
You have everything you need to do the job well.
Nadia Blatter
Head of Raw Materials Purchasing, Yabon
3 takeaways for food & beverage buyers
LiveQuote multiplies work capacity
For a lean purchasing function, it's not an optimization tool but a force multiplier: a single buyer covers the whole commodity portfolio.
ROI is measurable and fast
At Yabon, ~€30,000 saved in less than a year, including ~€12,000 on 4 trucks of sour cherry and ~€6,000 projected: the 2026 LiveQuote subscription is already fully paid back.
Market curves as a negotiation argument
Not a gimmick, a concrete lever on annual contracts: on the 2026 sugar contract, market data unlocked a discussion that looked closed.
Want to see what LiveQuote can do for you?
- +4,000 certified European suppliers, available from day one
- Onboarding in 2 weeks, with no IT project
- A 1-hour training session to get up and running