Imperial Dade Locations & Services: An Admin Buyer's FAQ

Imperial Dade FAQ: What a Procurement Manager Wishes You Knew About Ordering

Procurement manager at a 150-person hospitality group here. I've managed our facility supplies and packaging budget (around $180,000 annually) for six years, negotiated with 20+ vendors, and documented every single order in our cost tracking system. When it comes to ordering from a national distributor like Imperial Dade, the questions I get from my team are always the same. Here are the answers I give them, based on real invoices and a few painful lessons.

1. "Is Imperial Dade the cheapest option? Should I just go with the lowest price?"

Honestly, I'm not sure why this is still the first question people ask. My best guess is it's a leftover habit from personal shopping. In B2B procurement, the cheapest unit price is almost never the cheapest total cost.

Let me give you a real example from my spreadsheet. In 2023, I was comparing quotes for our quarterly paper towel order. Vendor A (a local guy) quoted $42 per case. Imperial Dade quoted $48. I almost went with the local guy until I calculated the total cost of ownership (TCO). The local quote had a $75 fuel surcharge and required a 5-case minimum per SKU, forcing us to overstock. Imperial Dade's $48 included delivery to our three locations and no minimums. The "cheaper" option would have cost us 12% more overall. That's the kind of math that keeps me up at night—and why I built a TCO calculator after getting burned twice on hidden fees.

2. "We need it fast! Is paying for rush delivery from a national distributor worth it?"

This triggers my "time certainty" rule. In March 2024, we had a last-minute corporate event and needed branded water bottles and tote bags. We paid about a 40% premium for guaranteed 2-day delivery from Imperial Dade. The alternative was a "probably 3-5 day" promise from a cheaper online printer. We paid the $400 extra. Why? Because missing that $15,000 event would have been catastrophic.

The rush fee isn't just buying speed; it's buying certainty. It's the distributor telling their logistics team, "This box jumps the queue." For true emergencies, that premium is an insurance policy. But (note to self: monitor this) don't make it a habit—regular rush orders are a sign of poor planning, and the costs add up fast.

3. "I found a ceramic coffee cup with no handle online. Can Imperial Dade get stuff like that?"

Probably, but the real question is: should they? This is a classic rookie mistake I made early on—trying to make one vendor solve every weird, one-off need.

Imperial Dade's strength, in my experience, is being a one-stop shop for your core facility and packaging supplies: janitorial chemicals, foodservice disposables, boxes, tape, etc. They're fantastic at that. For a super-specialty item like a specific handleless mug, you might be able to order it through them, but you'll likely pay a hefty markup for the convenience, and the lead time could be long. I've found it's usually more cost-effective (and faster) to source truly niche items from a specialty supplier and use Imperial Dade for the 80% of items they excel at. It's about playing to their distribution network's strengths.

4. "Do I really have to put all liquids in a plastic bag for shipping? What's the deal?"

This isn't an Imperial Dade rule; it's a carrier rule (FedEx, UPS, etc.) for Hazardous Materials or ORM-D (Other Regulated Materials) items. If you're ordering industrial cleaners, certain janitorial concentrates, or even some types of ink, yes—the vendor is required to package them per strict regulations to prevent leaks that could damage other packages in transit.

People think this packaging is overkill. Actually, it's because a single leak can ruin an entire pallet of other goods. I learned this the hard way when a poorly packaged gallon of cleaner leaked onto a box of custom envelopes, ruining a $1,200 order. That "annoying" plastic bag and absorbent pad? They're there for a reason. The cost of that compliance is baked into your shipping fee, and it's non-negotiable.

5. "What's the difference between ordering from Imperial Dade Loma Linda vs. Imperial Dade Franklin MA?"

In theory, not much—you're dealing with the same national company. In practice, it can matter quite a bit for delivery time and cost.

The location is your shipping origin. If you're in California, ordering from Loma Linda likely means shorter ground transit times and lower freight costs than shipping from Massachusetts. When you get a quote, always ask which distribution center your items will ship from. Sometimes, items will drop-ship from multiple locations, which can fragment your order and increase shipping costs. Our procurement policy now requires we ask for a single-origin quote when possible to avoid getting hit with three separate freight charges. It's a small ask that saved us about $900 last year on LTL (less-than-truckload) shipments.

6. "I need a step challenge flyer printed fast. Can they do that?"

They can, but here's where you need to think like a cost controller. Imperial Dade is a distributor, not primarily a print shop. They can certainly source and print promotional materials like flyers, but you're adding layers to the process.

For something standard like a step challenge flyer, you might get better pricing, speed, and direct control from an online printer (where publicly listed prices for 1,000 flyers range from $80-$150, as of early 2025). The value of using Imperial Dade for print would be consolidation—if you're already placing a massive order for water bottles, towels, and cups for that same wellness challenge, adding the flyers to the PO might simplify accounting and potentially meet a volume discount tier. Otherwise, for a one-off print job, go straight to the specialists. It's about choosing the right tool for the job.

Personally, after tracking all our orders for six years, I've found that about 30% of our minor budget overruns came from using the "convenient" vendor for a task that wasn't in their core competency. We implemented a "specialty item justification" form, and those overruns dropped by half.