In this study a proposal to improve the inventory system for a distributor of food in the city of Santa Marta is made, in order to achieve a reduction in inventory costs and increased economic benefit of the organization, through planning and control of purchases and sales of products. The process used is the classification of the products handled by the Company with the ABC method according to importance of each product in the total sales of the distributor; then the model of Economic Order Quantity applies - CEP the right time, in order to systematize the newspapers counts on products stored in the warehouse, establishing records of sales, determine the optimum amount of orders, in which to order merchandise suppliers and minimum reorder quantities.