# Catering pricing



## sgt. pepper (Jan 2, 2005)

New to this forum. Im starting to dabble in small party catering and was wondering if there is a formula for figuring out how to price a particular catering job? Thanks for any help anyone could give.


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## danbrown (Feb 19, 2004)

I'd suggest by looking at your total expenditures without food, and use that as a base. You need to consider so many aspects when planning a menu and pricing it that there truly is no easy answer. I would suggest you get menus from caterers that you consider to be the competition and review their pricing in order to give yourself a ballpark, but look at seasons, ingredient costs, location of party, rental equipment, labor, prep time, and the other 800 variables before you nail yourself into a price structure. And remember, it's easy enough to change as long as you don't over-promote a priced menu!!


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