Hello

[charron]

I'm Charron. Hi.

I own a little variety store in the country, and I just got a commercial kitchen licenced in late December. I went a bit ballistic getting holiday baking done, and for sale, and it went over very well. So well, in fact, that I earned a few catering jobs.

Day to day I make soups from scratch, chili, sandwiches to order and baked treats and bread. For catering, so far I only do hot and cold apps; finger foods, mostly. I stumbled across this forum while trying desperately to figure out how to price my catering. If someone could point me in the right direction to get the advice I need, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[ishbel]

Hello and welcome to Cheftalk!

If you post your question in the 'professional' area of the discussion boards, I am sure that you will get assistance with pricing etc.

I hope you will find some time to read the articles on here and view the photographs - there is much to marvel at there! Feel free to add to any thread you find interesting, or start your own.

 

[chefjd]

hi charron, what kind of clientel your dealing with is most imp.. woodstock, ny is in the country but has high end clients. An easy way is to figure, (how much you want an hour, then figure in 3x what your food cost is), add these together. Is it a drop off, do you need servers or bartenders, are you setting up, breaking down and serving? These are all extra costs to the client. .Just some info, if i can help you further let me know,good luck chef jd :roll:

 

[charron]

Thanks Ishbel, and thanks JD =D

I've tried putting together a spreadsheet in Excel with portion costs of food, servings calculators, and hourly rates... so far all I've learned is that my customers want more variety than thier pieces-per-person counts will allow, lol. Is it wrong to think each party-goer should have the chance to eat at least one of each item? :look:

I read as many threads on pricing as I could find, and I have posted a new thread in the prof. catering forum, but I suspect my question of price is too basic since the only response so far is 'we can't tell you, how much do you think you can get?' It would be lovely to have a calculator, and I suspect if I keep at it I will have developed one by the time I am done (and ready to retire )

Thanks again ...