What would you have charged...?

[lentil]

I know prices are different all over, so just ball park it for me. Thanks!

Got a call to do a lunch for a band (8 ppl) playing locally. They specified 2 LARGE deli platters consisting of roast beef, turkey, chicken, cheese, all condiments, 2 loaves of bread NO WHITE. I gave them 1.5# of rb, 2# deli turkey, 2 pints of chicken salad, 1.5# assorted cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, peppers, 3 kinds of pickles, pepperoncini, olives, mayo, mustard, and a half pint of my Mediterranean spread (an attempt to show them what they were missing by being so rigid) with 2 loaves of bread- one grocery store multi grain and one wheat artisan style bread.

They were so specific and the woman who hired me was so timid about them, that I had to stick to their exact specifications. I told her that my platters are much nicer than what they asked for, but she was afraid to veer from it. I think they have had grocery store platters and wanted to be certain they got exactly what they wanted.

So what would you have charged?

[RSteve]

To be quite honest, I'd have taken their order to a local deli and had the platter made up. I'd have charged my time and mileage + 150% the cost of the platter.

[tigerwoman]

Originally Posted by lentil

I know prices are different all over, so just ball park it for me. Thanks!

Got a call to do a lunch for a band (8 ppl) playing locally. They specified 2 LARGE deli platters consisting of roast beef, turkey, chicken, cheese, all condiments, 2 loaves of bread NO WHITE. I gave them 1.5# of rb, 2# deli turkey, 2 pints of chicken salad, 1.5# assorted cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, peppers, 3 kinds of pickles, pepperoncini, olives, mayo, mustard, and a half pint of my Mediterranean spread (an attempt to show them what they were missing by being so rigid) with 2 loaves of bread- one grocery store multi grain and one wheat artisan style bread.

They were so specific and the woman who hired me was so timid about them, that I had to stick to their exact specifications. I told her that my platters are much nicer than what they asked for, but she was afraid to veer from it. I think they have had grocery store platters and wanted to be certain they got exactly what they wanted.


So what would you have charged?

If this was part of the entertainment business, the reason they were probably so specific is that it is contractual. We often do what is called production catering and if there is a specific talent involved they often have exact guidelines written into their contract for food. Eg angel hair pasta with marinara sauce, 6 cans of diet dr. pepper, 1# bag of peanut m and m's
I am not joking this was a real order for a famous musician - there was more but that's all I can remember.

as for pricing, you just need to charge what works for you. In my book Deli Platters Should be more than sandwich platters by at least 20% so if you get $10 for a sandwich platter, charge $12-13 for a deli platter (more food)

[lentil]

In my shop, sandwiches cost between $5.25 and 6.25, and as a rule, have about 1/4lb of meat in them. Along that line of thinking, lunch for 8 would be about $50. I charged $80. I guess I could have gone higher. Hindsight (and Cheftalk) being 20/20, I should have checked in here first. It was for an elementary school that I do a lot of business with, so I'll make up for it in the long run.


Someone picked it up otherwise, I would have charged $25 for delivery. I'm getting better at suggesting that people pick up their catering orders. It saves me a lot more then the mileage. If I have to go out to cater a luncheon or make deliveries around our lunch rush here, I have to have 2 other people on the schedule. So whatever I've made from the delivery charge, I hand right over to the help. And then some.....

[pork receipe]

$80 for a 8 person group would be considered as a fair charging here, my friend.

You can even go up to $100 or $120 for the total price, but is all up to your final decision here.

[lentil]

Originally Posted by pork receipe

$80 for a 8 person group would be considered as a fair charging here, my friend.

You can even go up to $100 or $120 for the total price, but is all up to your final decision here.

So it looks like I was in the ballpark. Thanks for taking the time to look at this for me!

[chef.ESG.73]

I cooked for several bands and musicians, one had me pick out all the brown m&m's, superstition.. I think it was Van Halen, not sure?