Consulting fees.

I would be interested to hear what other fellow chefs charge for consulting fees. Being a chef for over thirty years I am now starting to do much more consulting. I have heard fees as high as $200.00 per hour and as low as $20.00 per hour. I would suppose that the job has a lot to do with it.

Would anyone be willing to share some insight into what a chef with my experience should charge?

Hi Robert, it is interesting that you haven't done much consulting, sounds like you have many years under your belt?

In terms of consulting fees I myself tend to hover around the $75.00 per hour range. If it is for a large corporation then I have on occasion charged $120.00 per hour. That might seem like a lot, but I have consulted on several jobs were in the end I have ended up saving a company thousands of dollars a year. If it is for a small family place then I usually charge a little less. I guess it is a feeling of what you think the job is worth and how many hours you will work. Typically I have the hourly rate and then I give them client a time frame of how many hours it will take me, then I usually ask for 5% of the total job cost in advance. If the job ends up taking more hours than I figured I discuss it with the client and we work out the difference.

Hope that helps you...

I have relatives in Indiana (Indianapolis) have you lived there long?

Joe,

Nice to meet you, I appreciate your comments about consulting. I think my tendancy has been to under value my expertise. Actually the particular job that I am working on now is amazing to me. Much of the work I have done has simply been on improving work flow and effeciency. It boggles my mind at times how so many things go un-noticed. Just in a few short weeks we have already cut down labor cost for a medium size restaurant. Just for the record I am charging $65.00 per hour for this job, and the owners had no problem with that.

I have been in Indian now for about 8 years, and I love it. Thank you for asking.

[Pete]

I to am from Indiana (it's where I went to high school), but am now in Chicago. I just got the most recent James Beard Member listing and was sad to see that Indiana still doesn't have a "James Beard" restaurant listed. Years ago I could see why, but now there are some decent restaurants opened in Indiana. It's time that Indiana got its due.

[chefjohnpaul]

I have been in the business for almost 20 years and do some consulting. I think what the market will bare(i.e. New York vs. Sacramento)and the type of job being done, plus the pockets and size of the operation, I mean you don't want to drive Mom & Pop out of business by exorbatent fees if you can get them going and give'em a break. I tend to also under estimate my experience. I do mainly recipe consulting, am just getting started at this type of thing and I'm charging my account $25.00 per hour, but it's not just a one time deal, I'm actually on the payroll and on call. Thats my view, could I get any feed back by more experienced consultants? What do you think?

[shroomgirl]

Hi ChefJohnPaul
I started doing private cooking classes (1 on 1) two years ago $25 an hour minimum of 3 hours.....
For Kosher consulting $50 an hour 1 hour minimum.
For consulting on recipes look at the cost of your ingrediants....cost plus would be the way I'd go.
I bid on a lamb farm grant.....classes $300 for 15-20 students plus travel and food costs
I supply the recipes
Demonstrations are $100 an hour plus costs
Lunch and demonstrations are $15 a head 75 minimum.
Start adding all the time you spend ....drive time, shopping time, prep etc.....then all your exspenses, paper, printing, food costs, equipment......
ADDS up. Recipe writing is a real talent, most chefs don't have! Look into editing for cooking schools or others doing classes.

[chefjohnpaul]

Thanks Shroomgirl. Some excellent insight that I will utilize. Bon Appetit!