Pasta costs

[fredtjones]

Greetings all, a friend and I who are above average amateur chefs have been knocking around the idea a pasta catering company. We have a few questions for the group if anyone would like to help -

How many ounces of raw pasta per person is considered a good serving if it is a main course? I am trying to figure out a rough food cost. I am thinking of starting with dried pasta to keep costs low at first...

Can we get vendor prices as a catering company or are we better off at costco or some other big wholesaler?

What is an good food cost to shoot for for pasta dishes? I realize this has too many variables depending on ingredients etc, but I mean a ballpark for some basics, i.e. margeritas and pesto, maybe a lasagna etc..

[kuan]

Pasta can can cost between $0.60 and $1.80 a pound. Normal servings are between 5 and 9oz cooked.

Kuan

[chefboy2160]

And then... A mushroom ravioli . And then....... a lobster and seafood fettuccini medly with hum alfredo sauce ? And then ... a spaghetti marinara . Cost would be in the fillers ... And then ?

[coolJ]

Well dried pasta roughly doubles in size when cooked. so about 4 oz dried pasta makes a decent lunch serving.

[kuan]

Originally posted by fredtjones
Can we get vendor prices as a catering company or are we better off at costco or some other big wholesaler?

Good news and bad news here. The good news here is that you can get vendor prices. Bad news is that you may not get better pricing than if you went to Costco! No matter who you are, it's all in the amount of volume you purchase, the size of your drop, and the frequency of your order.

Kuan