Church Sub Sale for Super-Bowl Sunday...

Each year our church youth group makes and sells submarine/grinders for superbowl.

I took over the youth group last year for a two-year cycle, so this is my baby now.

Because of a few dinners, pot lucks and other cooking I have done fo the church, and the fact I am the leader of the youth now - our sales have been brisk.

Several comments from church folks - about (what are essentially) quality issues in prior-year sales.

These folks are willing to buy now because I'm "running the brigade" as it were. : )

Here is my problem:

1. I'm not very happy with "making-ahead" over 100 sandwiches for pickup the next day. That doesn't sound like fresh product to me.

2. I have to have all the kids involved in the product assembly - and they can't be in a commercial kitchen under 18/yrs old.

3. The product has to be ready for pickup after first and second service - so at 10 and 11:30 AM

4. I don't think the kids are going to want to meet me at 5AM to limit the timeline between assembly and pickup.

5. We don't have the facilities at church to do an order-line (like a subway/quiznos-style line)

Additional:

I am authorized to manage this as a "bake sale" under our county health code.

They will be doing all the prep in my kitchen, so standards are very high; But would have rather swiped a commercial kitchen Sunday morning TBH.

I'm picking up the product tomorrow (Saturday) morning. What is the best strategy here?

My plan at the moment is to:

1. Assemble all the meat and cheese in saran-wrap, place inside sliced bread.

2. Add sliced onion/lettuce/whatever else in deli pints/cups

3. Add singles mustard/mayo packets to each order.

4. Place all "ready to assemble" sub components into individual bags for pickup.

The subs were ordered on individual request cards - so they have options. We're making all to order.

I don't want soggy, day-old crap. I want prefection.

With any overage, I'll build some impulse-buy deli trays and finger-sandwich platters.

Advice from my Catering friends?

Originally Posted by ChefBillyB 

Why not set up a buffet line and let them build their own Sub, at the end of the the line you could have the kids wrap and bag their own creation. I have had build your own sub for groups of 200. We hand them the sub roll, a few people pass out the meats and cheese and they get their own veggies......... If the sub sucks, HEY who made it, don't complain to me................only kidding, but ut works out well for us...............ChefBillyB

 

The format of this event was to sell subs in advance (over the last three weeks) - Buyers choose from ingredients on their order card. Then they pick up the completed sub after church on Sunday.

I like the "build-your-own" buffet line - but that is not the format this year.

The biggest issue I have with pre-making subs on Saturday is how fresh/soggy they will be on sunday. Even without condiments and tomato inside the bun - just meat and cheese between bread for over 12 hours doesn't sound like a tasty sandwich in my book. Any experience on how long a pre-fab sandwich can pass the "fresh-test" would be very helpful. I cook from pan to plate and there is no holding or parking of ingredients in most cases. I don't like to do a lot of catering because of that same reason - just a different level of service is all.

The "Gas Station Sandwich" is what I'm trying to avoid. I know they make everything between 00:00-03:00 and get them in display cases by 05:00

I had the same plan with the kids - but I have to get the parents out of bed at 03:00 to my house by 03:30 to have everything done that morning... It looked like that would... fail.

I told the youth group that we're giving 10% back to church general fund on our profit - That really bumped-up sales as well. I'm the first leader that has offered that.

The kids wanted to do a sleep-over at the church on Saturday, and pull an all-nighter/sub-making session Sunday morning - But I have seen these kids fizzle-out around 01:00 and then not wake up until I ring the breakfast bell, lol... and honestly - It is a lot of work to do both a sleep-in and the food prep and have everyone ready for service all in one night.

So we're back at my house at 4:PM tomorrow. I have a work-flow plan, but still unsure of my strategy to have the ingredients in saran-wrap, broken-down vs. pre-made and hope the quality is maintained.

Also heard a comments like "But we've never done it that way before." My response is "And the product has always been soggy before."

Not sure how people will feel about getting a deconstructed sandwich "kit" instead of a built sandwich.

I suppose I can assemble them on the spot if requested.

Much thanks for the suggestions, guys. This isn't a normal request for me.

Order slips have wheat/white; ham/turkey/(Roast beef add $1); Tomato/lettuce/white & red onion/bell peppers; American/Swiss/provolone/Cheddar; Condiment options (I'm doing box-o-single-serve packets of mustard, mayo, Italian Dressing); add Chips

Also going to add some impulse buy stuff - like cookies decorated in each of the team's colors, some deli trays, finger sandwiches, random stuff I can fit inside deli quarts and small dome platters.

And I think we're up to 180~ units now. I did food cost yesterday and had three people call me today with adds... so I'll just do 200 and call it good.  

Whatever we don't sell is waste because we can't donate to shelter on a bake-sale/non-commercial prep. No way around this with the kids needing to be involved.

I don't think we can get a commercial certification for our church kitchen either, because it wasn't built with that in mind. Oh well - once a year isn't bad I guess.