Tastings

[pharp]

I posted this over in the catering section but I don't think it gets a lot of traffic, mods feel free to delete that one.

Recently I have had a lot of catering inquiries that want a "tasting." We are an on demand catering service and only do it part-time. I get having a tasting if you have payed for a venue and want to come in and taste the different plates. We have a 5 star rating on google/FB and I 100% stand behind my food but I can't really justify firing up the smoker and dedicating the time to win somebody's business.

Am I crazy? Any advice? Do most of yall provide this service?

 

[mikemci]

I don't know squat about catering but I can sure see your point. I have a couple of thoughts though, take it for what it cost you:
Can you charge for a tasting or would you be the only one in the catering business to do that?

Would it be feasible to vacuum seal/freeze/reheat additional product, you could purchase for a paying gig?

Hope you find a solution, cause that would suck to feed a bunch of people, just to be told they will choose another caterer.

 

[Inthewoods]

Pay to play.No reason to dig in and fire up yer cooker if they're not looking to hire ya. 5 star rating ought to be enough comfort for most.

-D

 

[Baychilla]

From the customer side most people I know didn't pay for a tasting of say a wedding caterer. The few that did had the cost of the tasting deducted from the total bill.

 

[mrpigs]

Not in the business either but run my own business.

You don't get the opportunity to test out all of your costs that go into your products, fixed or not, before you buy.

Why should they be any different?

Not trying to sound hard nosed, but I don't offer services for free to try to get another client.

In my opinion, which is that and nothing more, this is where your ratings and references come into play.

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

You need to set yourself a policy, say something like, free tasting on a catering order of 100(?)plates or more. Sorta weed them out some.

 

[pharp]

Lots of good advice. Thanks everyone. I used to work in a hotel where people would spend thousands of dollars on a wedding and the hotel did not allow outside food. In those cases people would come in and pick a couple of main courses and sides from the hotel's kitchen to try for their wedding menu...but the business was already booked and it was a "which do we like better" tasting.

If someone wanted to put a deposit down on a large event and then asked if they could try a couple of items to build their menu I would likely be happy to do so.

I think I will add some verbiage to my catering menu and let people know why we don't offer tastings.

 

[Dr. Weld]

Why don’t you offer a tasting dinner menu ,once-twice a month, for a set price, have a variety of foods and go from there. If you’re getting a lot inquires, it may swing some new clients your way.

I wouldn’t offer a tasting menu for free though. Time is money, plus consumables. Just sharing my two ribs. Lol

 

[pharp]

Why don’t you offer a tasting dinner menu ,once-twice a month, for a set price, have a variety of foods and go from there. If you’re getting a lot inquires, it may swing some new clients your way.

I wouldn’t offer a tasting menu for free though. Time is money, plus consumables. Just sharing my two ribs. Lol

That is a really good idea. If we ever move to doing this full-time I think I will totally steal that idea . It doesn't really make sense at this point because we are luckily staying as busy as we want (we really only do this on weekends). I could totally see doing a $10/person tasting one day a month if we move full-time.

 

[pjtexas1]

Tell them to stop by when your in business for a free sample. That way it's already cooked.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[midwest_kc]

We charge for tastings, but if they book with us and place a deposit that day, then we don't charge for the tasting. IMO, it weeds out the people looking for a free meal a bit. Also, it's a tasting for 2. I'm not feeding the moms, and everyone else in the family. Less opinions means easier decisions and I book more jobs on the spot.

 

[medic92]

If they're asking for an item that's on our regular menu we ask them to visit during business hours to try it out. If it's something just on our catering menu I'd be willing to do a tasting. In our small town I can put up a Facebook post that I have food that people can call and order and any leftovers would be gone within an hour or so.


I like a lot of the ideas on here though, and I can easily see implementing a lot of them.

 

[HBMTN]

If you want to play seriously in the wedding business then tastings are a part of it. Think of how many 5 star places you've had a bad meal at dinner and think of it from a clients perspective. Would you want to drop $3000-$12,000 plus on a caterer to cater a $40,000 wedding having never even tasted their food?

We have a few rules for our tasting policy. 1) It's limited to 4 people 2) Client gets to choose 2 meat and 3 side options to try 3) Client gets 7 days after tasting to request a contract and 5 days from the request to sign and return the contract for the date before we will book another client for that date 4) Client pays a $150 tasting fee up front. This weeds out the not so serious clients. If the final food portion of the invoice is over $3500 the tasting fee is credited to the final invoice. (not doing tastings for $1200 events). If the client wants more than 4 people at tasting they pay an additional $25 per person of which does not qualify for any credit at final invoice.

In my 9 years of catering, I have probably done 30-40 tastings and booked all but 2 of them. Of the 2 I could tell 5 minutes into the tasting (prior to even tasting the food) that they were not going to book me. One even told me so but her friend said she needed to try our food as if it were her bride given right. After her, I started charging the $150 fee. Face it, you are not a fit for all and it's better to find that out at a tasting that 2 weeks prior to a wedding. Your stress level will be extreme by that point.
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If you're doing some public events tell the client you will be selling barbecue on XX date and if she would like to stop by for a sample it would be free. Many will do that forgoing the tasting process.