unofficial catering business

Don't underestimate the value of your time, even if you love what you are doing. Take a look at the other local catering companies and the prices that they charge and price yourself in the middle to start. Once you gain a reputation for quality food, then adjust your pricing. You would be suprised how much catering actually costs. Good Luck!

I think you will get a lot of negative feedback on this only because the guys that are on this board that do up and up catering have invested a lot of time and money to ensure they are doing it right and they feel like giving you input on doing this is essentially saying it's ok to run black market catering, which it isn't. What happens if someone gets sick? What happens when something goes wrong?

That said, the easiest way to do this is to create a spreadsheet that tracks each element you use when cooking and to create a cost per element. This will tell you exactly how much you've spent in the past and will therefore give you a very good estimate, based on current costs, for a cook. I have a spreadsheet that tells me per ounce of rub, per ounce of mustard, per glove, per foot of foil, per charcoal poundage, per wood chunk what it costs for me to cook x amount of different items. That will give you some idea of what you might want to track.

That said I checked my current sheet and my cost shows to be just under double the price of meat.

Cost x 3, unless you turn down people who call that are not friends, it will start to grow and friends of friend will start calling. Sooner or later one of those friends of friend will get a price from a caterer and then go with you. Word will get around and before you know it someone will turn you in to the HD.

I have never turned anyone in but what does kinda tick me off is when people way under cut my price because they don't have all of the expense of being legal. So for that reason I would go cost x 3.

HBMTN said:

Cost x 3, unless you turn down people who call that are not friends, it will start to grow and friends of friend will start calling. Sooner or later one of those friends of friend will get a price from a caterer and then go with you. Word will get around and before you know it someone will turn you in to the HD.

I have never turned anyone in but what does kinda tick me off is when people way under cut my price because they don't have all of the expense of being legal. So for that reason I would go cost x 3.

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A couple of the places near me that are commercial are almost exactly this. I don't sell to anyone but I do cook for neighborhood gatherings and for some of our church events at cost. I only cook for events that my family is attending, I don't do drop offs.

I think you will find that cost x3 is a good number for what most places charge. Catering and restaurants may even get a little higher in some areas. I think you will also find that some of those folks are a little more hesitant once you start charging a fair price.

I think what HBMTN is saying is a valid point, that eventually, if your reputation grows, you will find out that you will come to the attention of others, some of those won't like you too much.

Liability doesn't always mean when charging only. One can still be in trouble by doing things improperly for free. Cooling,holding, food not done, etc. That's one reason it's hard to help someone not doing things as us that do. Go with what you feel comfortable with. But please keep people's safety in mind first before cost. Steve.

I do it because I enjoy it =hobby
Cost plus =work.
Im retired but not a lot of money either. But I do things for free or I don't do them. I just like to help out. Praise is reward enough. I help the ones I want and say no to the others. Plenty people who charge. With out obeying the laws the risk is to high.

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In general - HDs are only concerned with commercial food service. That means "you're getting paid" & "paid" can mean cash, gift card or even barter. In most areas, the only way to stay on the legal side of HD regs is to cook for free - no pay in any form or manner. Once you start wanting to make a profit - again even if that profit is some sort of barter - you've gone commercial & are subject to HD regs.

That said - the cost (including fuel cost) x 3 is a very good formula for this sort of thing. Standard food service mark up. Just make sure you are truly keeping it in a very small circle of friends or you definitely will likely draw the attention of the HD.

Be very careful my friend. Because you might find out that some of your "friends" aren't really your "friends". Like others have said odds are if your Q is good word will naturally spread to other friends then friends of friends.

When the word gets to that level then it begins reaching people's ears who may have a monetary interest in how you're going about doing business. In other words they maybe in the same business or thinking about getting into the same business and see a viable way of getting rid of competition by turning you in.

My business partner had this happen to a lady at his church. She ran a cake business out of her home. It started just like you're describing. Word got out more and more and she eventually was running a full fledge business. There was another lady in the church who ran a cake business but it was "legit". Not out of the home. She had a store front, sign out front, the whole nine yards. She turned her in. How about that? A sister in Christ turning in another sister in Christ to the HD? Be careful.

I charge people my cost x2 and my time at min. Wage. For actual work time, not the time the meat is smoking and I'm doing other stuff.
If your looking to get in to catering yu should check out your states farmers market laws, in VT as long as you are not makining $150 per week over the entire year you can serve food at markets w/o any D.O.H. Licensing. I'm not sure what other states have for laws but it's worth looking in to, it's how I got started catering, a great way to get your name and q out there. You could also sell your sauce,and rubs, there are different laws for processed foods like that, here is anything under $10,000 per year is ok w/o a license, just a label with ing, and your name and address.
Good luck

I hate to be a stick in the mud, but you already know the answers to your questions on this:

Hozman said:

I know a true catering business takes a lot of time, dedication. There is health department requirements, city codes/ordinances, ect.
Yes, There are health department requirements, city codes/ordinances, ect. They are there for a reason. The requirements are in place for the protection of the public and yourself.

For me I am a guy who cooks in his backyard and my friends like my Q. With that I have had some requests from friends to cook for this b-day party or this family gathering ect. I do not want to jump feet first into a full time catering business. I have a great full time job.
You state you don't want to jump feet first into a catering business. You can't just dabble in a catering business. You either need to jump in or jump out. There is no such thing as "kind of legal". I payed about $10,000 in licenses, permits, Health Department Permits, Food Managers classes and permits, taxes on my food, employees, workman's comp insurance, liability insurance, unemployment insurance, etc. just for the oppertunity to cook BBQ.

I do want to get paid for my time and the resources that I use. I don't want to screw my friends but want an honest wage for what I am doing. So far I have always done it for free if they bring me the meat. You start adding in rub, tin pans, ect starts to cost some good $$.
See above quote ^. If you get paid, you are running a business!

So how do I know what is fair price. I was thinking to charge double what ever I have in meat, rubs, sauces, misc. This would cover my supplies used and put money in my pocket. Does that seem fair or 50% over cost?
See above again, if you get paid, you are running an illegal business!

Looking for input.

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Sorry, but you asked for input. I did not sugar coat anything to make you feel better about what you are are doing. This is coming from someone that is running a legitimate business and someone that is involved in law enforcement.

I never charge to cook, whether for friends, family, or church.

OK...I'm going to jump on this wagon for a sec. I'm in kind of the same situation as the OP. I have been BBQ'ing for myself and for church and school events for free for a while. Around my town, there are people that have asked me to cook for them for parties and such too or even pay me cost x 2 for a butt, ribs, chicken, brisket, whatever while I've got the smoker going on weekends.

While I completely understand that to be legit, you have to be legit, I have to say that it's just not practical for a guy like me or the OP (and I'm not speaking for you necessarily Hozman) to go spend thousands of dollars to cook an occasional party out of my house. Heck, to be legit in some places means having a completely seperate kitchen, etc.

I understand that if I were serious (and I may be one day) about getting a real deal BBQ catering/vending biz rolling, there's an investment to be made, but would you have me believe that every person who ever started out in the biz went all out and completely licensed, permitted, inspected, certified and all for THOUSANDS of bucks before they ever sold their first pulled pork sandwich?

I'm not trying to argue, just can't see how this can be the case is all. you gotta start somewhere, right? I guess the question is, where to draw the line and take the leap?

I knew this would cause a stink. What kind of insurance do you have if you make a bunch of people sick? Is is worth losing everything you own? What does it cost for 100 people to go to the emergency room on your dime? How much is the fine from the Health Dept and from your City Government? As stated above, you don't know who is watching you!

I've seen this issue come up many times, and each time someone says, "oh, that's illegal (part-time catering)." Well, that depends on what state you live in. Here in TN - or at least in my county, and I believe the laws apply state-wide but I won't swear to it - you can cater "infrequently" (and infrequently, according to my health department because I asked, is once a month or so) without meeting health department requirements. You can't pass out business cards, advertise, etc., but you can cater. Are you liable if you make someone sick? Sure! But are you doing anything illegal here in TN? No - at least not in my county. Here's the actual reply to the second HD inspector I asked:

Mr. Wear,
I spoke to my supervisor regarding Occasional Food Sales. Occasional Sales refers only to a catering operation. Specifically, Catering Operations that operate from their principle residence, have no full time employees, only occasional sales of food during any thirty (30) day period, (occasional sales is defined as a caterer that does not advertise and has not constructed, extensively remodeled, or converted their principle residence to use as a food service establishment from their principle residence) do not require a permit.

Not trying to make this a stink, just trying to think it through.

All I'm saying is.....every caterer on here spent thousands of dollars, got licenses, permits, set up a seperate kitchen, bought all new gear, and THEN advertised and waited for customers? That seems insane!

I'm not suggesting that it's cool to undercut real catering companies and do this "illegally" on a regular basis. I'm just saying that it seems to me that a guy has to wade in a bit and start somewhere.

And I'm also aware that this isn't necessarily Hozman's original question/issue, but I'm also assuming that if he gets more and more requests and realizes that he can make a regular income, it may evolve into that.

Wampus said:

Not trying to make this a stink, just trying to think it through.

All I'm saying is.....every caterer on here spent thousands of dollars, got licenses, permits, set up a seperate kitchen, bought all new gear, and THEN advertised and waited for customers? That seems insane!

I'm not suggesting that it's cool to undercut real catering companies and do this "illegally" on a regular basis. I'm just saying that it seems to me that a guy has to wade in a bit and start somewhere.

And I'm also aware that this isn't necessarily Hozman's original question/issue, but I'm also assuming that if he gets more and more requests and realizes that he can make a regular income, it may evolve into that.

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I would also bet that a high percentage of legit caterers started doing business on the side Then went legal. I doubt any will admit it though.