Pricing Pulled Pork for 200 People

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Philly-QueMaster

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I just got asked to cook for a church for 200 people.

They wanted a price for pulled pork and 2 sides.

How would you guys price this out? Would you do it a price per head?

Or would you do it like price per pound and charge for the sides separately?

Thanks
Patrick
 
I dont cater but I have cooked for crowds that large. Do you know what your costs are? You'll want to make sure you're making money. If I were to charge for 200 people, and I was providing sandwiches and sides, I would do it per head.
 
For pork butts its like $2/lb around here. Plus a bag of lump charcoal and my spices.

Sides I'd do coleslaw and baked beans.

I was gonna sit down and figure out my total cost.

But wasn't sure if I should just price it out per head, or charge it based on price per pound for the meat, and then price out the sides separately.

What do you think is fair price per head for Pulled Pork Sandwiches and 2 sides?

Assuming 4oz pork per sandwhich.

sudsandswine said:
I dont cater but I have cooked for crowds that large. Do you know what your costs are? You'll want to make sure you're making money. If I were to charge for 200 people, and I was providing sandwiches and sides, I would do it per head.
Click to expand...
 
Are you cooking food for them or are you going to cater the event, set up and maintain buffet etc? Do you have all of the disposables involved like plates, flatware, napkins?

If you are just cooking and they are handling everything else and you will either deliver the food or they will pick it up then you should define how much you are providing per person like 5oz pork and 4oz of each side and charge them per person based on how many they order for. Keep in mind that it takes on average 120 servings to feed 100 people self-serve buffet style. So if they are feeding 200 people it COULD take as much as 240 serving. Let them decide if they want to order extra to be safe.

For on-site catering, I charge additional for the food 20% to cover the those who take large portions and go back for seconds or thirds. I also charge labor fees for the staffing to prep, serve, clean up and put away all equipment used that would not have been a part of a drop-off. You can spend a lot of additional time catering an event vs doing a drop-off and should charge accordingly.
 
Sounds like I will just be cooking the food and sides and they will be taking care of everything else.

They will either pickup or I will drop it off for an extra fee.

If they wanted the heated foil pans I would charge for the cost of those.

I honestly just don't know what a fair price per head is for pulled pork and 2 sides.

Any thoughts on where to start for that?

HBMTN said:
Are you cooking food for them or are you going to cater the event, set up and maintain buffet etc? Do you have all of the disposables involved like plates, flatware, napkins?

If you are just cooking and they are handling everything else and you will either deliver the food or they will pick it up then you should define how much you are providing per person like 5oz pork and 4oz of each side and charge them per person based on how many they order for. Keep in mind that it takes on average 120 servings to feed 100 people self-serve buffet style. So if they are feeding 200 people it COULD take as much as 240 serving. Let them decide if they want to order extra to be safe.

For on-site catering, I charge additional for the food 20% to cover the those who take large portions and go back for seconds or thirds. I also charge labor fees for the staffing to prep, serve, clean up and put away all equipment used that would not have been a part of a drop-off. You can spend a lot of additional time catering an event vs doing a drop-off and should charge accordingly.
Click to expand...
 
$10/person. That's with cheaper sides. Start making those beans fancier with brisket or something and the price goes up
 
My baked beans I add 1lb of bacon and 1lb and sausage. There's also another ingredient that is a little expensive.

One batch costs me around $20-$25 to make and fills up one small foil pan.

Don't really know how many people that would feed.

midwest_kc said:
$10/person. That's with cheaper sides. Start making those beans fancier with brisket or something and the price goes up
Click to expand...
 
I'm betting if you have to ask these questions you are not a licensed and insured caterer. Where do you plan to live when Mable says she got sick eating your food?
 
Thanks

That was very helpful.

I'm actually in the process of getting all my licenses and insurance.

Thanks anyways though. Real insightful.

poorolddan said:
I'm betting if you have to ask these questions you are not a licensed and insured caterer. Where do you plan to live when Mable says she got sick eating your food?
Click to expand...
 
Philly-QueMaster said:
For pork butts its like $2/lb around here. Plus a bag of lump charcoal and my spices.

Sides I'd do coleslaw and baked beans.

I was gonna sit down and figure out my total cost.

But wasn't sure if I should just price it out per head, or charge it based on price per pound for the meat, and then price out the sides separately.

What do you think is fair price per head for Pulled Pork Sandwiches and 2 sides?

Assuming 4oz pork per sandwhich.
Click to expand...

Look at it like this...

Pork raw is $2/lb, assuming you don't trim anything and put the butts right on there, you're looking at a 50-60% yield for cooked weight. We'll go with 50% to keep the math easy, and you're now at $4/lb cost without any rubs, seasonings, injections, fuel, etc. You're gonna go through quite a bit of rub for 200 servings worth of meat, I think I used about $60 worth of rub for that headcount, and that's bulk prices. So now you're probably up to $5-6/lb with rub/wood/fuel etc. Now you gotta make money on that. Serving 1/3lb portions, you'll get 3 sandwiches out of a pound of meat. Now you need to figure out the costs of your sides. Then you have to charge enough to make the time/effort worthwhile.

When I ran the numbers I found that the juice wouldn't be worth the squeeze for ME, so that's why I don't cater :thumb:
 
For just the meat and two sides we would charge $10/person unless they wanted mac & cheese for a side, which is expensive for us to make and we'd charge $11/person. Cole slaw is pretty inexpensive and baked beans aren't too bad, depending on what your "special" ingredient it is. If it happens to be bourbon, get the cheap stuff! :becky:
 
Thanks to everyone who actually gave constructive advice and help.

I was thinking around $10/person so it seems like I was correct and its a fair price.

Thanks again.

medic92 said:
For just the meat and two sides we would charge $10/person unless they wanted mac & cheese for a side, which is expensive for us to make and we'd charge $11/person. Cole slaw is pretty inexpensive and baked beans aren't too bad, depending on what your "special" ingredient it is. If it happens to be bourbon, get the cheap stuff! :becky:
Click to expand...
 
I cook a lot of pulled pork dinners for our church.
Pulled pork - 4 oz
Slaw - 2 oz
Beans - 4 oz
Cornbread - 1 piece
Total costs for meat, sides, seasonings, sauce, foil & pans, fuel for cooker usually come out to about $3 per plate.
They supply the plates, napkins, forks, drinks and desserts. I donate my time
 
Philly-QueMaster said:
Thanks to everyone who actually gave constructive advice and help.
Click to expand...

I know Poorolddan's response isn't what you wanted to hear, but he was doing so for a very good reason. Check out this thread to see why he brought it up.

I'm willing to cook for our family dinners, and even a nephews wedding rehearsal...but only because everything we do is pot-luck, and I'm not charging a cent. Still, I wonder how 'at risk' I am by doing the cooking.
 
Yeah I get it but he assumed I don’t know that I need licenses, permits and insurance if I’m gonna charge.

I’m in the process of getting everything I need to sell food locally.

And yeah I will donate my time to my church. But this is for a church I don’t have any part of.
.
TravelingJ said:
I know Poorolddan's response isn't what you wanted to hear, but he was doing so for a very good reason. Check out this thread to see why he brought it up.

I'm willing to cook for our family dinners, and even a nephews wedding rehearsal...but only because everything we do is pot-luck, and I'm not charging a cent. Still, I wonder how 'at risk' I am by doing the cooking.
Click to expand...
 
Philly-QueMaster said:
My baked beans I add 1lb of bacon and 1lb and sausage. There's also another ingredient that is a little expensive.

One batch costs me around $20-$25 to make and fills up one small foil pan.
Click to expand...


One-half pan of beans had roughly 25 4oz servings. If your cost of ingredients is $22.50 for that pan you need to seel that pan for $67.50 minimum so the per person price for a 4oz serving will be at least $2.70 for beans. That would be on the high end of a reasonable price in my area. In my market, I'd reduce my cost to where I could get that price down to a $2 side unless they were so good people raved over them and didn't mind paying the extra.
 
Looks to me like maybe $12.50 per adult plate plus all the beer you can drink and they clean up the mess and drive you home.
 
If you're going to be legal by the time this rolls around, then at least get case price from Sam's ($1.60 in Bluffton)...AND set up a wholesale account and don't pay the sales tax. That will help you some. Still, those prices are extremely high. I'm paying $1.20 for fresh, and could save probably another .10-.15 with frozen. The market is going up, and likely will not stop.
 
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