Making a profit on BBQ

BRTLATJGT

BRTLATJGT

Knows what a fatty is.
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Many of the better BBQ restaurants are charging about $22 for a pound of prime Angus brisket that they get from Creekstone. A 14-16 pound brisket prime on there website is $130. Factoring in trimming and what you lose cooking it seems you would only break even. I know they are paying less but still seems like pretty slim profit margins.
 
You need to factor in that alot of places just break even on certain items to get customers in the door, and make up on Alcoholic drinks and other more profitable items.
 
Also, you might be surprised at how much less they pay for them than the retail 'street' price.

But it also depends on if they have to go through a distributor or not - every set of hands that touch the product add to the cost.
 
Our margin on brisket is pretty slim, but it gets people to the window and they also buy sides and other items. A brisket sandwich is about six ounces of brisket, so I get nearly three sandwiches out of a pound of brisket at $7.75 a sandwich. Of course when you factor in the bun, barbecue sauce, containers, etc. the margin gets even slimmer. Our small town market won't bear much higher prices, so that's just the way it goes. We make enough to keep the doors open and pay our bills, and that's all I really ask. I never expected to get rich doing this, I just wanted to be happy with what I was doing and spend more time with my wife. Mission accomplished!
 
What do yo think the labor and overhead cost is per 15lb brisket? I bet you could make 50-75 dollars profit even after you consider shrinkage, labor, overhead, etc.
 
My general rule of thumb is three to four times the base cost of the product (meat, breads, sauces, and other). This generally covers most of the costs and leaves a little left over (but not much).

The best way to make money is to cut costs. To be honest, I don't use prime when doing a long cook like brisket. In fact I've beaten teams that were using prime and even wagyu brisket with a choice cut at a far lower cost. I guess what I'm saying is that you can use a lower cost cut, modify your cook, and end up with a 'Prime' result.
 
Divemaster said:
My general rule of thumb is three to four times the base cost of the product (meat, breads, sauces, and other). This generally covers most of the costs and leaves a little left over (but not much).

The best way to make money is to cut costs. To be honest, I don't use prime when doing a long cook like brisket. In fact I've beaten teams that were using prime and even wagyu brisket with a choice cut at a far lower cost. I guess what I'm saying is that you can use a lower cost cut, modify your cook, and end up with a 'Prime' result.
Click to expand...

Jeff beat me to it. This answer here.
 
BRTLATJGT said:
Many of the better BBQ restaurants are charging about $22 for a pound of prime Angus brisket that they get from Creekstone. A 14-16 pound brisket prime on there website is $130. Factoring in trimming and what you lose cooking it seems you would only break even. I know they are paying less but still seems like pretty slim profit margins.
Click to expand...


What's funny is the comments of the people in the Franklin videos who do basic math and think Aaron is profiting $50K a day.
 
Sides and drinks are where you make a ton of money. The type of meat you're serving needs to make sense for your area. I live in eastern NC and out here pork is king and also very cheap, usually about $1.50/lb. Not much beef out here on the coast but I can get my hands on CAB Choice brisket for about $3/lb.

Others have also alluded to "wholesale" vs "retail" and it's a massive difference. The price will also be reduced when ordering in larger quantities. So it might say $130 on the website, but I would bet restaurants are getting that same product for probably $60-70, if not cheaper.
 
SmoothBoarBBQ said:
Sides and drinks are where you make a ton of money. The type of meat you're serving needs to make sense for your area. I live in eastern NC and out here pork is king and also very cheap, usually about $1.50/lb. Not much beef out here on the coast but I can get my hands on CAB Choice brisket for about $3/lb.

Others have also alluded to "wholesale" vs "retail" and it's a massive difference. The price will also be reduced when ordering in larger quantities. So it might say $130 on the website, but I would bet restaurants are getting that same product for probably $60-70, if not cheaper.
Click to expand...

There can be a difference, but normally it isn't a "massive" difference. I pay about $1.06-$1.12/# for pork butts. That is certainly better than $1.50, but it isn't that much in reality. In my business I do not buy briskets, but I do purchase a fair number of ribeye loins. You would be surprised if I told you that I pay over $12/# for the ribeyes I serve in my restaurant. And yes...it's one of those "get them in the door" items. It is also great beef.
 
Cook said:
There can be a difference, but normally it isn't a "massive" difference. I pay about $1.06-$1.12/# for pork butts. That is certainly better than $1.50, but it isn't that much in reality. In my business I do not buy briskets, but I do purchase a fair number of ribeye loins. You would be surprised if I told you that I pay over $12/# for the ribeyes I serve in my restaurant. And yes...it's one of those "get them in the door" items. It is also great beef.
Click to expand...

Sam's Club in N. Charleston is charging $1.78/lb for pork butt. So you're paying roughly 45% less than retail, and that's actually pretty substantial. Sam's is quasi-wholesale therefore it's going to be cheaper than the actual retail in your area (most of the time).

Sounds like you've got a good thing going and that's good to hear. I was in Mt. Pleasant back in November for a KCBS competition and it's a nice place.
 
I have no interest in doing this but this is an interesting discussion. To add another dimension to the convo how would all this apply to a BBQ food truck? Obviously a restaurant would be ideal as a money making machine but for an amateur cook looking to turn their passion into a business venture Without the overhead of a restaurant for short or long term a food truck sounds like an interesting avenue. I know someone here in south Florida that started a Caribbean food truck and it’s going well. Thoughts?
 
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