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TracyMC 03/23/11 |
I am doing a spaghetti dinner for a local non profit, they have pre sold roughly 200 tix, and are open to at the door sales as well, I am planning on cooking for 250 ppl, do you think that is overplanned enough, or do you think that is too high or too low? I am just not sure how to deal with the at the door issue?
Menu;
Asiago Sourdough French Bread Sundae Bar Strawberry Lemonade, amd a Spumoni Spritzer What would you think is a fair price? |
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ellen 03/23/11 |
They contract with you for a certain number of dinners, which you provide. THEY, not you, decide how many additional dinners they wish to have available. If sold, great, if not, the food is theirs, they can sell it, give it away, etc. The actual overage will depend on type of group, time of day, day of the week, preceeding events, competing events, location, etc. I don't have enough information to help you or them with the numbers. Are you donating the labor? Are you responsible for setting up, serving, cleaning up, china, silverware, table or equipment rental, contracting service staff? Have you purchased event liability insurance for yourself (you need it)? Gotten local permits? This is an upscale spaghetti menu, around here it would cater for about $17 per person plus $5-6 per person for the sundae bar. |
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TracyMC 03/23/11 |
We are an event caterer, but I dont have alot of experience with befefits, as I dont sell meals at the door, so typically I just add the 10% and let it go at that for oversell and extra guests. But I was hoping to draw off of some of your forums expertise regarding benefit dinners and such. My hope is to make enough extra to deal with those sales and not have a ton of excess. As far as the questions regarding donating labor, yes, food, yes, Permits , yes, and all of the plate, flatware, linens, table dressings,hot hold (Cambros), and proper sanitation equipt, yes. I would have posted this over at cheftalk, but you see benefit dinner questions all the time and no one ever gets a straight answer. As far as the pricing goes its up to them and is already set, I gave them some guidance on pricing, but the priced it much lower tham I would have!! I was just gathering intel. Its all profit for them;) I know, I can always donate the leftovers, to a local shelter, that is what we do with all of our excess. |
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ellen 03/23/11 |
OK, that's a little clearer. Is this a situation where they are likely to have walkins due to the location, or because it is coming after a meeting, workshop or event, religious service, etc? Or where people who have already bought tickets may bring extra guests or family members? Those are the main times you would run over your 250. Otherwise, your numbers should be OK. |
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TracyMC 03/23/11 |
The organizers have sent the event flyer out to over 3000 ppl via hard copy and email, The Location is excellent for street exposure, Its on Saturday Evening, coupled with the menu and lower than expected cost to attend, It could be a Perfect Storm, which is great for the organization, but hard to plan for. |
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ellen 03/23/11 |
OK. I would go to the committee, say, how many dinners do you want to contract - including their estimate of tickets at the door-and get a set price; then "extra plates if available will be x dollars", and make 10% above what they are willing to contract for. It is always the caterer's fault if the food runs out for the ticketed guests, that is why you MUST get them to set the ticket limit. |
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TracyMC 03/25/11 |
Ellen, Thanks for all the help. We think an awful lot alike, that is exactly what I did, We came to the conclusion of plan for 300, sell take away meals, and donate what is left to one of the shelters I consult for as a chef. I typically dont do events that are not pre sold, even though we do a couple of events a week, I always like to have a forum to bounce ideas off of! Thank You again |
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TracyMC 03/25/11 |
Ellen, Thanks for all the help. We think an awful lot alike, that is exactly what I did, We came to the conclusion of plan for 300, sell take away meals, and donate what is left to one of the shelters I consult for as a chef. I typically dont do events that are not pre sold, even though we do a couple of events a week, I always like to have a forum to bounce ideas off of! Thank You again |