Profitable Catering Extras – By Joe Dunbar

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If you offer your guests a complete package for their event, how do you price extras? How do these extras impact the overall event profit? Your base package needs to offer value in your market niche. Pricing this base package depends on local competition and your menu focus. Once the guests decide on a package, your extras must generate above average profits.

Car manufacturers and sales staff at the dealer locations understand this model very well. The base car model is priced to get you in the door. Extras are used to put money in the bank.

With respect to the mechanics, I start with the base package and completely cost out food production for 100 guests. Let’s add a shrimp cocktail as an extra. First, cost the shrimp cocktail portion per guest. You may want to produce twice the profit as your base. If your current food cost percentage is 20% and your bottom line profit is 7%, multiply the portion cost by 5 and add an additional 7% to the result.

As you sell more extras, these options will allow you to offer smaller portions of the base package menu items. Your guests will expect to see a full portion of our shrimp cocktail example. As you sell more options, the profits will increase and the overall weight of the entire meal will shift. Offer the standard portion size for your main entree. Serve less food on the other courses. For example, you can serve a smaller salad portion.

Selling extras to your guests will greatly enhance the overall event result.

Joe Dunbar
Dunbar Associates
(703) 425-6052
(202) 315-3664 eFax
jdunbar401@aol.com
www.joedunbar.com

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