I just got a call from a cake customer asking if I can cater a small gathering with heavy hor'dourves. I have been pounding the net for websites in my area with price lists, but no one lists them. Guess it changes alot. Do any of you do this kind of catering? I do sweet tables & I charge per piece for that. I was thinking of offering different menue choices for one price. Any thoughts? Thanks, Helen

Check out www.appetizerstogo.com. I recently stopped catering and that is where I found quite a bit of my appetizer items. They're a little pricey.

I have a friend who is a chef and does quite a bit of catering in FL and he makes some things and gets others from Sam's. He charges per person for any of his events based on what types of foods they want and his costs.

I had my wedding catered in Chattanooga, TN with "heavy hors douvres" and they charged me $17 per person.

Thanks for your responses. Helen

having shopped the big three (Sams, BJs and Costco)...Costco (if in you area) has the best ready made "horses duvers" (as mom used to say).

if yo ugo that route, charge double what you paid to buy.

Hi candyladyhelen,

Don't forget to ascertain what she means by "cater" Does she want you to drop off trays of hors d'ouevre or does she want t em served? Are you supposed to provide napkins, plates, utensils, etc. Does she want you to clean up? Will you have to hire people to help? Nail it all down ahead of time so you can charge appropriately.

Good Luck!

Shalom,
itsacake!

I cater and I don't think charging twice the amount is enough with even the ready made stuff you have more to consider than the cost of the food...they are paying as much for your service. As I once told a customer who told me they could take their party to a buffet with lots of hot food choices for a sit down dinner for what I was charging. Could you get them to bring it to you for that? Also we work on a smaller scale and the service is more personal. Even with the ready made chicken strips and meatballs from Sams I add my own sauces and seasonings. It all does depend on what all they want in the package. I usually charge around $15.00 per person on heavy fingerfoods....depending on how many choices they want and the type of choices. I offer a basic list of choices ...(chicken strips- veggie trays- cheese and cracker trays, cocktail sausages in sauce-fruit tray) for this price. If they want to add boiled cold shrimp or steak strips or anything a little more pricy I go up 5.00 per. I give them usually 5 choices. Then if they want 7 choices I go up to 17.00 per. 22.00 per if one of the choices is seafood etc. They aren't getting any more actual food just a wider variety.

Usually you can count on about a pound of food per person, this doesnt mean that everyone is going to eat a full pound you will have dieters who eat nothing or just a few ounces and guys who will eat over a lb. but it all averages out. Hope some of this helps.

Thank you, it was very informative. I spent the entire day from 10am til 6:15 working on my recipies and checking the web for others who cater. I made the list, typed up a descriptive and priced it all. I emailed it to her. Now I am waiting, but it was good to get this done. I now have the basis to start offering these items also.

I have done a few tea parties--which are basically heavy finger foods and light desserts...and I charge $20/person without beverages, $25 with, and if they want me to bring alcohol, I sell it at the retail price, but the liquor store near my house gives me a 10-15% discount, so I get that as "profit".

I suppose if I wasnt including desserts, I could probably do pretty well charging $15 or so per person!

I tried to post earlier, but the site locked up.

I priced appetizers about a year ago and the price varied according to hot/cold, expense of food (like shrimp), number of selections, including drinks and/or including dessert.

If you prepare hot appetizers yourself and offer several appetizer choices, then the price per person is the same as a regular dinner or greater. Here in Indiana $15-$35 per person. These prices are with trained cookstaff preparing and serving the food

For Sams Club food, people just buy it themselves and then have a friend or pay someone to heat and serve.

Most of the time in the industry we charge per person. For hors douvres normally between $10 and $20 dependant on the menu and how elaborate. Industry standard is no more than 30-35% food cost. So say you spend $100 buying food to prepare you need to get between $285-333 just for the food. Then you need to factor in any additional costs (i.e rentals, cleanup, setup etc) So if any of you do this type of thing take the food cost or estimated food cost and divide by 30 and 35% to give you the range in which to charge for the food alone