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Does This Make Sense?

CT-Mike

CT-Mike

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I am talking with a couple local micro-breweries about doing "Beer and BBQ" events on the weekend to jump start my catering business. Neither offers any kind of food at all so I feel this would be a good match.

Should I offer a percentage of sales (if they ask) in return for the use of their property, etc?

I would eventually like to make this an every Saturday kind of thing in the summer, I feel as if it wouldn't be too hard to sell 500 plates/day.
 
CT-Mike said:
I feel as if it wouldn't be too hard to sell 500 plates/day.
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That would be a whole lot harder than you might think even if staying through lunch and dinner. If I could turn that I wouldn't be catering for sure.
 
HBMTN said:
That would be a whole lot harder than you might think even if staying through lunch and dinner. If I could turn that I wouldn't be catering for sure.
Click to expand...

The breweries around here in the summer time get slammed with people. My son was at one yesterday that had at least 400 people (constant population) with a lot of turnover (folks coming/going). There was one food truck that people were stacked up in line to pay $24 for a lobster roll.

The breweries I am looking at working with are in upper $$$ areas of the state.

500 covers might be optimistic, but the gist of my question was whether I should pay a percentage of sales, or if it should be a straight symbiotic relationship?
 
CT-Mike said:
The breweries around here in the summer time get slammed with people. My son was at one yesterday that had at least 400 people (constant population) with a lot of turnover (folks coming/going). There was one food truck that people were stacked up in line to pay $24 for a lobster roll.

The breweries I am looking at working with are in upper $$$ areas of the state.

500 covers might be optimistic, but the gist of my question was whether I should pay a percentage of sales, or if it should be a straight symbiotic relationship?
Click to expand...

If you do then try to keep it between 5-10% of your gross sales. Ideally no more than 7% if they ask for anything at all. In my area they don't charge and look at it as a way to offer food to their customers without having to deal with it.
 
HBMTN said:
If you do then try to keep it between 5-10% of your gross sales. Ideally no more than 7% if they ask for anything at all. In my area they don't charge and look at it as a way to offer food to their customers without having to deal with it.
Click to expand...

I am hoping for a straight up deal with no percentage paid, but I am still trying to get my business off the ground, so if 7% is the price of admission, so be it.

Thanks for the response.
 
If you want a straight up deal I think you need to work out something with them and allow you to sell a few times so you can get a good idea of what your sales will be. That way you have a better idea what is fair and what you can afford to pay. I do however have a friend who operates a ice cream trailer and pays the property owner like $750 per month and leaved the trailer on site all the time. He only pays for the months he is in operation April-Oct.
 
We are booked in around 15 brewies and taprooms. Trust me, you won't do 500 covers a day. More like 50-100 on a good day. As far as rent, I'll echo what was posted earlier, don't pay. You're doing them a favor serving food there. Good luck!

PS: We don't vend BBQ at the brewery's.
 
powerpig said:
We are booked in around 15 brewies and taprooms. Trust me, you won't do 500 covers a day. More like 50-100 on a good day. As far as rent, I'll echo what was posted earlier, don't pay. You're doing them a favor serving food there. Good luck!

PS: We don't vend BBQ at the brewery's.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. Just wondering why you don't vend BBQ at the breweries?
 
CT-Mike said:
Thanks for the information. Just wondering why you don't vend BBQ at the breweries?
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I'm located in North Alabama. There are a bajillion people selling BBQ here. In fact, there are five places within two miles of my home.

That said, we specialize in wild game and exotic meats. It's a niche and we do quite well. Presently, we're booked through August.
 
powerpig said:
I'm located in North Alabama. There are a bajillion people selling BBQ here. In fact, there are five places within two miles of my home.

That said, we specialize in wild game and exotic meats. It's a niche and we do quite well. Presently, we're booked through August.
Click to expand...

That makes a lot of sense. Nice that you've carved out a profitable niche. Here in New England there aren't many BBQ places, and even less that are any good. Of all the breweries in the area, no one was vending BBQ so I am hoping to carve out a similar niche.
 
If you are looking for a small local test area, Preston Ridge Vineyard on Miller Road in Preston could be a start.

They allow one food truck on Friday nights from 5:30 - 8:30 to go along with the musician of the day. The crowds on Friday night run anywhere from 35-75 people depending on the musician.

They also allow one food truck on Sundays from 12-3 when they have musicians.

The kitchen is small and I am not sure if it is certified or not so you will probably have to be self sufficient.

Could be a nice little place to get your name out there
 
gsmith said:
If you are looking for a small local test area, Preston Ridge Vineyard on Miller Road in Preston could be a start.

They allow one food truck on Friday nights from 5:30 - 8:30 to go along with the musician of the day. The crowds on Friday night run anywhere from 35-75 people depending on the musician.

They also allow one food truck on Sundays from 12-3 when they have musicians.

The kitchen is small and I am not sure if it is certified or not so you will probably have to be self sufficient.

Could be a nice little place to get your name out there
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up, I will check it out. My wife mentioned that and also Maugle Sierra in Ledyard.
 
So I am meeting with one brewery manager in two weeks, and received a very enthusiastic callback from the manager of the one my son was at last weekend (different brewery).

She told me that they had 1800 customers through the doors last weekend. A slow weekday is 2-300 people. They do 2 food trucks a day and one dessert truck. No percentage of sales required. They want you to commit to at least 2 days/month, one weekday and one weekend day. One requirement is that if you are on the schedule for the day, you are expected to remain from open to close, even if it is slow.

The good news is that no one is vending BBQ, their typical vendors are slinging sammiches and pizza.

I sent her my application and am awaiting a call back from the local health district on the requirements for a day pass. Don't want to spend the $375 to get a full year license until I vend for a day or two and see how profitable (or not) it will be.
 
CT-Mike - that sounds fantastic and more than you could've hoped for.
Good luck!
 
Preston Ridge Vineyard just had a food truck back out
for July 2nd and August 6th.
If you are interested let me know and I'll give you the contacts cell
 
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