What the Plate Costs Before You Quote It
Tomatoes have doubled since the last wedding. The quotation is going out tomorrow at the rate you used in January, because that is the rate everybody remembers.
Built up from your own recipes
Ingredients per plate
Your recipe says what goes into one plate of each item. At the rates you are buying at today, that becomes an ingredient cost for the menu as it stands.
The costs people forget
Cooks and servers for that session, transport for the van, gas, vessel hire and the counters. Added on, because they are what turns a good rate into a bad function.
Cost beside price
The per-plate rate you intend to quote sits next to what the plate costs you. The gap is visible while you can still do something about it.
Counters priced on their own
A live dosa counter and a chaat stall do not belong inside a per-plate rate. They are costed and quoted separately, the way you actually sell them.
After the function, the truth
What was bought against that event is compared with what the costing assumed.
- Purchases booked against this event, not spread across the week
- What the plate was expected to cost, and what it did
- Which items ran over, so the recipe or the rate gets corrected
- Extra plates and additions at the hall, included where they belong
Said honestly
It is only as good as your recipes
A costing built on rough quantities gives a rough answer. Getting your standard recipes written down for the items you cook most is real work, and it is the part that decides whether any of this is worth having.
Rates move, and somebody has to update them
Vegetable rates from the yard change week to week. One person keeps the rate list current, or the costing quietly goes stale and nobody notices until a function loses money.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to enter every recipe before we start?
No. Most caterers begin with the twenty or thirty items that appear on nearly every menu, and add the rest as they are cooked.
Can different rates apply to different seasons?
Rates are updated as you buy, and old costings keep the rate they were built on. A wedding costed in April still shows what April assumed.
Does the quotation show our cost?
No. The family sees per-plate rates by session, counters priced separately, and the advance. Costing and margin stay with the people you choose.
Tell us what you need.
Send a short brief and one of our engineers will come back to you — usually the same day.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private