Good Source For Catering Disposables

Thanks Todd. Bookmarked for future use.

Do you strictly do catering or do you have a restaurant in the Raleigh area?

Strictly catering. Owned several restaurants in Greensboro and Atlanta and thought I got out of the business as an operator years ago. Became a builder. People will always need houses I said. Seems wrong right about now! Have been catering for a selected few clients since the mid '90's and have done a lot of restaurant consulting, but now I'm gearing up to do more catering since I need the money. See part about becoming a builder.

Thanks! Care if I shoot you a PM with a couple of catering/vending questions? Sounds like you might know your way around this area some

Not a problem. PM away.

It's likely I'm behind the learning curve on this, but I've never given much thought to the cost of to-go containers. In the restaurant they were always styrofoam boxes that people just carried out in their hand most of the time. And they were cheap.

As I started looking at more fundraising and office type catering I went back and looked at all of my costs. Food cost was in line, but I was surprised at the cost of reliable takeout boxes and containers. To produce a family "kit" for a fundraiser containing 1-2 meats, 2 sides, bread, and dessert (and maybe tea), I might be looking at container costs of $5-6 dollars.

Off the top of my head, had I not looked for myself, I would have waaayy underestimated by several dollars per dinner. You do a fundraiser and sell 400 dinners, and you don't allow for $1000+ of paper costs, you are going to be sorry. I know I would have been.

The typical case cost for some common items I've found are as follows:
1 gal cardboard soup box/$5.75 ea
1 gal plastic jug & lid(mayo type-for soup)/$2.35 ea
1qt plastic or paper container/$.24-.60 ea
1 pt plastic container(deli style)/$.20 ea
1 pt mini milk type bottle & lid(for xtra sauce/$.40
Flat bottom bag/$.35-$2.00 for upscale bag
Clear top bread & dessert box/$.75

And oddly enough, containers made from recycled materials are usually more expensive. Just FYI.

Looking for gel ice packets showed most places sold 48oz size for about $4.50, even Wal-Mart. I found these at U-Line for about $2.00 each.

http://www.uline.com/BL_2158/?pricode=wj41

U-Line also has a special on generic plastic grocery bags 1000/$19.00. They processed and delivered my order in 2 days.

After a lot of looking and ordering samples, I've found some reasonable prices on take out containers and sauce/tea jugs. If anyone needs a source, PM me or post here and I'll respond.

Uh yeah. You might want to look at the shipping cost. I got on there the other day and checked out a few items. I go through a lot of 1 and 3 compartment foam to go trays. 2 cases of trays, although $5.00 cheaper than my GFS vendor, were going to cost me almost $30.00 for shipping!! Are ya kidding me!!! Good grief that was going to make them $10.00 more per case than what I had now. I don't think so! They do have many different sizes and styles but I can't afford the shipping costs.

No argument at all. This wasn't directed at restaurant owners. If your food supplier carries what you need, and you have the need for and the space to store whole cases, then no doubt that is the best way to go. But if you need partial cases like a part time caterer might, then their shipping is very reasonable.

You can even manipulate the system a bit to get better shipping by ordering case quantities broken up into less than case orders. But still, if you don't use enough product to justify whole cases, they're someone to look at. I've been very pleased with their service, and even factoring in shipping, they are less expensive on many items compared to my discount club.

Example: I ordered 50 aluminum platters for $17 incl s/h. or $.34 each. They were $.28 each from my food supplier or $140 for 500/cs, or $4.00 for 3 ($1.33ea) from the grocery store. 50 will last me several months so for me this was a no brainer.

Clearly their shipping system uses size of package as a reference, because smaller heavier packages cost less than bigger lighter packages. I've found the same to be true of other online vendors of other types of items. I just bought 100 pint milk bottles from another vendor and the shipping was $6.00. Shipping for a case of 384 bottles was $35.00. Well, 100 will last me several months and the box isn't ginormous so I don't have to walk around it all the time like I do the 96 gallon box that my tea jugs are shipped in. It's as big as a freezer.

If it gets really crazy, most places will look at actual shipping costs when there is an unusual situation if you call and ask.

Good Point Todd. I actually like the fact that they have such a variety of items. I just go through items so fast. I can see in your case it would be beneficial. If you had a friend that had a restaurant or other similar business it would definitely benefit your bottom line if you could just buy the few that you need from them. I would look around and see if you can develop a network. Just my .02 worth. Have a great weekend!