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9 replies

Tell me how they are doing this???

M mbaileyhttps://www.facebook.com/Baile...62518746394/?fref=ts
I was approached by a sales rep this week. After talking for quite a while he gave me a bag of pork to try and wanted my "honest opinion". It was in a 5# boil bag and they come 2 in a case. It looked nice in the bag (actually pulled not chopped to mush) but I wasn't holding my breath until I tried it. I was actually shocked that it was pretty darn good. I talked to him later and asked what they charged for that and a 10# box was only $31.20.

Is mass production really that efficient? How on earth could they cook it, package it and ship it 500 miles from Ohio and still have any margin left on something like that?

It actually burst my bubble a little since we have been investigating the heat and eat market a little.

At $1.59 on bone in butts this week my rock bottom cost would be about $2.90 per # out the door in a vacuum sealed bag. This does NOT include any labor cost though.

Any thoughts from all you pros out there?
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FM Former Member
They will cut the price with "new products" if they're trying to push it. Don't know if that's the case here but when they do, then down the road they up the price. Think summer time when demand is high.

For me, do you want people to know you're not smoking the pork but buying pre-cooked? I know there are positives and negatives but it would be a big negative. Guess it depends on how you're marketing.

Funny think is there are a LOT of places using this stuff and people either don't know or don't care.

Just work up your full costs and if the quality is what you want let the price comparison help you.
Last edited by Former Member
M mbaileyhttps://www.facebook.com/Baile...62518746394/?fref=ts
We weren't looking to use a product like that but rather were hoping that maybe we could offer something like it to some of the local grocery stores or restaurants and see where it goes from there. Reality is, it would be very difficult to compete with those prices.

I still wonder what they are using?? It's been my experience that the bone in boston butt gives us the best finished quality in the end. I've tried the hams, picnic and pork cushion before, but didn't like the finished product as well. Butts are king IMHO in the pulled pork department.

I'm really happy with our finished product but to be honest, if I were a restaurant owner I wouldn't pay over twice as much for ours over the other.

We will just keep doing what we are doing. I'm always kicking around new ideas but it doesn't appear we will be getting into the "heat and eat" business now.
M maxqMember
quote:
Originally posted by mbailey:
if I were a restaurant owner I wouldn't pay over twice as much for ours over the other.



As a restaurant owner, I disagree. Customers are quite savvy as to quality/value. My "Bistro" menu offers an 8 oz Strip Steak for $24 (includes salad, bread/butter, hand cut Frites) All steaks are hand cut with no tail, nearly no fat and no "vein" steaks are added to the mix. Current price for USDA Ch Swift "1855" 0x1 is $8.47. The final steak ready cost is $11.29.

The swing in Choice 0x1's today is as much as $2 @ lb. I could buy a low Choice strip, cut steaks end to end with the tail and minimal fat bark trim. My yield would be almost 100%. Trouble is, even at a price discount of a few bucks, I'd be rolling the dice every time I sent one out of the kitchen.

Moral of the story, develop your best possible product and charge a fair price. In the long run, the customer will be happy and come back.
A astronorickMember
quote:


As a restaurant owner, I disagree. Customers are quite savvy as to quality/value. My "Bistro" menu offers an 8 oz Strip Steak for $24 (includes salad, bread/butter, hand cut Frites) All steaks are hand cut with no tail, nearly no fat and no "vein" steaks are added to the mix. Current price for USDA Ch Swift "1855" 0x1 is $8.47. The final steak ready cost is $11.29.

The swing in Choice 0x1's today is as much as $2 @ lb. I could buy a low Choice strip, cut steaks end to end with the tail and minimal fat bark trim. My yield would be almost 100%. Trouble is, even at a price discount of a few bucks, I'd be rolling the dice every time I sent one out of the kitchen.

Moral of the story, develop your best possible product and charge a fair price. In the long run, the customer will be happy and come back.


I'm of the same thinking Max. Many of my customers know what they like for Pulled Pork. There aren't many BBQ restaurants around my area (about 5 in a 10 mile radius). However, they do compare - and if my pork quality dropped, or was a bit 'stale' from being a bagged product, I'd hear about it. We're very much a 'from scratch' restaurant, including all side dishes (which can be painful on unit cost if not careful). We get a number of folks who were transplanted from the South to the Northeast, and when come in asking for what sounds to me like "Pulled Po", they appreciate when you deliver the real deal. However, boil in bag has an allure regarding efficiency. I guess you could say that even the pork shoulder is prepared Sous-Vide.

Rick
Last edited by Former Member
T tuffssmokingrillMember
mbailey,
I don't get on here much since opening my restaurant last September. But, my opinion, you don't want to sell that bagged stuff. If you're making good stuff, people will pay for it. If you smoke it and pull or chop as soon as it's done, you're probably looking at 6-7 lbs. of meat for every 10 smoked. So, 15.90 product cost... you can sell that meat pretty reasonable in a "grab and go" style at a good price. For goodness sakes, grocery delis are asking 5 bucks a pound for crappy chicken salad LOL. You can charge 7.50/lb (which is a killer deal on pulled pork) and I think people would like that deal. What are your prices fresh? A bit more than 7.50 I hope.
M mbaileyhttps://www.facebook.com/Baile...62518746394/?fref=ts
We charge $4.50 for a pulled pork sandwich when setting up somewhere. This is a 6 ounce serving. On catering meat by the pound for like 100 or more servings, I got as high as $10.00 per pound last summer. This price includes buns and sauce. We have been able to bring that price back down a bit since the market has softened up a little.

Last year (2013 season) we were only at $4.00 on the sandwiches but as everyone knows, it all went way up.

The whole point of my discussion was that we have repeatedly been approached by different businesses about selling them our product for them to reheat and use or sometimes it's been a grocery store type of business that is looking for a heat and eat item that they could offer.

I get so tired of them wanting our quality for the same price as the guys that mass produce the stuff, and a lot of times those outfits add like 25% or more of sauce by weight which cheapens it up quite a bit.

Just to clarify, I have never considered using anyone elses products. But, I would consider bagging up our product for resale to other people. I'm not willing to do it for nothing though Smiler I could make it work pretty good at $5.50 to $6.00 per # on a mass scale but this would be cooking full loads a few times a week.
A astronorickMember
If you have a large number of people asking for bulk product at a price point that compares with their pre-packaged offerings from others, maybe you could turn the tables on them by offering to smoke their pork butts for them at $15 each or something. You might be able to make as much doing this as trying to sell them discounted meat. If you do enough, might be worth it, or at least offer more profit than trying to sell your product discounted.


quote:
Originally posted by mbailey:
We charge $4.50 for a pulled pork sandwich when setting up somewhere. This is a 6 ounce serving. On catering meat by the pound for like 100 or more servings, I got as high as $10.00 per pound last summer. This price includes buns and sauce. We have been able to bring that price back down a bit since the market has softened up a little.

Last year (2013 season) we were only at $4.00 on the sandwiches but as everyone knows, it all went way up.

The whole point of my discussion was that we have repeatedly been approached by different businesses about selling them our product for them to reheat and use or sometimes it's been a grocery store type of business that is looking for a heat and eat item that they could offer.

I get so tired of them wanting our quality for the same price as the guys that mass produce the stuff, and a lot of times those outfits add like 25% or more of sauce by weight which cheapens it up quite a bit.

Just to clarify, I have never considered using anyone elses products. But, I would consider bagging up our product for resale to other people. I'm not willing to do it for nothing though Smiler I could make it work pretty good at $5.50 to $6.00 per # on a mass scale but this would be cooking full loads a few times a week.

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