6 ms·

Raising prices is an option but that is very market dependant. BBQ customers in general are more price sensitive than lobster customers and I would lose sales a

by tonyb 5y ago

Raising prices is an option but that is very market dependant. BBQ customers in general are more price sensitive than lobster customers and I would lose sales at a higher price point. There is a certain price (which I have generally found is $4.50 - $4.99/lb, that is when my food cost for a brisket sandwich hits 50%. Target food cost should be somewhere around 30%) where it just isn't worth it to sell brisket. BBQ is somewhat unique in that you have to estimate your demand ahead of time - you can't just throw on another brisket if you run out and I don't reheat/re-use leftovers. So even if I raise my prices $2/sandwich to cover the increased cost my risk is still higher because any unsold product is now a higher loss.

koolba 5y ago
Is it possible to purchase the cuts in advance and store them frozen or does that noticeably effect the quality? Seems straightforward to through some cuts in a deep freezer to smooth out supply costs. I do that on the small scale at home though obviously the capital costs would be proportionally larger at scale.
- tonyb 5y ago
  That's exactly what I did starting about a month ago - I've got enough on hand to last about a month (most of that is committed to catering jobs that already have a set price - so my forecasting is much easier but if I didn't lock in the price I would have to eat the difference). As long as they are safely handled I've found no quality difference at all when freezing stuff that is cryo-vaced. More often than not it has already been frozen at least once before it gets to me. I don't ever sell anything that has been re-heated after cooking though. You can also do that with little to no quality loss but I try to position myself as a premium brand so everything is 'cooked to order'. There are also a lot more food safety concerns (cooing it fast enough, re-heating it fast enough, etc.) that I don't want to worry about. I vacuum seal cooked BBQ at home and it's just as good as fresh but you can't do that in a commercial setting without special permits that aren't available to food trucks (at least not in my area).
jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago
I'm sure you know your business and market, but I'd just through out an example from my back yard. Matt's BBQ is the best Texas style bbq in Portland by a considerable margin. I've been a customer and friendly with him since he started out in a pawn shop parking lot with zero foot traffic and almost no road visibility. He charges $13.50 for a 1/2 lb of brisket, similar prices for other meats. Sides are typically around $3.50. He's up to multiple locations and his own commissary kitchen that's like 2000 sq feet. He sells out every single day. It's been really fun to watch his business blow up. It's all been from the strength of his product, and his personal hustle to get the momentum. His customer base is loyal and willing to pay a premium. He even has a side hustle selling smoker rigs, via a partnership.
- jessriedel 5y ago
  I'm enjoying this discussion and I'm glad you brought up your example, but keep in mind the sort of folks ordering BBQ in Portland are a very specific class of customers :)
  - jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago
    See my sibling reply.
    - jessriedel 5y ago
      Color me unconvinced. I'd wager Matt's customers differ strongly, whether measured by income, self-identified culture, voting pattern, or ethnicity.
      - jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago
        Do you have any awareness how obnoxious it is to assert you know my neighborhood better than me? When it's clear you've never been to any of these places, talked with fellow customers, etc? It's a mixed race neighborhood. For the first couple years his neighbor in the pawn shop parking lot was a soul food cart. The clientele at both looked basically the same in terms of demographics. While you won't find as much good BBQ in Portland as say central Texas, the Carolinas, etc, it's not some sort of exotic novelty. I don't know why you are so determined to stereotype this stuff, but it is not helpful.
atc 5y ago
Can you survey your customers?
trhway 5y ago
> I don't reheat/re-use leftovers. ... any unsold product is now a higher loss. Perfect yesterday BBQ meat! Coming from USSR/Russia with its food shortages in 198x-first half of 199x i still kind of mentally shudder reading such things even after 21 years of living here.
- jessaustin 5y ago
  Yeah, surely there could be some dish made from day-old meat.
  - RyJones 5y ago
    dog food for well-heeled dogs?
    - jessaustin 5y ago
      Any chef with any talent could use meat that was cooked literally a day ago in any number of delicious dishes for actual people.
- tonyb 5y ago
  It’s not waste in that it goes into the trash - it’s just a sink cost that I’ll never recoup. Anything left over I keep for myself, give to friends/family, or donate (which is actually more difficult than you would expect since it is perishable) I’m only open once or twice a week so secondary uses (beans, chili, etc) unfortunately don’t work for me.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

by tonyb 5y ago

koolba 5y ago

Is it possible to purchase the cuts in advance and store them frozen or does that noticeably effect the quality? Seems straightforward to through some cuts in a deep freezer to smooth out supply costs. I do that on the small scale at home though obviously the capital costs would be proportionally larger at scale.

tonyb 5y ago
That's exactly what I did starting about a month ago - I've got enough on hand to last about a month (most of that is committed to catering jobs that already have a set price - so my forecasting is much easier but if I didn't lock in the price I would have to eat the difference). As long as they are safely handled I've found no quality difference at all when freezing stuff that is cryo-vaced. More often than not it has already been frozen at least once before it gets to me. I don't ever sell anything that has been re-heated after cooking though. You can also do that with little to no quality loss but I try to position myself as a premium brand so everything is 'cooked to order'. There are also a lot more food safety concerns (cooing it fast enough, re-heating it fast enough, etc.) that I don't want to worry about. I vacuum seal cooked BBQ at home and it's just as good as fresh but you can't do that in a commercial setting without special permits that aren't available to food trucks (at least not in my area).

jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago

I'm sure you know your business and market, but I'd just through out an example from my back yard. Matt's BBQ is the best Texas style bbq in Portland by a considerable margin. I've been a customer and friendly with him since he started out in a pawn shop parking lot with zero foot traffic and almost no road visibility. He charges $13.50 for a 1/2 lb of brisket, similar prices for other meats. Sides are typically around $3.50. He's up to multiple locations and his own commissary kitchen that's like 2000 sq feet. He sells out every single day. It's been really fun to watch his business blow up. It's all been from the strength of his product, and his personal hustle to get the momentum. His customer base is loyal and willing to pay a premium. He even has a side hustle selling smoker rigs, via a partnership.

jessriedel 5y ago
I'm enjoying this discussion and I'm glad you brought up your example, but keep in mind the sort of folks ordering BBQ in Portland are a very specific class of customers :)
- jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago
  See my sibling reply.
  - jessriedel 5y ago
    Color me unconvinced. I'd wager Matt's customers differ strongly, whether measured by income, self-identified culture, voting pattern, or ethnicity.
    - jasonwatkinspdx 5y ago
      Do you have any awareness how obnoxious it is to assert you know my neighborhood better than me? When it's clear you've never been to any of these places, talked with fellow customers, etc? It's a mixed race neighborhood. For the first couple years his neighbor in the pawn shop parking lot was a soul food cart. The clientele at both looked basically the same in terms of demographics. While you won't find as much good BBQ in Portland as say central Texas, the Carolinas, etc, it's not some sort of exotic novelty. I don't know why you are so determined to stereotype this stuff, but it is not helpful.

atc 5y ago

Can you survey your customers?

trhway 5y ago

> I don't reheat/re-use leftovers. ... any unsold product is now a higher loss. Perfect yesterday BBQ meat! Coming from USSR/Russia with its food shortages in 198x-first half of 199x i still kind of mentally shudder reading such things even after 21 years of living here.

jessaustin 5y ago
Yeah, surely there could be some dish made from day-old meat.
- RyJones 5y ago
  dog food for well-heeled dogs?
  - jessaustin 5y ago
    Any chef with any talent could use meat that was cooked literally a day ago in any number of delicious dishes for actual people.
tonyb 5y ago
It’s not waste in that it goes into the trash - it’s just a sink cost that I’ll never recoup. Anything left over I keep for myself, give to friends/family, or donate (which is actually more difficult than you would expect since it is perishable) I’m only open once or twice a week so secondary uses (beans, chili, etc) unfortunately don’t work for me.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]