Salary to cook for school

amother

OP ↓

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 12:39 am

Does anyone here cook for a school/ yeshivah from home and can tell me what you charge?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 5:32 pm

I am cooking for 80 elementary age boys, I buy all the food, pans, containers, ingredients, etc
I want to charge $1650 a week including food, does that sound normal?

amother

DarkCyan

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 6:20 pm

Figure out how much you are spending on ingredients and supplies. Then factor in your labor and wear and tear on your equipment and price it accordingly.

helloo26

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 6:24 pm

amother DarkCyan wrote:

Figure out how much you are spending on ingredients and supplies. Then factor in your labor and wear and tear on your equipment and price it accordingly.

×3 to 5 mark-up on ingredients cost as a rough guide

amother

Nasturtium ↓

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 7:34 pm

amother OP wrote:

I am cooking for 80 elementary age boys, I buy all the food, pans, containers, ingredients, etc
I want to charge $1650 a week including food, does that sound normal?

This is very undercharging. Figure that the meal (food only) will be about $5 a meal. Pans, containers, gas and electric will add to the cost. And your salary will add to the cost. How many meals a week is it? $1650 Wil barely cover just the food ingredients for one meal per boy for the week! I’d say 80x5=400, 400x3 (if you’re doing three meals a day) = 1200, 1200x6 (if you’re doing six days a week)= 7200 just for the food. Add at least 200 for pans, containers and what about your salary?

mfb

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 7:38 pm

Doesn’t sound like it will even cover food.
Please make a sample menu and figure out how much the food will cost…

rmbg ↓

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 7:38 pm

Im curious How did you get to that number? If its four days a week thats a bit more rhan $5 per meal. How can you possibly charge so little?? You wont even be covering costs, forget a salary.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 11:26 pm

I'm only doing one meal a day, ( milchig/ pareve) lunch. The food and containers, pans average about $120 a day. Does what I want to charge make sense now?

↑ Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 11:47 pm

That's fine, but I'm privy to school lunch costs in an elementary school that gets wholesale pricing. Granted, we're following government guidelines with whole grains and vegetables, etc and due to time constraints there is a lot of processed food served as well, but even so, besides for maybe a soup/stew/cholent, that pricing on food alone (not pans) is almost impossible per person. Maybe maybe something like a baked ziti but you still need a vegetable/salad with it if it's not an all in one type of meal.

ETA: oh, I see. I had a typo. I meant what ARE you serving, not what age 😉

amother

↑ Nasturtium

Wed, Nov 06 2024, 11:57 pm

amother OP wrote:

I'm only doing one meal a day, ( milchig/ pareve) lunch. The food and containers, pans average about $120 a day. Does what I want to charge make sense now?

It doesn’t make sense to me. I’m with HaShem yaazor on this one.
The government doesn’t reimburse a lot, don’t know if you’re going by their calculations, but it’s more than what you want to charge. You also need to draw a salary for yourself. the money doesn’t get very far at all, especially with the nutrition requirements.

amother

Vermilion

Thu, Nov 07 2024, 12:01 am

amother OP wrote:

I'm only doing one meal a day, ( milchig/ pareve) lunch. The food and containers, pans average about $120 a day. Does what I want to charge make sense now?

How many days of the week? Sunday-Friday? Sunday-thursday? Monday-thursday?

amother

Slategray

Thu, Nov 07 2024, 12:08 am

amother OP wrote:

It is elementary age children

Have you made any of the lunches yet? What did you make so far that was $120 divided by 80 boys?

familyfirst

Thu, Nov 07 2024, 12:12 am

Figure $5 a day per kid
$400 a day on food
5 days a week is $2000 a day without your salary

Grossly undercharging

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Nov 07 2024, 12:20 am

It's 6 days a week, I make pizza bagels with French fries, baked ziti with cut up vegetables, pareve cholent on Thursday with kishka, potato kugel on Friday, bagels with tuna and pickles etc. they provide the bread and fruit for the kids.

amother

Snapdragon ↓

Thu, Nov 07 2024, 12:21 am

$1650 minus $120 for pans etc. is $1530 divided by 4 days a week is $382.50/day divided by 80 boys is $4.78/boy/meal.

How much are your ingredients costing you for the week? Plus you need to pay yourself. I mean unless you’re doing rice & pasta & potatoes every meal then it should be costing you a decent amount.

ETA: OP posted its 6 days a week so $1530 divided by 6 days is $255/day divided by 80 boys that’s $3.19/boy/meal.

amother

↑ Snapdragon ↓

Thu, Nov 07 2024, 12:24 am

amother OP wrote:

Ok so most of these stuff are filler items like pasta and potatoes and beans. However you have some cheese and some veggies. How much is your grocery order for the week?

amother

Marigold

Thu, Nov 07 2024, 1:06 am

Why don't you have the school pay for the disposables and ingredients so you know you are making money