Company Picnic Planning Ten Ways to Save Money
Ideas on Saving Money for Company Picnic Planning
Having worked as a Certified Executive Chef and catering for many company picnics over the years, here are some tips that I used to reduce costs when planning for a company picnic. Especially very large company picnics where the costs are multiplied many times depending upon the number of guests that you expect to attend.
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- When planning on serving hamburgers and hot dogs for a group of 100 people take into consideration that many will eat two items, some will eat only one and others may eat three. Young children may only eat one and very little ones may share one with their younger sibling. Purchase 120 ea quarter pound hamburgers and 80 eighth of a pound hot dogs. This provides a total of 200 entree servings. It may be a little tight on the burgers especially if there are more adult males in the group. However, they will most likely switch to a hot dog if the burgers have run out if it is their second one. You can help this by allowing a burger or hot dog per person the first time through to ensure everone gets at least 1. Then on the second time through it is seconds and whatever is left goes.
- For desserts ice cream can be quite costly. Small ice cream cups are usually the lowest cost per individual serving. Albertsons and Winco usually have the best prices. Adults may end up taking two, but for the younger ones, this is just the right size. Plan accordingly. If you really want to save some dough get Freezer Pops from Walmart! Recently they were on sale 100 each for $3.50. Even if someone eats five of them, that is only $ .25 per person. Be creative…come up with a game and use Freezer Pops and the prop! Then when the game is over everyone can have some! It helps to save on the cost of games too.
- Renting a BBQ grill from a rental company can be quite expensive. Depending upon the size of the group and location of the picnic, you may have people on your committee that have some really cool bbq’s that they would like to bring to the picnic and show off. Even if you have to pay for the propane, you can still save hundreds of dollars off of a rental bill. Sometimes looking for a park or facility with the bbq grill already there is worth the extra effort to source out that type of location. Unless you are a pyromanic you only will really need 1 can of lighter fluid for the bbqs.
- Ice for the event can be an unexpected expense. Large groups and extremely hot days can use up alot of ice. Perhaps you have a connection with a restaurant or school that has an ice machine. Hook up with some people with the really large ice chests for camping or giant beverage bins. Cut a deal with the restaurant or school, I am sure they wouldn’t mind making a sale of the ice their ice machine produced. It is extra revenue for them.
- Parking expenses can be quite annoying for large groups and many municipal parks build this cost into the facility rental fee. Other regional parks charge each car as they arrive. Either way it is not fun. If the parking is built into the fee… find another location. If each guest has to pay to park…find another location. No one likes to be “invited” to their company picnic and have to pay to park. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Finding another location saves money regardless of who has to pay for it.
- Potato chips will always all get eaten. The most expensive way to buy potato chips, snack chips etc is by the individual bag. Buying in bulk helps to lower the overall cost. Unless, you give only 1 bag of chips to each person. This could be perceived as being cheap. Perhaps someone in the company has a connection with a local food distributor who would like to sponsor (donate) the chips in exchange for some recognition.
- Baked beans are on many company picnic and catering menus. My twenty years of experience is that most of the time only about 20% of the guests actually take the baked beans and put it on the plate. If baked beans are on the menu that the catering company provides you with, ask them to do ice cream instead of the baked beans. If they won’t do ice cream maybe they could do something else for dessert in trade for not doing the baked beans. Double score!
- BBQ menus can get quite expensive real quick. Although, it is nice to have bbq chicken, bbq ribs, bbq brisket and bbq links all on one menu, most guests will only take one or two selections of the entrees. Having three or four entrees on a menu drives the cost up unnessarily. Keep it simple. Younger children are turned off by bbq chicken on the bone anyway. They may want to have a hot dog or hamburger. Talk with your caterer about a childrens’ menu for the picnic. This may help to reduce portion costs as well.
- Beverages can get out of hand quite rapidly. Instead of a variety of every flavor under the sun have three or four. An example would be: Cola, Diet Cola, Lemon Lime and Root Beer or Water. Another example would be: Iced Tea, Punch and Water.
- If you are using a catering company to provide services for the company picnic, contact them early for the best dates. Often booking last minute can drive the price up for their most busy dates. Talk with your catering company and let them know that you would like their expertise in reducing the overall catering bill and see what ideas they come up with. Experienced professional caterers know how to make it happen and they know how to work the numbers. Be reasonable, they have families to support also!
You comments are invited. Please let us know how you have saved money in planning for your company picnic. All comments must be positive and family friendly.
Have a great company picnic! Thanks for stopping by!
