Chef Consultancy

[tukicook]

Hi guys, im just starting to do some consultancy work but the truth is i have no idea how to charge my clients. For instance, i have a client who is launching a health/spice range & i need to provide roughly 20 recipes to be published online aswell as 10 or so dish mockups to be photographed professionally & published online aswell. Hoping some of you guys could point me in the right direction as to what would be a reasonable asking fee & how to break this down. Thanking you in advance... 

 

[gfron1]

wish I could help but I've seen prices range so wildly that I have no idea. Maybe go about it from the perspective of what you feel your time is worth. For example, maybe you have the recipes already and just need to make minor modifications. Or maybe its a bit of research to develop new ones. For my cookbook the average price on recipe testing was $35-40 per recipe, again with prices ranging wildly. 

 

If I were in your shoes, and already had the contract (which I doubt since you haven't talked money), I would put the question back to them and say "the level of my involvement can really vary so it would be helpful to know your budget." Their response then gives you guidance on how much work you put in, and how you then charge.

 

Hope that helps even a tiny bit, and I hope you share what you end up doing since no one else has offered an answer yet.

[pastrygirl]

I was asked to do some special order production for trade shows by a publicist.  I used the client's products to make samples of candied nuts, granola bars, and muffins; easy work but specialized and they needed someone with the right health permits.  They offered $30 an hour.  So if it's a matter of testing a recipe where you spend an hour or two to make sure it works, $35-40 sounds good.  If hours of research and multiple formulations go into developing a recipe, hourly rates could add up to hundreds of dollars per finished recipe.  Try to find out what they are hoping/willing to pay, or what they have paid before and how many versions they want to see.

[daveb]

Seems like a cost + fixed fee contract would work well for both you and your customer..  Customer covers the materials cost of product development and pays an hourly rate.  You'll be developing intellectual property for your customer to own so I suggest looking at 50+/hour.  I like the thought of asking them what they can afford and managing expectations accordingly.

 

 

 

[MattyC]

I would say, as someone else said, around 50$ per recipe is decent to ask, or if there is a lot involved, figure out what their budget is per hour, a flat fee for X amount of work, etc. Work with them, come to an agreement, but settle on something that's fair for you both.

 

Keep in mind, this is so much more than just making a recipe that works. They're paying for a precise intellectual product that they can utilize to create product, to sell the recipe to others in some cases, etc.

 

And before you do anything for them, my advice that I learned the hard way - get or write up a small contract. People and companies, large or small, can easily dick you out of something.