Works of art ... on a card plate

[filipe]

Can you guys help me on a design procedure I'm carrying on.. ?

Why do the major pastry chefs use card plates at their shops?

1. Because they don't look that bad?

2. Because they're cheap?

3. Because they fit their actual needs on what concerns to individual sizes?

4. Because that's what's available in the market?

5. Because... (you name it) ?

and

IF

they could get exactly the same shapes, for a similar price ( +20% of the card ones price, not more) but in PORCELAIN, would they use it instead?

I personally feel that sometimes it's a bit outrageous to eat such wonderfull pastry items on a card plate...

[Pam R]

Do you mean that you'd prefer something else be used when they're served in a restaurant?

[filipe]

Do you mean that you'd prefer something else be used when they're served in a restaurant?

←

Not only in a restaurant, but mainly in pastry shops, and even for take -away

[Stephanie Wallace]

I've had similar thoughts many times; card plates are terribly unattractive. However, I think that it is extremely difficult to come up with a more efficient and inexpensive means of serving pastry. I would really like to see real innovation in packaging for pastry and chocolates that drastically reduces the amount of waste.

I remember ordering an Emotion in a glass at Pierre Hermé wrapped in a cardboard box, held up-right with styrofoam, placed in a plastic bag with a product card and plastic silverware. I walked 20 yards and ate it on a bench at St. Sulpice. What a terrible waste.

[Pam R]

I use them.

They are the best 'disposable' available - good price, look OK, slide easily into a pastry box. Pastry shops need everything to be disposable, 'take-out' ready. Are there any other options out there?

[filipe]

I use them. 

They are the best 'disposable' available - good price, look OK, slide easily into a pastry box.  Pastry shops need everything to be disposable, 'take-out' ready.  Are there any other options out there?

←

I'm designing something that I would love that could be an option - it all depends on the production costs and the final price achieved.

It's basically the same shape and size but made of porcelain. If you could have that by the same price of the card ones, or at least by 20%-25% more, would you use it? Or even by twice the price...

[Pam R]

I import the boards from the US (can't find a Canadian supplier) - so I'm paying quite a bit already. The problem is that with these small desserts, you can't really go too expensive on the board. If you're selling a dessert for $6, how much should you be spending on the board? If it's more than 15% ($0.90) of the selling price, it's too much.

[filipe]

  If you're selling a dessert for $6, how much should you be spending on the board?  If it's more than 15% ($0.90) of the selling price, it's too much.

←

You're right

I would be glad if I could be abble to have them for about $0.60-$0.75, I'm contacting producers soon, but I needed some opinions first, to know if people think it worths the effort

[etalanian]

Filipe,

If you are in Lisboa, are you considering exporting them to the US? Wouldn't that be terribly expensive with the weak dollar and the cost of freight, taxes, etc, not to mention a middle man's markup for distribution?

Seems that kind of plate for a pastry shop would be very expensive; suitable only for the most expensive places.

Eileen

[Pam R]

Are they meant to be disposable?

[chefpeon]

As a radical left-wing tree hugger, I'm all for things that can re-used rather than thrown away, and I'm all for disposables being recyclable.....problem is, your customers may not be in the habit of using recycling bins.

Perhaps a customer who got to take home a cute porcelain plate with their pastry may just put it in their dishwasher and re-use it.

But I can't see how you could possibly produce such a thing for a lower cost than paper.

[prasantrin]

As a consumer, I love the take-out desserts that come in reusable dishes. In Japan I haven't found that the desserts sold with reusable dishes are that much more expensive than those sold on disposable card plates or in disposable cups. The same store might have items sold with both disposable and non-disposable containers.

[nightscotsman]

First, margins are very thin on high-end pastry, so even 20% additional cost would be a big profit hit. However, there are more issues that would have to be dealt with than just the production cost of a porcelain alternative:

Porcelain would be much heavier than current products, especially plastic, which would hugely inflate shipping costs.

Porcelain would also be bulkier, especially since there would have to be some kind of serious padding (which would also add to costs) to reduce breakage. Many small shops have limited storage and they go through a LOT of these things in a week. Anyway, with all that packing required to protect porcelain plates, would there really be any savings in materials after all?

[aidensnd2]

....It's basically the same shape and size but made of porcelain. If you could have that by the same price of the card ones, or at least by 20%-25% more, would you use it? Or even by twice the price...

←

I wouldn't even think about using them for twice the price, if they were the same price perhaps. I don't think that they will have enough of an impact on the customers satisfaction where the extra expense could be justified. The biggest concern would be breakage. You'd have to be careful where you stored them, more careful in how you handled them etc... If they did break on the ride home from the shop the dessert would be ruined, whereas a paper one might bend in a fall/impact and the dessert might get squashed but at least it's still edible. Unless the snazzyness of it would somehow make people buy more product I don't think any increase in price would be justified.

But at the same time I do agree that the existing options aren't the most attractive...

[Luckylies]

Try cutting a cake on a porcelin plate. The cardboard is light, fine to cut on, sturdy, insensitive to temperature and cheap- it has a lot of things going for it. What about some sort of lightweight plastic that's nice looking?

[bripastryguy]

i used to use those gold boards. My counter help and my wife all hated them because it wasnt that easy to grab without bending up the tab. We switched to gold swirl plates from NovaCart Usa (they look almost like a disposable ashtray). Much easier to use and they actually protect my "Petit" pastries in their boxes.

They cost about .10 a piece

[Swisskaese]

The only think I would be concerned with, as a consumer, is breakage. What if the porcelain breaks on the way home and bits get in the pastry/cake? Then I have bought a $50.00 cake or $6.00 pastry that I can't eat.