(Closed) Paying for second tasting with caterer?

posted 7 years ago in Food
Post # 1
Member
1111 posts
Bumble bee
  • Wedding: October 2012

Hi bees,

A couple weeks ago, my fiance, my parents, and I did a tasting with a potential caterer.  It cost $20/person, $40 of which will be taken off our bill if we book them.  We were able to try two appetizers, two entrees, and two desserts (we want a dessert buffet instead of a traditional cake).  Everything was great, except one of the entrees (roasted vegetable lasagna) was not.  We didn’t hate it, but it was served with a cream sauce & we would like red sauce.  We told the catering coordinator that we wanted a couple modifications made to the lasagna (spinach instead of squash, and red sauce), and she said that was no problem.

A few days later, she sent over a revised proposal, and when I responded telling her it looked great but that we would like to taste the lasagna with the changes, she replied saying:

Typically, we do not allow second tastings, as they are so expensive to arrange (labor, extra product, etc.), but I spoke with our director and if you wanted to come in and try the lasagna once more, that would be fine.  The only issue there is that because they are so expensive to put on, I am once again required to charge ‘tasting fee’ of $20.00.

I guess I am surprised by this.  I was under the impression (perhaps incorrectly?) that caterers do second tastings quite often if they need to modify a dish to make it right.  I know $20 isn’t much, but as I’m sure you understand, every little thing really adds up!

I have really enjoyed working with this caterer so far, and my contact has been very professional, friendly, and responsive.  We want to book them, but I just don’t feel comfortable about serving the lasagna if I haven’t tasted it.  The first go-round was really not very good…

What do you ladies think?  Is it normal to charge for a second tasting, especially the full price when all we want to try is one item?  I don’t really know how to respond…

Thanks in advance!

Tagged: , , ,

Post # 3
Member
2820 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: February 2013

@Ms Bookworm: At least you get a tasting! That aside, though, I’ve never heard of caterers holding a second tasting. Maybe it’s just a regional thing? I’d say take it — you paid for the tasting the first time around; is there a specific reason that you’re reluctant to pay for the second time? Or are you just surprised that they don’t normally do ‘second tastings’?

It is a bit odd that they’re charging the ‘full price’ for one food item. But maybe they’re thinking that they’ll serve you everything all over again? Or the price might only cover labour, etc. (aka wages for those involved), and not the actual food costs.

Post # 4
Member
114 posts
Blushing bee
  • Wedding: June 2012

IMO, the cost of a first tasting is the “price of doing business” in order to gain potential clients.  Did you have to pay the first time around?  I’d say if you paid the first time around, you might want to have a talk with them about this second time around because, in my experience, most caterers offer a complimentary first tasting.  

If you didn’t pay the first time, I would consider how realistic this caterer is for your needs.  If, after loving the lasagna, they are affordable, offer what you need, accomodating, and you are ready to book them; then I would perhaps consider it.  However, again, in my experience, all tastings after booking are “free.”  I’ve spoken with several caterers and that’s how they did things, but it was “free” in the sense that that is already included in the proposal because it’s the price of doing business: customers need to have tasting after tasting in order to perfect their menu and caterers should know this.  One or two tastings might not cut it.  So, unless all or most of the money is taken out of the final price if you book, then I might want to negotiate.

Lastly, it also helps to kind of have other caterers to compare with.  You can negotiate a lot better if you have a good idea what is “generally done.”  This will also give you an idea if you’re being ripped off, not everyone will be the exact same, but you’ll understand what themes are pretty consistent, average pricing, etc.  

Good luck!

Post # 5
Member
37 posts
Newbee
  • Wedding: August 2011

I use to work as a catering cordinator and in the 2 years nad MANY many weddings I was never asked for a second tasting. Im not saying that you are wrong for asking but for them to remake a whole lasagna it is allot of time and labour.. I dont think they are wtong for charging

BUT we also didnt charge for the bride and groom to do a tasting (only if there was more then 2 people tasting) BUT if there was a second tasting I am sure we would have charged

Hope that helps 🙂

Post # 6
Member
114 posts
Blushing bee
  • Wedding: June 2012

Oops, sorry I missed that you did say you paid the first time around.  Maybe it is a regional thing, but in Atlanta only one of the 10+ caterers I looked at charged a first time fee.  I did not want to pay it because me, as well as the people around me, thought that it was the price of doing business–not for a whole bunch of people, though, normally only two people were included in the complimentary tasting, I understand it can get expensive.  I did not do a tasting with the one that offered a fee, I never even considered it, I fell in love with a few that offered complimentary, and finally booked with one of them last month.  The price of additional tastings were already included in the “service fee,” which was reasonable for us considering what it covers (of course we asked for line-item breakdown).

Things to think about 🙂  Again, it could be a regional thing.  ðŸ™‚

Post # 7
Member
1111 posts
Bumble bee
  • Wedding: October 2012

Thanks for the responses so far!

Just to clarify a few things:

1) We haven’t booked them yet, so I understand charging for the first tasting.  I didn’t think that was weird at all.  I agree that it’s probably a regional thing because I don’t know of any caterers in my area that don’t charge for tastings.

2) I didn’t expect them to make an entire lasagna again.  In my head, I was picturing them just serving us one piece to try just to make sure the flavors were good, as we were so disappointed the first time.  Now that I’m thinking about it, though, that was dumb on my part because it’s not really possible to just make ONE piece of lasagna.  Duh.  Undecided

Okay, so…  Since it sounds like second tastings aren’t really typical (and I have no idea why I was under the impression that they were…), what do brides do when they’ve asked for changes to a menu item?!  Just trust that the caterer will do it right & it will be delicious?

Post # 8
Member
916 posts
Busy bee
  • Wedding: August 2011

I had 2 tastings.  Our choice of food was important to us, and I don’t know what we would have done without that second tasting.  We would have just been blindly choosing half of our dishes!  If it were me, and they were really not going to be flexible about this, I would just do the tasting, because I’d rather know than risk it…

Post # 9
Member
4755 posts
Honey bee
  • Wedding: May 2012

I had 1 free tasting. I asked them to modify a few things and I would have to pay if I wanted to try the modified dishes. So I think it’s reasonable.

I don’t think you should pay. I think everything you said makes sense and is easy enough to get right.

Post # 10
Member
175 posts
Blushing bee
  • Wedding: May 2012

Our first tasting was free, we did it with 2 other couples. If we had wanted to do a private tasting there would have been a charge. If we wanted to do a second tasting we’d be welcome to — there would be a charge.

I find it more obnoxious that they played the “we don’t normally do this” card.

Post # 11
Member
1111 posts
Bumble bee
  • Wedding: October 2012

Thanks for the input, everyone!

I wrote back & said that for some reason, I was under the impression that if a potential client doesn’t love a menu item, second tastings were industry standard – but that I now realize I was mistaken.  I also said we are confident that we want to book them for our wedding, but we’re just nervous about committing to the lasagna without knowing for certain that it’s amazing.  Great food at our wedding is a high priority for us, perhaps I just need to be reassured that the lasagna will be excellent, yadda yadda.

She replied with:

Thank you so much for getting back to me.  I spoke with our director and because it is a custom menu item, she is happy to waive the tasting fee for the lasagna, since you were not so pleased the first time around.

[It is vegan lasagna that they created specifically for us; more reason why we wanted to taste it!]

I thought that was VERY nice!  It makes me even more confident in our decision to book this caterer.  So, yay!

Thanks again!  Smile

Post # 12
Member
2854 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: May 2012

Oh, yay! Make sure to leave them an awesome review, I love when vendors are nice.

Post # 13
Member
2607 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: May 2009

Glad it worked out!  Hope the new lasagna is everything you were hoping for.

We only went for one official tasting, and that was free.  Another one we called about, and they did charge for that one.  They also did like, two tastings a month and we would be with a large group of random other tasters, which I didn’t care for the idea of.  If I have questions or concerns, I don’t want their attention divided between nine other groups of people.  Just thought I’d share, since I’m from the Minneapolis area.  Of course, the place we went that was free was fairly casual…it wasn’t a super fancy place like D’Amico’s (sp?) or anything.

The topic ‘Paying for second tasting with caterer?’ is closed to new replies.

Find Amazing Vendors