Bagging on boxed lunches: June 2009 morsel

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Bagging on boxed lunches: June 2009 morsel

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By Claire R. Gould
Published: June 4, 2009

Claire R. Gould is the owner of Rx for Events International and Rx for Catering LLC, a full-service events design and logistics company that has done work in more than 30 countries. A large part of Ms. Gould's company is designing menus and negotiating culinary for meetings and events, in addition to exhibit design, strategies and general meeting planning. Her company has done work for the Coca-Cola Co., Aerion Supersonic Business Jets, Honeywell International and HCC Life Insurance, among others. Gould teaches and writes about culinary and banquet trends and topics. Follow her on Twitter @Rx_for_Catering and Rx For Events on Facebook. E-mail cgould@rxforevents.com.

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I am sitting here writing a box lunch menu and shaking my head at the price. I know this is a four-star property, but how much does a sandwich, potato salad, chips and brownie cost, for goodness sakes? At this particular property, $32. And don’t think for a second that includes a drink, because it doesn’t.

Recently, I went to a comparable hotel and asked them to give me the cost of the various box lunch elements separately. A turkey sandwich was $10 ( and I know their food cost on that is about $1 tops); chips were $3.25; a cookie was $3; cole slaw was $3.50; and a piece of whole fruit was $3.25. After adding in another $1 to cover the cost of the box, I was paying $24.

So, how can my four-star property justify charging $32 for a very mediocre (not to mention boring) boxed lunch?

Suppliers, if you are going to offer a box lunch at this price point, at least put some thought into it. It won’t cost you any more money to include a candy bar instead of a cookie, trail mix instead of a piece of whole fruit (which no one will eat), or a wedge of cheese and crackers. Why not offer a wrap sandwich instead of a bread sandwich? You’re asking for a lot of money, so I’d like to see you earn it with some truly out of the box lunch ideas.

Join the discussion

Jo Ann Says:

2009-06-09 16:25:38

Why do you think a candy bar is more acceptable than a cookie? And why say that no one will eat the fruit, when your previous Morsel indicated exactly what percentage of each kind of fruit you would do on a coffee break? I completly agree that no one will eat the oranges. Messy fruit just doesn't work, but bananas & apples are good. What creative box lunches are you seeing? The wrap idea is nice, what else?

John Schulte Says:

2009-06-09 17:14:23

$32 for a boxed lunch...our civilization is doomed. (Does that include tax, gratuity, service charge and pro-rated space rental?) When I think of how this happens, the word "hostage" comes to mind. Other words come to mind as well and as much as I'd like to use some of those words in retaliation for the $32 box lunch, I'll refrain so as not to cause blood to flow from your eyes. Also, I feel an overwhelming need to protest..."the wrap." In representing men everywhere, we don't want wraps. Ever. Yes, there are exceptions, but don't make the mistake of accepting that vocal minority as representative of male food preferences. The only wrap I want is a beef burrito...maybe a cheese enchilada. Probably the one thing I like less than a $32 box lunch is the $25 'hotel hellburger.' This is the hamburger you get at a hotel lunch in lieu of "the box," where the burger is cooked a couple of days before your event and does not meet hotel 'food' standards until it reaches the hardness of a slab of leather and the dryness of, well, that same slab of leather. How is it that we buy these dreaded burgers by the hundreds at $25 a pop (before T&G)? "Hostage." Here's my new clause to negotiate into all future hotel contracts: "The Hotel agrees not to serve nasty, awful and disgusting food at exhorbitant prices without the express written consent of Group." (Do you think the Hotel would accept this clause, or would they fight this restriction? I'll keep you posted.) Granted, this opens the door for subjectivity and interpretation, but I'm confident I could prevail if my case ever went to court. I'll keep a burger from the meeting as a sample and ask if anyone on the jury would pay $25 for it. Guess I'd better wrap this up before I get on a rant. Hope you're having a pleasant happy hour too! "More alcohol!"

cynthia phelps Says:

2009-06-11 13:40:27

While I see that you factor in food cost I see no mention of the cost of labor for Chefs to make these, and in many facilities these Chefs would be paid in shift pay which means it cost us the same amount no matter how simple the meal....nor the delivery fees we pay to our vendors who supply the food and of course the CDB (cost of doing business-items such as electricity, security, someone to cleanup after, utensils, you name it) just something you should bear in mind....and lastly wraps would appear to be even worse for this-they are very labor intensive!

Claire Gould Says:

2009-06-11 14:52:16

Hi, thanks everyone for your comments starting with Cynthia first - Actually I did talk about retail food cost not hotel food cost - the hotels's food cost of that lunch would be roughly $2.50. so by the time you get up to $32.00 TRUST ME when I tell you that their labor costs are in there. So you are correct in mention labor but you are incorrect because I was referencing the retail food cost not the hotel food's cost on this what they hotel would see each of these pieces to us individually for. Thanks for reading

Kristi Sanders Says:

2009-06-13 13:10:55

Jo Ann- I just came back from a convention in South Carolina. I have Celiac's so my meals need to be gluten free. I got to see the good and the ugly in terms of boxed lunches, none of which cost the organizers as much as the boring box lunches Claire quotes in her advice column. The best was a portabello mushroom salad with pine nuts, goat cheese and pomegranate as the main salad, with a fruit salad, a lentil salad and a cucumber/tomato salad rounding out the lunch. The non-gluten meals were turkey or roast beef sandwiches with a side salad, fruit salad and cookie that people raved over. The worst was a boxed lunch of two cheddar biscuits and a iceberg salad with cheese and croutons that was labeled gluten-free. I think the caterer must have thought gluten free meant vegetarian because I can't eat biscuits or croutons. And the lack of protein was concerning. But at least I wasn't lactose intolerant like the other gluten free attendee who was handed the same "special" meal. Sometimes looking at ethnic foods can give you some really creative options. For example, Thai cuisine has a spicy chicken they roll up in lettuce leaves. In Mexico, tacos are designed to be a quick lunch. In Italy, calzones were created to be little pocket-sized meals. But I loved what they did with the multiple salad lunch because it was healthy, offered a variety of proteins and appealed to both me and the attendees who didn't have dietary restrictions.

$32 for a box lunch? You’ve got to be kidding! « Corvallis Meetings & Events Says:

2009-06-18 19:03:34

[...] satisfaction, food/beverage, lunch, unique by Corvallis Event Maven Recently, we came across a blog post bemoaning the boring contents of a $32 hotel box lunch. Never mind how ordinary the contents [...]