Any food industry professionals here?

[Mecca]

15 years of commercial grilling/catering here

I've often thought about going into business doing this, though with a focus on crawfish and other large batch things on that kind of equipment. Do you do this on the side or have you had any experience on the business end of things?

its my main job; i handle all of the contracts and most of the accounts receivable/payable on the business end of things along with some other trivial administrative duties.

I'm curious about the permitting process and any ongoing fees or regulations you incur, and how that differs from Buffalo to Houston.

as far as permits/fees you're really only talking about health departments. We operate in about 8 counties each with their own health department regulations, but we reside in one of the most strict in the region so they accept the yearly inspection done of our facilities as a basis along with spot checking a few events we hold in their county. we fall under the "mobile catering" in the counties our HQ isn't in, so fees range from $75-$200 depending on the county.

This may be different in Big Sky because the "town" is unincorporated, but there are additional fees for vending at certain events. Most are entirely reasonable -- less than $50 -- but there's one huge 3-day event here in the summer that costs me $500 to enter.

we're the largest food vendor at the county fair here, but we don't really work the type of events where we are vendors. Those types of events do carry some sort of fees. Our business is mainly fundraising bbqs/catering events/takeout catering or the production/sale of marinade/dressing

[E.H. Ruddock]

production/sale of marinade/dressing

And it is delicious

[tragabigzanda]

Anybody ever take the Food Safety Manager's exam? I'm taking it on Monday. Have been studying regularly, but I'm curious what to expect (length of test, multiple choice vs. essay questions, overall difficulty, etc).

[LoathedVermin72]

oh yeah I take that all the time

[tragabigzanda]

Stop it LV, this is a serious question.

[LoathedVermin72]

all the time

[Kaius]

It's a good test. Would take again. 4 stars.

[Self]

I took it back in '96, when it still meant something.

[LoathedVermin72]

Fun fact: I actually created that test

[tragabigzanda]

[LoathedVermin72]

you're showing a real C- attitude trag

[tragabigzanda]

I hate you all.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

i'm sorry for fabricating a story about my rave life, trag

[tragabigzanda]

Well what the fucking fuck...

[lennytheweedwhacker]

Well what the fucking fuck...

you just kept asking questions and i couldn't stop!

[tragabigzanda]

Well what the fucking fuck...

you just kept asking questions and i couldn't stop!

Cuck off, Lenny.

[LoathedVermin72]

off

[lennytheweedwhacker]

Well what the fucking fuck...

you just kept asking questions and i couldn't stop!

Cuck off, Lenny.

pm me a pic of ur titties

[tragabigzanda]

Well what the fucking fuck...

you just kept asking questions and i couldn't stop!

Cuck off, Lenny.

pm me a pic of ur titties

You are a monster.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

Well what the fucking fuck...

you just kept asking questions and i couldn't stop!

Cuck off, Lenny.

pm me a pic of ur titties

You are a monster.

yeah, a monster who loves some titties