Are there any rules regarding Sqn canteens - specifically regarding profit (i.e. they are not meant to make profit etc)
I know that any profit we make on ours, goes back into paying for the cadet Christmas party.
If there is no profit then how does one restock? Or have scope to bring in new stock?
If it was up to me it would be coffee, soy free protein bars, apples and beef jerky in the canteen.
If you are losing money on canteen then it needs looking at. Any profit we make on canteen goes towards buying more canteen.
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We buy multiple packs in pound shops etc. But whatever we buy we resell at cost price
We use a couple of different wholesalers (Macro and Hancocks). Meaning good value for the cadets. Thereās no āprofitā as such - everything is reinvested into sqn be it new pots/pans/utensils/plates etc as well as the chrimbo party.
We tend to run with a small surplus (I donāt like the term profit) which that if prices go up we can still buy stock. Any left over at the end of the year as with most Squadrons is spent on the Christmas party or similar event.
We run a small surplus, we use it to subsidise other things.
Weāre fortunate to have a kitchen, on parade nights we find that squash is the most profitable seller whereas cans can only go to a certain level of mark-up given their wholesale cost and us not being chiselling gits. If weāre doing anything on the Sqn at the weekend our best sellers are tea and toast in the mornings, and hotdogs with mushy peas at lunchā¦
Whatās wrong with āprofitsā?
Running a small surplus is a sensible precaution, setting out to make a profit from your Cadets isnāt really cricket.
But you want to run at a profit so the cadets can benefit from restock, new stock and extras. Or added to a Christmas meal/night/whatever.
Profit isnāt a dirty word.
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My thoughts exactly, I donāt think itās right rinsing the cadets of whatever pocketminey they may have. Visitors and externals on the other handā¦
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The only thing to avoid is running at a loss.
I would be wary of multi-packs and selling them on even at cost, as that is potentially under cutting local retailers who canāt do that. You could run foul of trading standards.
Buying at a cash/carry is easy and there are more around than you realise. Our committee has cards for a couple.
As for ārinsingā cadets, have you bought canteen sweets in shops recently? We buy tins of drink and sell them well below what shops charge and we still make money on them.
by selling at cost priceā¦???
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At some point āwholesaleā prices go up, which then means re-stocking becomes an ever decreasing circle.
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RAFAC, and therefore your squadron, is a not-for profit organisation. The right term is surplus.
Profit or surplus, Itās tomatoes or toe-mateoes really, as long as you donāt run at a loss or deficit.
Sell at cost price = sell at cost price.
if in month 1 your cans of pop and bar of choc cost 40p per item sell at 40p an item
if then in month 2 whole prices go up to 50p an item, adjust your selling price to suitā¦
yes it means the selling price is constantly fluctuating but means there is no loss or profit.
of course that is a black and white example and in the real world we apply sensible logic, as in some months deals are available offering 2-4-1 or similiar meaning cost price drops to 35p an itemā¦you stick to 40p for ease, convenience and consistency, or perhaps 50p when there is no deal on and youāre stuck buying from Tesco because no one can get to a wholesalerā¦
when prices increase past the point of equal return your sale price goes upā¦#simples #alexandermercat
if the question of the OP is how much above cost price should it be to avoid making an āextremeā of profit that it your own decision on what the profit is doing - ie covering fluctuations in cost or paying for the Christmas Party.
The easiest process is a flat rate of 50p for all items which makes it easy for the cadets to run the canteen and everyone knows how much things cost.
So long as everything costs less than 50p there is never a problem, the canteen sales are added to the accounts and managed by the CWC and should be invested to benefit the cadets.
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We run our canteen at a healthy surplus. Weāre not running a monopoly - there is no rule that says cadets canāt bring a snack in to eat at break-time - and the cadets are simply paying for the convenience. Given that it is quite specifically not a profit - weāre not taking the extra cash home and spending it ourselves - it seems perfectly reasonable to me.
At the end of the day, the cadets have a choice and all of the money raised comes back to unit funds to provide for them anyway.
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