Price of Hog Roasts? Is this realistic?

Where abouts are you from? We found quotes similar but I stumbled across our UK caterer and his prices are much more reasonable but his in kent

We are in West Sussex, so not too far I think!

I don't know exactly but i know they are pretty expensive, kinda the price i expect them to be tbh

They appear to cover your area. We chose a bbq buffet with them with a pork shoulder carved and cooked the same as a hog roast so there are loads of options here is the website http://www.aroundhogroasts.co.uk/menu-options.html

Many thanks, will check them out now! ?

Your welcome :-)

Our venue are charging £15 Per head for hog roast for evening buffet.....

We got lots of hog roast quotes initially and found everything from around £400 to a ridiculous £5k!

When we asked for quotes from caterers who also did wedding catering in the form of 3 course sit down meals, we found the quotes were significantly higher as they quoted as if it were full silver service with linen hire, full table service etc thrown in.

We found the best deals were from independent caterers who specialised in hog roasts and BBQs as they seemed to understand the informal vibe a bit better and didn't quote for loads of stuff we really didn't want.

Try the giggling pig, they quoted us very reasonably for Sussex when we were originally planning to get married there. http://www.gigglypig.co.uk/

My daughter used a guy in Chichester for her engagement party and I think that was only £400, will ask her the company name for you when I see her.

We've had quotes for between £1000 and £1200 for a hog roast for 120 people (including 10-15 vegetarians) with sides of salads, potatoes coleslaw etc and all the bread rolls etc. that's in the Bristol area though and with disposable plates and cutlery.

I can't help at all but wow - £30 a head seems a lot for a hog roll! Another case of the W word being a licence to print money! I hope some of the ladies suggestions near you are helpful.

We asked our venue for the evening reception how much it would be for bacon rolls at 11pm, £6.50 each! Ouch, I just don't understand where these prices come from, needless to say we are not having bacon rolls!

I didn't want to read and run. We actually do them at the hotel I work in. I will find out how much we charge and let you know

We are being charged £600 for a whole pig and this will feed approx 120 people. It includes baps, crackling and salads etc, although this is being done by the people who are catering the rest of the day too. We're in Hampshire so I wouldn't have expected West Sussex to be all that different!

I think what has happened over the years is that no one had them and then bride and grooms who were looking for a cheep food option came across hog roasts and were getting them very cheep as it was anew thing. Then as they became more and more popular the demand went up and so did the price, and then started to get more and more professional dedicated hog roast company's with another increase in price. I think the same is also happening with barns as they were first a cheep option.

Yes the "w" word adds money and for good reason - look at the consequences if something gos wrong, say you wanted a hog roast for a family party in your back garden and they phoned and said "sorry we have ran out of pigs" what exactly will happen - nothing other than "oh well best get down to the co-op then" imagine then that happening at a wedding, so behind that wedding pig is a spare pig and back up transport and oven and gas and storage and back up staff all to ensure that you do get yours on the day and yes all of that extra service failure mitigation adds £. And the same applies to any wedding service.

Didn't get chance to read all the replies, so sorry if someone has already suggested, but go and speak to your local butcher!

They may do a service for you, or point you in the direction of a reasonable guy.

Exactly what Bill said above, you don't see what goes on behind the scenes at weddings, I shouldn't say this but in my car the back up equipment costs are in the region of 30k just sitting in the boot just in case one of my cameras decides on having a hissy fit??. My daughters engagement hog roast cost was £400 and he did give her a quote for her wedding which was £650 (backup equipment/pig etc included ?)

We found it was the extras that seemed expensive. Our hog roast and rolls were £525 but for salad, potato salad and colslaw it was an extra £350. So we're making our own sides (with help from family), we bought our cutlery from wilko which was cheaper then hiring. We're having a picnic theme so it doesn't matter that there not fancy.

You could also get nice puds from costco.

I know diying some of the catering isn't for everyone but its an option.

The hotel where I work charges £8 per person which includes baps and some sort of potatoe side dish and a couple of sauces. So I would say about £800-£1000 is pretty reasonable

I'm sorry I completely disagree!

I think that if you hire a service then that service should be the same high standard regardless of the occasion that's why companies are in business in the first place! The whole back up element - sorry but they provide a service and should plan for this anyway!!!!!

I found some shocking price hikes when we were looking for a caterer which was for an informal buffet style service of paella - One had a price difference of nearly 1K once they worked out it was for a reception - we used the arranging a party email when gathering quotes.

In the end we have found a caterer who is excellent, honest, brilliant food and has no price difference between any event - these are the suppliers I wish to deal with not ones who make excuses to charge silly amounts because they think it's ok to!

You know what Bill, I'd never thought of it like that! I've (probably unfairly) always assumed it was people thinking that if you want it you'll pay for it and hiking the price up because everyone want's the perfect wedding. It hadn't occurred to me the amount of added pressure and back up needed for a wedding. I shall try and be less grumpy in future and bumped up prices!!

UPDATE:

Well I responded to the original supplier thanking them for their time, but unfortunately we wouldn't be using them for our wedding.

Went on the hunt for some more suppliers, one was shockingly plain rude! Called me at work, so when I called them back and asked who it was he just went "Did you want a Hog roast?" I said "Yes I did" He went "Well I was calling you back with a quote then, derr" I was like ? Then he went "Just out at the moment, call you back in 2" 25 mins later and I'd gone back to work off my lunch, he called back. Somehow I wont be going with them.. I really do think first impressions count!

However GOOD NEWS! Found a very good Hog Roast company that has their meat sold in lots of places across the county, and even have their own shop and has quoted us £1341.25 for all the same stuff as above. However that is without desserts, but I think if we do go with them we may invest £££ in a more expensive cake (5 tier of all different flavour layers) to cut up and serve as our dessert. So hopefully will meet our £1.5K budget for food.

Just as a comparison, the other company wanted to charge £350 just to hire their crockery and cutlery, as this company wants £108 and they also clean the plates after too! I understand the W puts pressure on companies, but explain the difference in prices for just hiring plates and silverware because that is A LOT of money saved.

Anyways thanks to all for your help, really appreciate it ?