Plan B Business
Food

Stop being a chef who runs a business.
Start running a business that produces food.

We work with food production and catering companies doing $165K-$3.3M in annual revenue. Our monthly engagement, no minimum term works to build kitchen capacity discipline, balance B2B/B2C revenue, capture HACCP and ServSafe compliance, and reach 22%+ net margins - so the business produces wealth, not just food. How fast it moves depends on how seriously you work the plan - what you will see from the first meeting is exactly what is holding the business back.

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Industry Reality

9 patterns we see in most food production & catering companies

85%
how often we see it

Kitchen capacity is the invisible ceiling on revenue

Root cause: No production capacity tracking. Owner accepts orders that physically can't fit in kitchen on event day. Burnout or quality drops.

What we do: Production capacity calendar in the ordering system. Daily/weekly kitchen hours tracked. Hard caps on bookings. Premium pricing on peak days. 15-20% revenue lift through better mix.

70%
how often we see it

HACCP and ServSafe compliance gaps

Root cause: Documentation lives in chef's head. ServSafe certifications expired for some staff. HACCP plan written 4 years ago and never updated.

What we do: Quarterly compliance audit: HACCP plan refresh, ServSafe certification tracking for all staff, temperature log discipline, allergen labeling protocols. (Note: we don't replace your food safety attorney/consultant - we coordinate with them.)

75%
how often we see it

B2B and B2C cannibalize each other in same kitchen

Root cause: Same kitchen serves retail orders, corporate catering, and wedding events. Workflow chaos. Quality inconsistency.

What we do: Operational separation: defined B2B vs B2C production windows, separate staffing tracks, separate pricing strategies. Target 60/40 B2B/B2C mix within 18 months.

80%
how often we see it

Catering margins compressed to 15% (target: 30-40%)

Root cause: Pricing based on cost-plus, not value-based. Delivery, setup, staffing absorbed into food price.

What we do: Pricing rebuild: food cost target 28%, labor 22%, delivery/setup/service as separate line items. Average margin recovery: 8-15 points.

75%
how often we see it

Food cost above 35% (target: 28-32%)

Root cause: No daily food cost tracking. Vendor prices creeping. Spoilage between purchase and production hidden.

What we do: Daily food cost tracking. Weekly vendor pricing review. FIFO discipline. Designated kitchen manager for inventory. Annual vendor RFP. Drop waste to 2-3%.

70%
how often we see it

No corporate catering pipeline beyond word-of-mouth

Root cause: 100% reliance on inbound inquiries. Owner-chef does sales reactively.

What we do: B2B sales motion: LinkedIn outreach to office managers, weekly corporate lunch programs, partnerships with property managers. Target 8-15 active corporate accounts within 12 months.

75%
how often we see it

Kitchen staff turnover at 80%+ annually

Root cause: Below-market wages, no growth path, peak season burnout.

What we do: Hybrid compensation: hourly + production bonus + quarterly margin-share. Defined path: prep cook → line cook → sous chef → kitchen manager. Cross-training mandatory.

55%
how often we see it

Co-packing or wholesale opportunity ignored

Root cause: Strong product (sauce, baked goods, sides) but never packaged for wholesale or retail distribution.

What we do: Wholesale feasibility audit. If viable, co-packing partnership identified, retail-ready packaging developed, 5-10 regional accounts piloted. Recurring B2B revenue stream.

70%
how often we see it

No CRM, customer database is in invoicing software

Root cause: The POS is used for transactions only. No marketing-driven repeat business engine.

What we do: CRM deployment, whether native to the ordering system or alongside it. Email list capture at every order. Quarterly comeback campaigns. Loyalty program for corporate accounts.

Benchmarks

The numbers we aim at

These are the targets we work toward in an engagement - a bar to measure against, not an average anyone measured for you.

KPITypical starting pointPlan B target12-month goal
Net profit margin8-14%22-28%18-26%
Food cost percentage35-42%28-32%29-33%
% revenue from B2B (corporate, wholesale, recurring)20-30%55-65%40-60%
Kitchen capacity utilization (peak vs off-peak)40/85%70/95%60/90%
Corporate account retention (annual)55-65%85%+75-85%
Owner-chef weekly hours60-70<4540-50
Kitchen staff turnover (annual)80-100%<35%30-50%
Engagement Model

What working with us looks like

  1. 01

    Month 1: Production + financial audit

    We pull 18 months of catering P&Ls. Every event's quote-to-actual margin, kitchen capacity analysis, vendor pricing, HACCP compliance gaps. We identify the 1-2 highest-leverage actions for your specific operation.

  2. 02

    Months 2-3: Capacity + pricing discipline

    Production capacity calendar deployed. Daily food cost tracking live. Pricing rebuilt with separate line items for delivery/setup/service. Margin dashboards visible weekly. HACCP plan refreshed.

  3. 03

    Months 4-6: B2B pipeline + kitchen systems

    Corporate sales motion launches. LinkedIn outreach cadence operational. Weekly lunch programs piloted with 3-5 corporate accounts. Kitchen staff compensation restructured. SOPs documented.

  4. 04

    Months 7-12: Scale + freedom

    B2B/B2C mix at 55-60% B2B. Kitchen runs on SOPs, not chef-owner heroics. Wholesale or co-packing opportunity scoped (if viable). Owner-chef hours drop. We shift to quarterly cadence.

Common questions from food production & catering companies owners

What size food business is this for?−
Sweet spot: $165K-$3.3M in annual revenue - the same band our Hebrew site states in shekels. Below it there are three ways in, not none: the academy at $33/month, the $365 paid diagnostic and B-Start at $365/month - plus business-plan work for an owner who has not opened yet. Above it you usually need a full-time COO or director of operations in-house rather than an outside partner. It is a guide, not a gate - ask and we will tell you straight.
Catering, food production, ghost kitchens, or all of the above?+
All of the above. Catering companies (corporate, social, weddings), food production businesses (sauces, baked goods, prepared meals), and ghost kitchen operations. The fundamentals (kitchen capacity, food cost, B2B/B2C mix) apply universally. Application differs by channel mix.
Square for Catering vs BlueCart vs Toast - which do you recommend?+
We do not pick winners between vendors and we do not sell software. The specification: kitchen capacity is a hard constraint the system enforces rather than a number in your head, every order carries a promise date the kitchen can see, and B2B accounts get pricing and terms that differ from retail without a manual workaround each time. If catering and a storefront run out of the same kitchen, the system that reconciles both is worth more than any single feature. We help you choose and implement.
We're food trucks. Same advice?+
Food trucks have unique constraints (truck capacity, route economics, commissary kitchen dependencies). Methodology applies but with adjustments: route optimization replaces production calendar, dual-revenue (truck + catering) is typical, B2B private events are higher-margin than truck-day revenue. We work with food truck businesses doing $300K+ annual revenue.
HACCP plan is overdue. Can you help?+
We coordinate with HACCP-certified consultants, not replace them. Food safety compliance requires licensed expertise (HACCP-certified, ServSafe Manager certified). We facilitate the relationship, ensure compliance is on your operating calendar, and integrate findings into operations. The legal/safety work is theirs.
What about co-packing - can we really get into retail?+
Maybe. Co-packing requires retail-ready packaging ($20K-$50K upfront), shelf-stable formulation, regulatory compliance (FDA labeling, nutritional analysis), and distributor relationships. Margin on wholesale is 25-35% (lower than direct catering) but recurring. We help you assess feasibility before committing capital. About 40% of clients pursue, 60% conclude their direct catering model is more valuable.
Will you help with hiring sous chefs and kitchen managers?+
Yes. Sous Chef / Kitchen Manager hiring is the #1 unlock for $1M+ food operations. We help with job descriptions, comp structure (base + production bonus), interview process. We don't recruit for you.
Who does the work?+
Ligal Frish and Eitan Eshtemaker - the two co-founders. Direct access, no associates.
What's your fee structure?+
Situation Room: $365 one-time. B-Grow: $1,430/month (most food operations). B-Beyond: $2,750/month (multi-channel operations or co-packing and wholesale preparation). No minimum term and no notice period - you can end it at any time.

Stop being a chef who runs a business. Run a business that produces food.

30-minute strategy call. We'll diagnose your top 2 levers and tell you if we're a fit. No pitch. No pressure.

Book My Free Strategy Call