Villa provisioning

Travel discussion for St. John
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RickG
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Villa provisioning

Post by RickG »

I stopped by Mathayom Mat's web site and noticed that he is now offering villa provisioning services for his catering customers that is cost competitive with similar offerings from STT. The cost is 20% of bill plus a delivery fee. This is a great option as a stress reducer.

http://www.stjohncatering.com/grocery_a ... oning.html

Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
PA Girl
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Post by PA Girl »

It is about time someone did it this way. I will definately use him next trip.

We used Katilady for several years but her choices are very limited.

We looked at another service to do total provisioning in Feb but due to the provider's fee structure, it service fee (est. $525) exceeded the cost of the food ($400). Sounds weird but true. It was just too much, I will pay for vacation time and convenience but that exceeded my limit.

20% of cost (plus delivery) would still be cheaper than letting my family into the store. Hubs can blow $$$ on junk food so fast my head spins.
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mbw1024
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Post by mbw1024 »

the cost still add up though. 20% plus delivery which is minimum $35 Plus you need to have a catering event which is that's a drop off service you have another delivery fee assuming it's not the same day as grocery service.
not saying it's not worth it if you have the change to spare but it adds up.
Overall I don't think I'd do provisioning again but a private chef on the other hand ... maybe next time :)
PA Girl
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Post by PA Girl »

Hmmm, missed the part about the meal or drop off. I would have to give that some serious thought. We do want to do an in-house meal but our group needs to shrink, we have too many people with strong opinions.
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Gromit
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Post by Gromit »

Thanks for posting this info Rick.

While I am one of those gals that has a lot of disposable income and am always game for "let someone else do the work and I'll pay them for it" this is one service that I can't bring myself to pay for.

Typically the cost of the service far outweighs the benefit IMHO and like PA Girl said with some folks you can end up paying more for the service than the actual food and that just doesn't make sense to me.

I've even considered just doing a small provision but then again the service fee seemed high relative to the amount of work involved.

Believe me, I get why it's expensive. But surely there's a way to make it work so that you're making money and more people can afford to take advantage of the service.

Surely someone could develop a business model based on volume to yield a profit. I get the 20% but I don't get adding a "delivery fee" on top of that.

I've long thought that someone who is very organized (including the supermarkets themselves) could make a killing on villa provisioning, offering a more reasonable fee structure and basing the profit on the volume of orders ratehr than trying to charge out the nose for just a handful of people.

Just my .02
*Another fine scatterbrained production
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liamsaunt
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Post by liamsaunt »

The site says that the price of the food is based on his wholesale prices though...that could work out to be a reasonable cost. More $$ than shopping yourself, but the convenience might be worth it.

My only issue with the service is the same reason I won't use peapod.com or similar at home--for a lot of stuff I like to see what I am buying to ascertain its quality--especially fruits, vegetables, and meats. I don't think in this case that would be a dealbreaker though.

Thanks for the heads up Rick.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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Gromit
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Post by Gromit »

Liamsaunt-- ditto for me on wanting to pick the stuff out myself. I agree that's the main reason I don't use peapod etc.
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MIke
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Post by MIke »

Gromit wrote:

While I am one of those gals that has a lot of disposable income

As one with 1 daughter in private college and 2
daughter in private school,please explain the
term "disposable income"
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Gromit
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Post by Gromit »

MIke-- It's a side benefit of being a DINK (Dual Income No Kids) -- of course I'm sure your girls view YOUR income as "disposable" ;-)
*Another fine scatterbrained production
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KatieH
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Post by KatieH »

Mike,

You need the "My daughter and my money go to X " University, school, etc, bumper sticker.

I think we could take 4 trips to St John each year for what it costs us to send the Remora to private school. :lol:
MIke
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Post by MIke »

Gromit,
Your quote"your girls view YOUR income as "disposable" is priceless.That's the best line I've heard in a long time.
KatieH,
The bumper sticker would have to be FREE.
I would be living on SJ if I was a DINK.

MIke
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Gromit
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Post by Gromit »

MIke-- it's a daughters obligation to spend her sweet Daddy's money! ;-) Teehee!
*Another fine scatterbrained production
MIke
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Post by MIke »

All these years I just thought they were spoiled.
Boy,do I owe them an apology.
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Gromit
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Post by Gromit »

Nope just part of the Official Daughter Job Description provided to us in secret at birth ;-)

We can't help it!!
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Buckwheat
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Post by Buckwheat »

We just used Katilady for the dinner upon arrival and with 4 adults we were able to get the first night's dinner,with leftovers for the beach the next day and dinner the following night. A ton of food for the price and no thought on our part as to what to cook at the villa. Well worth the splurge if trying to watch your dollar. Highly recommend.
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