On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:59:49 -0500, Ema Nymton >
wrote:

>On 8/16/2012 10:21 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>
>> One problem is that the more meat people see, the more they will take.
>> But if they see plenty of other food, they will take less. If there
>> will be salads, chips, desserts, etc., I would get eight to ten
>> pounds.
>
>In my experience, you are so right. I put out deli meats for a
>conference, and the meat disappeared in no time, we had to run back to
>the store. I would choose 3 different meats and 2 different cheeses,
>the larger your selection to choose from, the slower the line will move.
>
>Use one tray consisting of a 2-3 pound display of meat at a time, and
>keep replacing it with new trays. We had a nice selection of food to
>choose from, but that did not matter, people went directly for the meat.
>Lesson learned.
>
>Becca

There'll be a huge difference in cold cut consumption between serving
ready made sandwiches and folks fixing their own. For fix their own
I'd provide minimally 8 ounces per, and that will be cutting it mighty
close... most folks will fix themselves two sandwiches and stuff them
to overflowing, and then many people won't eat all they take. For
fifty people I'd definitely serve prepared sandwiches, preferibly like
four foot heros pre cut. Figure four-six inches per person... how
much meat depends on how much other fillings; lettuce, tomato, cheese,
etc., and what other foods are served... but with pre made heros you
can use far less meat and fluff it up with shredded lettuce. Thing is
most folks come to these feeds hongry, they will definitely fress. I
wouldn't attend a fix your own event, I don't want to eat cold cuts
handled by fifty folks with ass-wipe/nose-pick fingers.