To think a soup and roll charity sale will still make as much money

[chochomorello]

I'm organising a fundraiser for a health charity in December in the uk. Really want to make the products and emphasis on health. Aibu to suggest a soup and roll sale? We have enough soup yearns for 5 different types and obviously as much space for any rolls people can bake!

For me personally it really wouldn't appeal. I am one of those people that just doesn't like soup.

I eat it particularly at the moment as I'm calorie counting so it's lunch a few times per week but it's not a treat to me. Not even if there are 5 varieties that are all homemade.

Soup and roll is a great charity lunch. We used to have this at school - once a term, we had a 'starvation lunch' (obv not what it was officially called, but we were me,odramatic teens ), where instead of the usual (very nice) offerings of hot lunch and salad bar, we had soup and a roll. The difference in cost between the soup lunch and what 'should' have been on the menu was donated to that term's/year's charity. Win-win, as no actual donations were needed from recalcitrant teens (although were welcomed, and sometimes the lunch was combined with eg home clothes day or similar to up profits)

I hate cake sales. There are so many other, better ways to raise money.

I think this is much more likely to sell well if people have it on the spot (maybe instead of sandwiches) so is there any way you can extend the times to include lunchtime?

Or does the leisure centre have a catering concession and you've deliberately not got that slot?

Sorry to be the wet blanket here, but I wouldn't be buying soup to take away, because of potential leaks and because I'd expect it to go cold before I got home. And I would only buy it for on the spot consumption if hungry (which most people are conditioned to be at mealtimes).

I have to agree with PP, I probably wouldn't buy soup to take home in a cheap cup thing due to probable leak issues.

That said I think it IS a good idea to avoid cake and I would want to buy soup and a roll - but to eat then and there as lunch or possibly dinner, not to take home.

I'd probably buy the bread separately though, especially if you had interesting ones.

We had that at my school, too Panda.

Your school wasn't located in a village with a slightly comedic name, was it?

I'd definitely buy soup at lunchtime, but not in the afternoon or evening.

Why not get a smoothie bike?

I wouldn't go for it. I'm sure many would though.

I love soup but unlikely to buy it outside lunch time.

Could you make 'superfood' muffin type things as well? Bananas, oats, nuts, etc.

auntieStella, I was imagining those small plastic tubs you get from takeaways now (which hold less than the old foil containers, but that is a tale of bitterness and woe for another day). Less chance of leaks, but it's still a possibility.

Perhaps some could be kept chilled in the fridge. Is it being made there and then, or previously made and reheated? I think I would take some portions home, especially if there was a special offer on? Entered into a special raffle if I bought one of each type? Something like that?

I'd buy it at lunchtime to eat immediately, but not to take away, as the juggling containers on foot/leakage logistics would put me off. Would definitely buy good bread to take away, though - in my experience - people who might contribute to a cake sale are reluctant to bake bread because there's a perception it's harder.

If you do go ahead, make sure at least some soups are made with vegetarian stock and labelled as such , as that's always the question I have to ask with soup.

And I think there does need to be something sweet. I understand not wanting to have it based entirely around sugar, but not having it at all just seems so... parsimonious.

I think it's a brilliant idea.

I never buy cakes at charity events because I really don't have a sweet tooth.

I'd definitely buy homemade soup and a roll in the winter though.

If you have urns that you can dish out from, you could have a vegetarian bean chilli ( Jamie Oliver's recipe is delicious) and serve with tortillas and guacamole - slightly more substantial for the evening.

Good idea!
Make sure you offer gluten free rolls and soup choices, as well as vegetarian and vegan!

I'd love that. I'd buy good portions and make it my lunch or supper.
Hot soup, rolls, say washed apples or clementines for pud. Perfect !

I agree that if you are trying to raise money for a health charity, it seems hypocritical to sell food that is basically sugar, fat and refined flour.
Cake would be fine as a very occasional treat, but many people have sweet "treats" daily. Slim people of all ages may still have high visceral fat, the dangerous kind.

You could sell lovely homemade rolls of different sorts for people to take away, much better than cake.

Have been involved with soup and roll as part of fundraisers - our local Church do one every few months, one local group sell it at their christmas fair. Both serve it hot and don't offer takeaway
They both have somewhere you can sit down and eat - walking around with very hot soup is never a good idea!...and you can't serve it warm as it will be dodgy from a food safety pov (although people do walk around with coffee etc - but then they usually have sippy lids on starbuck type cups (would limit spills) but not suitable for soup.)
And if you are offering take away as well you should do it cold so they can reheat it - having lukewarm soup hanging around for a few hours probably isn't a good idea. And it would be a nightmare to transport - you would have to come up with a really good way of doing that...bagged, container, bagged again?
Selling food is always a bit - do people have food hygiene certificates etc...but then cake stalls get away with it ( I think the rationale is because people 'know' they are taking a risk...iirc a few year ago some councils banned cake sales etc in schools but that doesn't seem to be a problem any more)
You would also need to check you are insured ...hot food is higher risk - in addition to food hygiene risks there are scald risks -for your 'customers' but also your 'staff'. You need to check and probably do a thorough risk assessment.
I see your dilemma with the healthy eating and cakes though...but then again everything in moderation...and wonder if you can come up with some healthier cakes?
And nice breads (but they aren't particularly healthy!) ....maybe quiches (hmm eggs? maybe not...) , pizza bases -or even pizzas?
Actually maybe nice pasta/rice/grain salads and healthy dressings/dips (tzatziki etc) but not at this type of the year really.

I do know one group tried to sell things on the cake stand that didn't need eating on the day (moderation and all that ...so pancakes, crumble topping mix, pastry cases, meringues, biscuits that could be frozen and cooked straight from the freezer type of things - but they weren't very popular... or at least not as popular as the tempting attractive (unhealthy) ready to eat cakes...

I think this is a lovely idea! Particularly if it's part of a bigger event.

Better yet, you could go one step further and do a soup and Toastie sale can you tell I am hungry?

I would love soup and a roll. I think a great idea. With some tasty and healthy muffins and bread.

The leisure centre here did a cake sale for diabetes uk. I did wonder if they were doing more harm than good

DO A GLUTEN FREE SOUP!

ahem excuse the shout but all these cake sales i cant enjoy any of them as they all contain gluten

please?

Do this in the lobby of an office building and you will be all set. Advertise it is happening before hand and people will be queuing for lunch

also I think your margins will be higher. Baked goods I find rather expensive to bake relative what you make off them (but this is from school cake sales where everything goes for 50p or less.)