Food Waste Pickup Pricing

Hello everyone. I have started a food waste collection business in CT and am currently providing residential services. I want to get into the commercial side of things picking up at schools, businesses, hospitals and whatnot but I'm not sure what to charge?  I don't want to overcharge or undercharge!   Is there anyone out there that's doing this that could give me some advice.  I am currently thinking of using typical rolling curbside garbage bins to start. 32 to 64 Gallon. Thank you in advance.

Hi Luke,
I compost everything at my house and haven't used a service like yours. But I used to work at our local Ace Hardware and met a young really nice guy named Brock. He started the same kind of service that your doing. Haven't seen him for a few years but I see his website and it looks like he is doing well. They don't state their prices on the site but I imagine if you contact them they will probably be happy to share that info with you. The site is https://www.compostcrowd.com/  If you talk to Brock tell him Debbie said hi. Best wishes to you.

In my area, it costs about $1.50 - $2 per bag for trash pickup. They also limit the size of the bag. Granted everyone kind of has to participate... but it might be something to compare to.

Also, could I ask what your business model is. Is getting rid of the food waste the business? And animal feed or compost is secondary? Or is the compost and/or animals the business and the food waste is just helping it? That might help adjust your pricing.

Luke, welcome to Permies!

We're both in New England, so prices might be similar... I used to haul brewer's grain, and charged about $0.06 per lb. but it was actually a fee per bin, regardless of the actual weight. I quit a year ago, so fuel prices were better. I think you'd be best to check out the "competition" and see what service they offer and how they charge, what their rates are, then figure out your own.

Off the top of my head, in the Boston area, there's: Save That Stuff, Bootstrap Compost, Black Earth Compost, and City Compost... you might find some info from them.