Mahaprasad is where good intentions become expensive. No committee wants to be the one that ran out of food, so everybody orders for more people than will come — and a quarter of a festival’s food budget goes into bins while the treasurer explains that the collection fell short.
Get a real headcount, with a cut-off
A number somebody estimated in a meeting is not a headcount. Ask flats to confirm how many people are coming, publish a cut-off date, and plan against what you actually received. You will always add a margin — but a margin on a real number is planning, and a margin on a guess is just a bigger guess.
Think per plate, always
Agree a cost per plate with the caterer in writing, and make sure you both mean the same thing by it.
- What exactly is on the plate — the full menu, itemised
- Whether serving staff are included or extra
- Whether disposables, leaves or utensils are included
- What happens if the count rises on the day, and at what rate
- When the balance is due, and against what bill
The margin should be 10%, not 50%
Committees routinely order 40–50% over their confirmed count out of anxiety. Ten per cent covers genuine walk-ins. Fifty per cent guarantees waste, and it is being paid for by the same residents who will later ask why the contribution went up.
Decide where the surplus goes before you cook it
There will be extra food. Decide in the committee, in advance, what happens to it — the staff, a nearby shelter, whoever your society chooses. Deciding at 10pm when everyone is tired is how good food ends up in a bin, and it is the part of the evening people remember.
Sponsor it
Mahaprasad is the single easiest item in any Indian festival to find a sponsor for — it is visible, it is generous, and it has an obvious dedication attached to it. If the food budget is straining your collection, that is a signal to ask, not to cut the menu.