Empanadas are considered one of the most versatile snacks in the gastronomic industry; Colombian families consume it en masse, mainly in social gatherings. It is not strange that families project a budget to make 100 empanadas.

To know how much it costs to make 100 empanadas, you must take into account:

  • Raw material
  • Workforce
  • Lease
  • Public services
  • Preparation time

100 meat patties

We are going to take as an example one of the empanadas that are most consumed in Colombian territory, the meat ones, and we will break down each of the points to take into account to be clear about the budget to make 100 empanadas.

Raw material

Amanda Gómez, entrepreneur in the sale and distribution of empanadas, comments that this is one of the products that is most requested in large quantities, which is why she lists the raw material needed to make 100 empanadas below:

QuantityProductUnit valueTotal Value
5 poundsCornmeal$ 2,500$ 12,500
5 ½ poundsButter$ 1,500$ 7,500
1 gallonOil$ 40,000$ 40,000
5 poundsGround beef$ 9,000$ 45,000
Seasonings$ 10,000
Water
TOTAL115,000

Amanda assures that these prices are an estimate of what the ingredients needed to make 100 empanadas can cost, based on her experience in acquiring the raw material.

He also ensures that this is a basic budget, taking into account that within his portfolio he prepares empanadas of different flavors such as chicken, mushrooms, rice, pineapple, cheese, among others that can exceed the budget to make 100 empanadas

Workforce

In a company dedicated to the manufacture and preparation of patties, labor becomes the most important link in the chain, because they are the people who handle the raw material and give the final product a unique flavor.

Taking as a starting point that the employee of an empanadas company is assigned a current legal minimum wage, which today in Colombia is $ 1,014. 980 including transportation assistance, a day worked is equivalent to $ 33,832.

This value per day is important to consider within the budget to make 100 empanadas.

Lease

As part of the budget to make 100 empanadas , it is considered important to consider the rental item, taking into account that it adds up when making a cost study and giving the final value of one empanada or, in this case, 100 snacks.

Taking the Maquiempanadas company as a reference, the rental value of a premises with an area of ​​36 square meters is approximately $ 600,000 per month.

Public services

Among the essential public services that are paid monthly, for a company like Maquiempanadas, are:

– Water
– Electricity
– Gas
– Telephone
– Internet
Approximate total cost
$ 345,000

Preparation time

In reference to the time each employee takes when preparing 100 empanadas, Amanda Gómez states that approximately two workers would prepare that amount during a working day.

Taking again as a reference that when working you earn 1 SMLV, the cost of preparation time by hand for the number of empanadas is $ 33,832 per employee.

Maquiempanadas, technology and innovation 

A Manizales company that is an expert in the manufacture and distribution of machinery for the food industry such as empanadas, it provides economic, flexible and innovative solutions to companies in the agri-food sector. reference

As part of its portfolio, there are the machines specialized in the assembly of corn empanadas, with two modules (Lamination and assembly) in stainless steel capable of producing more than 300 empanadas in one hour with 1 operator.

Budget to make 100 empanadas, labor vs machine.

Taking into account the information provided by Mrs. Amanda and the Maquiempanadas company, below, we will show a parallel of costs of preparation by hand and by specialized machinery.

 By handMachine
Raw material$ 115,000$ 115,000
Workforce$ 67.664$ 33,332
Lease$ 20,000 (day)$ 20,000 (day)
Public services$ 11,500 (day)$ 30,000 (day)
Preparation timeOne dayAn hour
TOTAL$ 214,164$ 198,332

As shown in the table, the budget to make 100 meat patties , in this case, is lower with the use of specialized machinery.

This type of agri-food industry gives the possibility of reducing costs and making production more agile in the manufacture and distribution of empanadas.

In the case of Mrs. Amanda’s venture, with two workers she could only cover an order of 100 empanadas in one day, while by acquiring a machine in Maquiempanadas, more than 10 orders of the same quantity can be fulfilled.

Although the investment of acquiring the machinery is high, there is a great probability to achieve the equilibrium point in a short time, without losing the quality of the product and the flavor, which is ultimately the most important thing and what makes the diner fall in love.