Meet Jemel Sutton of JMS Catering

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jemel Sutton.

Hi Jemel, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
JMS Catering is a small family-owned and operated catering company. The owners Jemel & Danielle Sutton are a husband and wife team with the support of their nine years old daughter, Laila. Jemel & Danielle are both graduates of UNC-Chapel Hill and reside in the Durham.

We pride ourselves on working with clients of all economic statuses. We don’t believe serving good food should be overly expensive. So, there’s no event too small for JMS Catering. Like most businesses, our company started organically. I have always had a love for cooking. As a young kid growing up in Kinston, NC; I learned a lot from my mother and my granny growing up. It really started out with a few friends who asked me to cook for their events. In 2012, a friend asked us to cater his company’s holiday party. It was the first time that my wife & I had cooked for over 100 people. Now cooking for 100 people seems like a small task, but at the time it was huge! That event gave us the confidence to launch JMS Catering and shortly after we did.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Overall, we feel that we’ve been very fortunate at JMS Catering. Certainly with the Covid-19 Pandemic, our business took a hit. In March of 2020, we had over ten large events booked that we had to cancel and refund deposits for. It took a while to bounce back from that kind of a financial loss. With starting any business, you don’t turn a profit right away. Everything that we made in the being we poured back into the business, buying equipment, paying for commercial kitchen/commissary rentals fees.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are small and family-owned catering company. I do all the cooking myself, my wife does all the marketing, business management and creates our social media presence. Staying small allows us to keep our product consistent. It will be good every time you order! It also allows us to have a lower overhead cost which in turn allows us to have more affordable pricing for or clients. We are proud of that! JMS Catering offers basic wedding packages that starts at $28 per person. We also offer Family Meal delivery to most places in the triangle area (bit.ly/JMS4Fam).

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Again, we’re a small company! My wife, Danielle has been amazing in supporting our company. She really has a knack for marketing and promoting. She has lots of creative ideas for new menu items and promotions that help make our business successful. I am also so thankful and appreciative of our clients. We really love when people share our contact information with others and give us a positive review on social media sites because in our community that really goes a long way!

Pricing:

• Basic Wedding Buffett Package starting at $28
• Family Meal Delivery: Dinner for 4 for $55+tax

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://jmscatering2.wixsite.com/jmscatering2nc/about
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j_m_s_catering/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JMSCatering2/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jms-catering-chapel-hill

Image Credits
Deen Harrison