Catering

Introduction to Catering
• Whenever people gather for several hours, they're going to require food and beverages.

• At business meetings, coffee, tea, and bottled water—at the very least—are made available for attendees.

• Celebratory occasions such as weddings, christenings, birthday parties, bar and bat mitzvahs, and
anniversaries call for special food and drink to complete the festivities. These are all prime occasions for
catering.
• All prime occasions for catering. From a meal in a prestigious stadium
skybox to a mobile lunch wagon on a movie set, catering can be bone-china
elegant or paper-plate casual, but it always means serving good-quality food
and drink to many people.

• Catering is usually done by pre-arranged contract—food and drink provided

at a certain cost to a specific number of people.
• The menu at a catered event is usually more limited than a restaurant menu
and is chosen in advance by the client.

• The way the food is prepared is different, too. Although both restaurant and
catering chefs do the mise en place or prepare the food ahead of time to a
certain extent, catering chefs prepare their food so that it only needs brief
final cooking, reheating, or assembly prior to service.
 What is Catering?

• It is the business of providing foods and beverage service to the people at a remote
location. It is a part of food and beverage service sector. For example, arranging food
services at a wedding location.

• It is a multifaceted segment of the food service industry. There is a niche for all types of
catering businesses within the segment of catering. The food service industry is divided
into three general classifications: commercial segment, non-commercial segment, and
military segment.
 What is QSR?

• These are the fast-food outlets called Quick Service Restaurants where the
food is prepared, purchased, and generally consumed quickly. They are
run with convenience as a main factor. Branded outlets such as
McDonalds.
 What is FSR?

• They are fine dining, family, specialty, ethnic, or theme restaurants called
Full-Service Restaurants where the food and beverage menu is wide, and
the customer’s expectations are high. They are operated with customer
satisfaction and experience as the key factors.
 Catering management

• It is a task of planning, organizing, and controlling. Each activity

influences the preparation and delivery of food, beverage, and related
services at a competitive, profitable price. These activities work together
to meet and exceed the customer's perception of value.
 There are two main
categories of catering.
 Institutional

• These caterers at hospitals, universities, airlines, large hotels, and

retirement centres provide a wide variety of food and drink to many
people on an ongoing basis—usually at the institution itself. The
institution usually contracts with a catering company to have this service
provided.
 Social

• These caterers provide food and beverage services to civic groups,

charities, corporations, businesses, and individuals on premise at a
catering or banquet hall or off-premise at a selected location.
 Catering Segments
Catering management is executed in many diverse ways
within each of the three segments.
 Commercial segment

• Traditionally considered the for-profit operations, includes the

independent caterer, the restaurant caterer, and the home-based caterer. In
addition, hotel/motel and private club catering operations are also found in
this category.
 Noncommercial segment

• or the not-for-profit operations, consists of the following types of catering

activities: business/industry accounts, college and university catering,
health care facilities, recreational food service catering, school catering,
social organizations, and transportation food service catering.
 Military segment

• It encompasses all catering activities involved in association with the

armed forces and/or diplomatic events.
 Types of Catering
There are two main types of catering (on-premise and off-
premise) that may be concern to a large and small caterer.
 On-premise catering

• Indicates that the function is held exclusively within the caterer's own
facility. All the required functions and services that the caterer executes
are done exclusively at their own facility.

• For instance, a caterer within a hotel or banquet hall will prepare and cater
all of the events without taking any service or food outside the facility.
Types of Catering
 Hospital Catering

• An example of hospital catering is an on-premise catering operation for

events that occur within a hospital's environment.

• It is very rare for a hospital to sponsor an off-premise event. One

exception could occur if the hospital is sponsoring a fund raiser.
High School/Elementary School Catering

• High school catering operations service events exclusively for the high school population;
high schools frequently cater athletic banquets, teachers' meetings, events on the football field
for fall and spring celebrations, and other sporting events.

• They may hold a catered event anywhere on the school property, but the preparation of the
food is done in the high school cafeteria. One logical reason for this policy is that insurance
and liability costs would escalate, and therefore be prohibitive.
 Private or Nonprofit Caterers
• There are certain advantages for maintaining an on-premise food service catering their own activities provides
an exceptional opportunity to increase profits and raise profit margins for the purpose of strengthening their
internal fiscal health.

• The school directors can lower operational food costs in the cafeteria or use the additional revenue to expedite
the purchase ot new pieces of production equipment Usually those facilities can provide food and service for
less cost than an independent caterer because they have the facility, their labor costs are built in, and they are
not paying certain kinds of taxes.
• Churches, fraternal organizations, and fire halls are other examples of
where an entirely on-premise catering operation may take place. Not
many private or nonprofit caterers will cater off premise events because
they lack the expertise and equipment to do so; these organizations usually
provide the hall, food, beverage, and servers for an occasion.
 There are three strategic
advantages these organizations
have over the independent
caterer.
1. They have no labour costs because the labour is "donated" by the members
themselves.

2. They do not pay taxes

3. Many of them do not incur the expense of carrying any kind of liability insurance
 Customer Appeal
• The independent caterer can provide customer appeal by offering more
variety, attractive presentations with China and glassware, and a higher
quality of food and expertise.

• This may assure the caterer that the customer will come to the
independent caterer rather than a nonprofit group.
• The caterer strives to be a specialist and to satisfy the customer's needs. If
you can satisfy more needs, you will benefit with broader customer base.
 University/College Caterers

• The management of college and university food service is either

contracted to a company which specializes in food management services
or handled internally by the institution itself. Regardless of the type of
management selected, university college caterers are responsible for
providing food and related services to the students, faculty, administrators,
and guests.
• College or university campus facilities are often utilized for on-premise
catering. Universities and colleges have a myriad of activities happening
simultaneously by many diverse organizations.
 Off-Premise Catering

• It is accomplished exclusively by the caterer. The off-premise caterer

transports all the food, serving products, and personnel to a location other
than the building or facility where the food is prepared.

• An important consideration for oft-premise catering is that there must be

access to equipment needed to prepare the food.
• Caterers must also furnish their own refrigerated trucks or other equipment
to keep food hot or cold.

• Food must be the right serving temperature to be satisfactorily served. Salads

must be ice cold and soups should be served at a minimum 14O°F and not
lukewarm. Transportation must be provided for the staff to get to the site.
• Some off-premise events are so large that a caterer will have to rent buses
to get the wait-staff to the location, so they all arrive dressed properly at
the same time.
 Supermarket Evolution into Catering

• Supermarkets are also attracted to the opportunities associated with the

catering business.
 Supermarket catering

• It is usually limited to what can be served, not what can be prepared.

Supermarkets also use many of the value-added or convenience foods
available in the market today.

• With the use of prepared foods, a menu can be built entirely around these
prepared food items.
• A shopper can conveniently purchase prepared salads and heat-and-serve
entrees. Since many of these supermarkets are already serving these items
in their deli departments, they can increase their sales by offering similar
foods to people who come in and pick up their food and 21 take it home
with them. Another development in the prepared food departments in
supermarkets is the hiring of highly trained, certified chefs.
 Dual Restaurant-Catering Operations

• Many restauranteurs will cater on-premise special events and pursue off-
premise opportunities. One strategic reason for dual restaurant-catering is
that restauranteurs have invested in professional production equipment
and can thus increase efficiencies.

• This effort will lower the overall fixed costs of the operation.
• Another reason to pursue oft-premise catering functions is to increase incremental
gross sales without having to incur a capital expenditure of expanding either the

dining room area, the kitchen area, or building another restaurant.

• Restaurant facilities have a fixed capacity-sized dining room and are only limited by
increasing incremental sales while serving more customers within a given time

period.
• Therefore, a strategy is to serve more people off-premise because they lack the space to
hold two functions simultaneously.

• By complementing an on-site location with off-premise catering, a restauranteur can gain

greater efficiencies in the use of production equipment and professional staff, lower
overall fixed costs of business, incrementally increase gross sales, increase cash flow and
profits, achieve better efficiencies in purchasing, and gain a much broader customer base.
 EXCLUSIVE CATERING RIGHTS

• One of the most important strategic decisions for a successful off-premise

function is the design of the menu.

• It is necessary to create a menu that will complement the equipment in the

kitchen facility. Many caterers serve both on- and off premise catering
quite successfully.
 ON-PREMISE AND OFF-PREMISE
COMBINATIONS

• Although the distinct description between on-premise and off-premise catering does
exist, actual operations blend both types of catering so there is some fluctuation
between on-premise and off premise catering services. Many caterers may prepare
their foods within their own facility and possibly use labour from another.

• Hotels and small restaurants may prepare food in their production kitchens and
transport food off-premise to another location to serve their guests.
There are many instances when a caterer may be selected
to provide either off-premise or on-premise work.

• For on-premise catering to be successful, the caterer must know how many people can
be comfortably seated in their facility.

• The capabilities of getting food off the grill or out of the oven is a serious consideration,
going off-premise to a facility may find the caterer feeding many people inside a
building, twenty-five or thirty people in a private home, at a church facility feeding two
or three hundred people, or even outside for a picnic or fund-raising event. These are
issuing a caterer must consider.
• A caterer must decide and determine, in advance, the specific clientele for
their business. It is imperative that a caterer understands the relationship
between the potential clients' needs, the caterer's knowledge base and skill
levels, the event's labour requirements, and the facility's capabilities and
availability.
 Advantages and
Disadvantages
While there is an advantage for both on-premise and off-
premise catering, some inherent problems may occur.
• The distinct advantage of catering a banquet on-premise for one hundred-fifty people is that everything is
within reach.

• If an unforeseen problem strikes, a better opportunity to create a successful alternative maybe implemented.

• If a customer receives a steak they do not like, a caterer can immediately prepare another one.

• If serving at an off-premise location, this may not be an alternative.

• Because every job is different, experience teaches what has worked in similar circumstances in the past and
will most likely work again in the present
 Private Parties

• Many restaurants will do on-premise work, but the size event they can
accommodate depends on how many seats they have available. Some
restaurants have separate rooms where customers can have private parties
catered.

• lf it is a small restaurant; they may offer private-party catering for twenty-

five or thirty people.
 Wedding and convention catering

• Are two of the most profitable events for caterers because of all the extra
purchases that can be incorporated into a single event.

• A wedding will usually require wine and champagne which is provided by

the caterer;, in addition, the caterer may also provide the wedding cake, the
floral service, and the limousine service. The challenge for a caterer is to
understand both the Jewish and Christian wedding ceremonies.
• Many caterers have a bridal consultant on staff to assist the prospective
bride in her decisions.

• Often, caterers can receive a percentage of the money from those outside
suppliers working with them, providing the caterer with additional profit.
These multifaceted events are quite important for the caterer.
 One-Stop Shop Catering
• When building an off-premise or on-premise business, many caterers evolve into a
full service or one-stop shop for the client.
• The caterer will work with rental companies to provide tables, chairs, and tents.
• The client appreciates this worry-free service provided by the caterer. Caterers can
provide many additional services based upon the needs of the client.
• Caterers will provide entertainment, photography, videography service, invitations,
ice sculptures, and any other services needed for a memorable occasion.
 Mobile catering

• Employs trucks that are equipped with a body that has built-in facilities,
such as gas-fired coffee urns Many mobile caterers have developed a
seasonal menu and a picnic table concept on the back of their truck.

• Employs trucks that are equipped with a body that has built-in facilities,
such as gas-fired coffee urns Many mobile caterers have developed a
seasonal menu and a picnic table concept on the back of their truck.
• Mobile caterers keep hot soups in the winter, and their fleet of 25-30 trucks
are dispatched to a variety of sites and locations from construction sites to
automobile dealerships.

• They furnish a wide assortment of hot or cold sandwiches, beverages, soup,

coffee, doughnuts, bagels, burritos, and other menu items for the
construction workers or mechanics to eat.
 Seasonal Niche

• Off- premise catering opportunities will also enable many restaurants and
hotels to develop a seasonal niche. These events may involve food such as
barbequed chicken and ribs that are prepared at a restaurant or hotel and
served off-premise.
 Questions Caterers Need
To Ask
A caterer must decide to work with a client. Every caterer
must develop a standard set of questions that will assist them
in making this determination.
 Location Considerations

• To illustrate the importance of location in off-premise catering, a caterer

agreed to cater an off premise event at a familiar banquet hall, the
following questions should be considered on the Client’s Checklist.
1. Is the location of the event conducive to the caterer's capabilities to produce the food and service
necessary to satisfy the guests' needs?

2. Is the caterer comfortable with the management at the hall or facility? Is the caterer comfortable
with the client? Is the caterer comfortable with the personalities?

3. Can the caterer work within the quoted budget specified by the guest!

4. Is the caterer's staff compatible with the hall's staff?

5. Was a background check completed on the financials of the hall and client?
 HOME-BASED CATERERS

• One of the most challenging aspects of the catering business is the presence of home-
based caterers-caterers who operate from their own homes.

• These caterers may have limited experience, smaller insurance policies, and less
knowledge in proper sanitation techniques.

• Operating out of the home may limit storage facilities, adequate refrigeration, proper
food production, and equipment for holding hot food.
• Many of these home-based caterers are forced to learn techniques on the
job. They have a small margin for error.
 Equipment
• Many home-based caterers are required by local health departments to have separate kitchens in
their homes.

• This may be a disadvantage to the amount of money necessary to start, but on the other hand,
may be an advantage because of the amount of equipment a home-based caterer can purchase.

• Their equipment may consist of a four-burner stove and a small domestic refrigerator. They may
lack a commercial dish machine to sanitize the equipment.
• The local health departments have a concern over these sanitation issues,
If the home-based hold it at the proper storage temperature (below 41°F}!
What kind of transportation equipment will they use, a car or pick-up
truck? A professional, licensed, insured caterer will most often own a
refrigerated truck and will rent more as demand necessitates.
 Professional Training

• Another potential weakness of a home-based caterer is a lack of professional training for

their staff.

• Many do not have the time or resources to adequately train their staff in professional service
techniques.

• In addition, they may not have workman's compensation coverage for their staff. Home-
based caterers can do a good job catering out of their home and charge less money than a
licensed, professional caterer.
• They can handle small jobs between 50-100 people at less cost per plate
than the licensed caterer. Many however, are not equipped to handle large
events.
 Unfair Competitive Advantage

• Home-based caterers are sometimes viewed as unfair competition to a licensed caterer

because the professional caterer is required to have a license, must be inspected by the
proper authorities, must conform to the rules and regulations of the health department,
and many must have on-staff personnel certified in sanitation.

• The home-based caterer does not have this expense or the overhead of having
commercial equipment, professionally-trained staff, and the required insurance coverage
to compete in today's market.
• Finally, it is important to understand that food prepared in a private home
may not be used or offered for human consumption in a food
establishment.