Category: Catering

You want to be able to make as much money out of your catering business as you possibly can. One of the easiest ways in which you can do this is by upselling. This will allow you to entice existing customers into spending more money by offering them bigger, better catering options. It will allow you to make a decent profit and it will make the event more interesting for you as you’ll be able to produce more intricate, exciting food options, potentially in larger quantities.

When you’re designing menus and considering the food and drink which you are going to provide as part of your business, it’s important to be as flexible as you can be. Whilst having set menu options may be easier from an administrative point-of-view, make it clear that these can be customised. This will allow you to sell more products in higher quantities where appropriate.

It can be particularly easy to upsell at business events, parties and conferences where people are networking and want to impress their clients. It should be fairly simple to persuade business owners or events managers to choose more expensive options or to buy in larger quantities – the last thing they’re going to want is to look like they’ve skimped on food, or have chosen the cheap option.

You may also want to ensure that you’re able to offer more than just the standard menus in order to give your clients further options. Consider whether you want to offer services and products like bars, lighting, centrepieces, chair covers and table cloths. These are all items which can be used to upsell, and the more aspects of an event you contribute to, the easier it will be to get a good reputation as a caterer.

I haven’t been cooking much for myself this week – much to my, and probably your, dismay. The conditions of my employment allow me to claim back food expenditure. Now I am never one to look a gift horse in the mouth; so I have been doing as much as I can to spend as much as I can (within reason) and to try all manner of foods along the way.
I have been exploring Portobello road which does, in itself, have a massive range of cuisines and catering options. From street foods offering thai, falafel, curries or traditional english pork rolls. There are supermarkets as well (for that cheeky meal deal option if it is too busy elsewhere) but the sheer volume of food and the sheers breadth of cuisine is inspiring to anyone working in the field of catering. Being able to spend someone else’s money on food? Beautiful.

I spent the last weekend in London doing no small amount of eating, drinking and partying. In the midst of the madness there was a barbecue being conducted by the men of the party (such is the way at these things.) When we kicked it off on Saturday afternoon the weather was ok, we managed a few burgers, some sausages and a couple of steaks. Then the weather took a turn; that is when barbecue etiquette becomes difficult.

The rain started to fall. People had had just enough alcohol, as well, that meat was starting to get left outside on the benches and chairs. People did not seem to care one bit! Alcohol kept flowing and food was starting to get moved inside to the grill but it was too late. One quick rain storm, coupled with a little alcohol, meant the the barbecue was over!

It is not the most romantic thing in the world, in fact it might be one of the loneliest sounding things one could possibly imagine, but cooking for one (or cooking for yourself to make it sound a little less depressing) is not all that bad actually. It gives you free reign of the kitchen, complete freedom over the dish itself and no one can step in and tell you that you are doing it wrong. In fact, cooking for one might be the best way to possibly prepare food.
No more will you have anyone tell you the curry you made was “too spicy” for them. The bread you made by hand won’t be “too thick” any more either. Every decision will be yours, every mistake your own and every success will be even greater because of it. Ignore cooking for couples, catering events for your friends and family. Cook for yourself. Be a man.

I know I am breaking the catering golden rule here but hear me out. I know we like to prepare, I know we like to cook, I know we like to design layouts and guest lists but it’s always important to see how those fabled, permanent establishments are dealing with the same issues. Restaurants are, in essence, permanent catering locations and offer a lot of lessons for people in catering to learn from. Even when they make mistakes we can take note.

Do you like the way in which customers are laid out? Do you like the menu design? While restaurants don’t often have themed menus like you might cater for your guests, do you like the general split of the menu? Does it offer enough for vegetarians? If not what would you offer differently? It is always worth visiting these establishments to learn from people; both their successes and mistakes.

One key area to consider in the running of any business is how you want to be perceived by people; both customers and your local community. One area to consider when running your own catering business is where, and most importantly how, you are going to be sourcing the things that you need to run that business. Are you going to hire local people? What about the places you are going to get your produce from? One area that people can be quite easily tricked into thinking more about your business is if you are supporting their local community in a very obvious way.

Get in touch with the local paper; talk about looking for local people who understand the community and its values, talk about how you’re looking to work with local farmers and take on their expertise as well. By tapping into that psyche you’re opening yourself up to a lot of business.

One of the most common ways in which people are introduced to a catering company is usually by referral from an events management company. Whether they are a catering company getting a referral or are simply a part of the event management company is often unclear, but it typically results in higher costs for you, the client, than if you found and approached a company which specialises in catering.

This increase in cost is the result of a “cost of referral”, whereby the company providing the referral gets a fee for doing it. While you can avoid this cost by approaching a catering specialist directly, other advantages with such a position are also valuable, in that it gives you a better chance to really find which company is right for you. They, just like a restaurant, have different a unique skills to call on, so some may be more suited to your tastes than others.

A big part of any event management are the catering services being used, and a big part of that is which menu ends up being used. Deciding upon what food to supply for the event can be a difficult task, and will require more expertise than you might expect.

As you’re turning to professionals to help you with this, the large variety of options you’ve got are all high quality and therefore even more difficult to choose from. The variety of options will also, however, assist you with finding and designing the perfect menu for the event.

Hopefully, if you’ve gone to a catering specialist, they should have the expertise you need in order to make the correct choice. Even then, providing a lot of variety on the day can be a great option, so that, no matter the tastes of the guests, your guests will find something to their liking.

People have a very cultivated idea of what catering is, but, more often than not, they’re completely wrong. Catering can cover a whole host of services used for a large variety of situations; it is very easily scalable as well, and more cost effective than you might think.

While catering is defined as supplying food to a remote location, whether that be a hotel, business or anything else, the people who provide the services can do so wherever you require them. You could, for instance, pay to have a birthday party for your children catered, which is an increasingly popular choice.

Whether you’re preparing for a big social event like a wedding, or if you’re just trying to have some bespoke restaurant quality food for a small gathering of your family and friends, catering can remove the responsibilities, giving you the time to do other things.