In the past decade, the demand for corporate and private catering has rapidly grown. In 2019, professionals in this industry earned almost $22 billion, which sets a promising increase in the near future. For new business owners, it is important to learn all the necessary tricks to help them perfect their craft, avoid common mistakes, and impress event attendees.
In order to be the best in the catering industry, you need to focus on menu creation, event prep, and all other extra little details that leave a lasting impression on clients. Here are five helpful and actionable ideas you can use to excel at catering private and corporate events.
- Choose your service style
First, identify your catering service style: buffet, tray pass, and plated.
Buffet catering service is made up of various self-serve stations. You can suggest this cost-effective option to save the client’s money on event staff.
Tray pass involves servers carrying food displays on finger food containers around the group. This is also another budget-friendly meal alternative to add some variety to your catering menu while using fewer overall ingredients.
Plated catering is a sit-down meal that you serve to individuals at events such as weddings or charity fundraisers. This is more of a formal dining option for upscale get-togethers of any size.
- Pick a theme
Select a theme based on the event type, your client’s goals, and the venue itself. During the warmer months, you can go with casual themes like BBQ or Luau. If you know the demographics of the event attendees, you can also choose depending on the generation. If you’re not sure what theme to choose, start with one feature item and build the rest of your selection around that.
- Plate food beautifully
To improve customer experience, you need to be extra creative. Add unexpected pops of color to otherwise plain dishes, like rosemary sprigs in a bowl of mashed potatoes. Have plenty of spices, fresh herb sprigs, flowers, chopped nuts, and sprinkles on hand to decorate plates with. Layer plate items rather than place them side by side for a more professional effect.
- Prioritize hygiene
Always make sure to use hand sanitizers and soaps plus industrial cleaning products for countertop cleaning. Wear kitchen prep gloves in the correct size and put on a hairnet if you have long hair or a beard. Most importantly, wash your hands before and after handling meat or seafood and take off any jewelry located on your fingers or wrist.
- Invest in beautiful serving tools
Elegant serving spoons, forks, tongs, bowls, plates, and platters can elevate the look and feel of even the simplest dishes. Choose high quality catering supplies, like a set of gold and silver serving tools so you have a backup just in case the host or venue needs extra. Bowls should also be packed so that you can have extra storage for ice and bottles at the bar or just simply fill them with extra portions of food that are overflowing on the table.
DOWNLOAD OUR FREE CATALOG BELOW:
