The business of cooking!...

I would be interested in your thoughts when it comes to cooking and catering.

On what sort of occasions, if any, would you consider handing the catering over for an event to a third party?

For instance would the number of people attending be the key factor?

Or perhaps the importance of the event? The sophistication of the menu?

I'm just trying to do some basic research on what factors determine whether people look to get catering in or not, so any help you could provide would be very gratefully received!

Thanks very much

Lianne

Re : The business of cooking!

Don't deafen me with your responses

Come on gang, any ideas?

Lianne

Re : The business of cooking!

Hi Lianne

I notice you haven't had any replies, so whilst I know nothing about cooking and catering...

I guess most people who consider handing catering over for an event if it was a company function with a dedicated budget set aside, a portion of which could be used for catering. If it were an individual, then it would need to be a large event for most people to justify the cost of getting catering done: obviously things like a wedding reception and so on, but maybe a large party too. The number of guests and desired sophistication of the menu would obviously have a large bearing - if the logistics were too massive for an individual to cope with, for instance.

Hope this helps!

Dan
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Re : The business of cooking!

Personally I'd only get caterers in for a really, really important one-off event like a wedding.

I guess it comes down to lifestyle and disposable income more than anything.

Tim

Re : The business of cooking!

Thanks for the responses, chaps! Appreciated.

Re : The business of cooking!

Hi Lianne

I just ran a Food Fayre which included 8 caterers in the area as well as home-grown produce, a local brewery and some WI type stalls. It was successful and raised over £2.5K for a hospice.

Personally I was amazed at how successful the caterers were and talking to them and collecting their information it was clear that as Tim says, it's disposable income and lifestyle as well as time of year and perhaps a personal celebration which encourage people to use caterers.

This year I outsourced the mince pie order together with pate and desserts over the Christmas period. I've also bought some home made 'all-in-one' meals for my elderly father to take out of his freezer when he gets out of hospital.

Catering is a specialized and talented business, to build a reputation you do need some networking event(s) to show case your wares. I'd be happy to brainstorm with you how to do it.

Hope this helps
Good luck

Lynn
http://www.assessment4potential.com
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Re : The business of cooking!

During my time in the ad industry, and subsequently in PR, I ran events all over the UK in some very interesting venues. Event managers and designers use caterers when the chosen venue does not have a kitchen with staff, or is unable to cater for a decent size party - 30+ - or is unusual in some way in that it is a shop, an art gallery, or nightclub, a castle, museum with no (or very sparse) on site facilities.

So it's not really to do with numbers but the venue first and foremost.

Private catering (in people's houses) is more tricky. You have to track down clients who entertain a lot, but do not want the hassle of doing all the cooking. Unearthing THAT target market is down to great networking, a track record and word of mouth from happy clients.

Hope you find this useful.

Kat

Re : The business of cooking!

I once hired a caterer for a do of my company. We chose the one that did the most different things. So we ended up with a kind of food-stall fair, one stand with Japanese, one with Italian, one Indian, etc. So this company was getting caterers in often, and every time is looking for something new.
So to get to your question, the decision whether to take a caterer depends on budget and the situation. How people pick a caterer, I think is more important to you. You will have a much better chance winning an order if you have an original menu. I think prices are pretty standard amongst the good caterers.

good luck

Anne Marie

Re : The business of cooking!

Lynn, Kath and Anne Marie - many thanks for the comments, all useful and duly noted!



Lianne

Re : The business of cooking!

There are so many different occasions where you might consider catering.

For businesses; it can vary from the standard lunch for meeting purposes to an event and the requirements are so different for each of them. However, I think for business purposes most of us need to attend so many and they all look the same, so, I think something a bit more sophiticated might work very well.
I believe one of the earlier suggestions about tasting and showing is so true as that's the only way how you can convince about the quality you deliver. For businesses, most of the time, the PA/secretary/receptionist decides on the caterer, so, why not identify them for your area and invite them for a taster lunch so you can convince them.

For personal events: I agree it comes down to lifestyle and budget. However, for milestone events like wedding, anniversary or milestone birthdays, I definitely would consider a caterer as this type of event involves a lot people.

Hope this makes sense.
Ingrid