One of the most popular services for weddings, corporate events, and more is food catering. Food catering services, if used properly, can elevate an event from boring and stuffy to exciting and delicious. The food served at your event will likely be the talk of your guests, whether for good or ill, for quite some time. You’ll want to do everything you can to make sure the food catering you offer to your guests, whether they are employees or friends and family, is the best it can be.
According to IBIS World, annual revenues for American catering agencies exceed $8 billion. With such a huge potential for income, many have entered the catering business, hoping that their baseline skills and business talents will be up to snuff. For this reason, you need to be able to pick out the best food catering services, whether you need business lunch catering or professionals for your upcoming nuptials.
How to Find the Best Food Catering Services
- Ask About the Food Prep Process
- What Are Their Prices?
- Who Are Their Typical Clients?
- Are They in Good Standing with the Authorities?
As written on Foodista, the way a food catering service prepares its food will have a direct impact on quality. Do they prepare each dish from scratch as serving time draws near, or do they prefer to use pre-packaged food, leaving it to dry out under heat lamps? Ask them about their process, and make sure you try samples before securing their services.
Any food catering service you’re thinking of contracting with should readily offer up their pricing model. As Food Service Warehouse, a restaurant supply company suggests, most catering services offer both fixed and variable pricing plans. As the names imply, fixed price plans are those with cemented costs, ensuring you only pay what you plan for, while variable plans offer prices that change with a wide variety of variables, like food, catering location, services required, and others.
According to MarthaStewart.com, whether you need wedding or corporate catering, you should be sure to ask each service who they typically cater to. Corporate events require different skills than wedding or party catering, after all. If you need a business meeting catered, for example, it’s in your best interest to find a food catering company that specializes in corporate event catering.
NOLO.com writes that food catering businesses must hold multiple licenses and be in good standing with oversight organizations, like local city inspectors, to operate legally. Ask food catering services you’re considering to see their licenses before going forward. If they are resistant, you can easily look up any violations, license status, and more, as a matter of public record, at your city hall. This step is important in using a legally operating business and avoiding possible health and safety concerns.
Using a food catering service, for a corporate event or otherwise, should be about getting great food and service at the price you need. Using these four tips, you can ensure the company you use is in-line with legal standards, offers the food and service you need, and get the desired effect from your employees or guests. More information like this: njcorporatecatering.com