Catering is defined as the activity to provide the necessary food and beverage for the various events. These are professionals who are either associated with some hotel or are independent vendors. They are individuals who have a particular department assigned to deliver this. These areas are designed to provide all the provisions needed for the catering. The Commercial Catering usually provides food in full range of events which includes conferences, exhibitions, meetings, special events, marriages, special occasions and others. In addition to supplying food, there are caterers who would handle décor, the audio/visual aspects and other things needed in the special occasion. The unit is managed by a staff constituting of servers, chefs and others. For example, in a fund raising event held at the hotel, the catering department would take care of all the logistics that would be associated with food, beverage, entertainment, décor and others in the program. The catering can also include a series of cocktails or formals sit down meal. When hired for the outdoor catering, it is time to plan the food and beverage for any event. It is important that the professional event planner to consider the obvious facts when planning the menu to deliver a successful program. The following things can be considered when planning the menu. The first is to know the guest profile. There can be the business circle that be invited to attend the program throughout the year. The phrase “rubber chicken circuit” is famous to mean the political, business and fund raising circles. To understand better, it is important to have a professional level of the guest, frequency that they would attend similar such events, location of their residence, and the ethnic backgrounds. The second step is to know the guest preferences. Once the profile has been generated, it would enable the event planner to consider the menu options. For example, if it mostly constitutes of an elderly group, the menu needs to be mild. The attendees who are concerned with health may not prefer the spicy food. The middle-aged guest list would like to experiment and love the spicier food. The idea is to consider the available guest list and plan the menu accordingly. The third step is providing menu choices. If the guest list is mixed, the food option should please everybody. It is best to offer a minimum of two choices for the entrees, three kinds of salad dressing, condiments on the side, and offer minimum of two dessert options, one indulgent and one healthy. The fourth thing is to ensure that fresh and seasonal items are included in the menu. The season plays an important factor in determining the menu of the food and the beverage. One can even include food items that are available in the nearby localities. Fresh seafood from the local market should be included. The fifth thing to do is select incorporate a menu that would fit the event schedule. Sometimes it is important to include box lunches, plated meals or buffets according to the event. The cocktail reception is for one hour before dinner and sometimes the event may call for working breakfast or lunches that should be incorporated in the menu item. The sixth thing is to remember anticipating the special needs. Sometimes the consideration would range from food allergies, religious requirements to even dietary restrictions. Another thing that the commercial catering should consider is the space available for the event. When serving meals that need to be used simultaneous to notepads, laptops and pens, they should have minimal spillage chances. This is the reason that it is important to understand the setup of the room and enable the person to move seamlessly. Author Bio: The author thinks that commercial catering needs careful thinking. This is the reason that the menu needs to be carefully evaluated before being implemented. To know more, visit here.
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