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A Meeting Planner's Guide To Catered Events

This document provides an overview of catering for business events. It discusses the importance of food, service, and ambiance in creating lasting impressions for attendees. It also covers types of catered events, staff roles, pricing methods, venue options, and the objectives of caterers."

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
541 views26 pages

A Meeting Planner's Guide To Catered Events

This document provides an overview of catering for business events. It discusses the importance of food, service, and ambiance in creating lasting impressions for attendees. It also covers types of catered events, staff roles, pricing methods, venue options, and the objectives of caterers."

Uploaded by

jaykumariyer
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Meeting Planner’s Guide

to Catered Events

 Chapter One
 The World of Catering
Who doesn’t like to eat
and drink?
 When you plan a meeting, you want the
food and beverages to be tasty and
abundant.
 You want your attendees to leave feeling
pleased that they were at the event.
Banquets and receptions are
both social and business
events
 People love to socialize and network.
 All aspects of a catered function are
important.
 The quality of food, beverage, and
service makes one of the deepest and
most lasting impressions on meeting
attendees.
 Groups generally prefer professionally
prepared and served food and
beverages.
 This allows hosts to concentrate solely on
their personal, social, and business
activities while also enjoying the events.
 And they can leave the clean up to
someone else.
Business Catering
 association conventions and meetings
 civic meetings
 corporate sales or stockholder meetings
 recognition banquets
 product launches
 educational training sessions
 seller-buyer entertaining
 service awards banquets
 hospitality suites
Caterers come in all sizes
and shapes.
 There are caterers who can provide
Japanese, Italian, French, Chinese,
American, Southwest, and Seafood.
 There are picnic caterers, kosher
caterers, and barbecue caterers.
 Your options are endless.
Types of Catering Venues
 independent banquet  executive dining rooms
halls in office buildings or
 civic auditoriums corporate headquarters
 stadiums, arenas  houses of worship
 ethnic social clubs
 recreation rooms in large
 fraternal organizations
housing complexes
 women’s clubs
 parks
 private city or country
clubs, athletic clubs  museums, aquariums
 hospitals  restaurants with private
 universities, libraries dining rooms
 Some facilities are more competitive than
hotels or conference centers, with more
flexible price structures due to lower
overhead expenses.
 Public facilities are tax-exempt.
 Some facilities provide their own catering
in-house; others are leased to and
operated by contract foodservice
companies that have exclusive contracts.
 Some will rent their facilities to off-premise
caterers.
Many meeting planners do
not simply purchase a meal
 They buy fantasy, fun, service,
ambience, entertainment, and memories.
 Buying food and beverage is only one
component of the fun and fantasy.
Much of what a caterer
sells is intangible
 You cannot touch or feel an event before hand.
 The caterer is selling something that has yet to
be produced and delivered.
 It cannot be resold, restocked, or returned.
 People purchase what they "think" will happen.
 It’s a gamble for them.
 They are nervous and need to be reassured
that they made the correct decision.
 The caterer must create a sense of trust with
his or her clients.
Catering is a consumer-
driven market
 Stimulated by clients who demand exceptional
quality and excellent value for a reasonable
price.
 Value is determined by the buyer, not the
seller.
 Buyers’ perceptions are sellers’ realities.
 The impression meeting planners have of a
property’s catering ability is their reality, and
will influence their buying decisions.
Most meeting planners
will comparison shop
 They make the best choice when they
perceive a facility is reliable, consistent,
creative, and can execute the best quality
event consistent with what they are able
to pay.
The caterer must be able to
take a meeting planner's
vision of the function (needs,
wishes, purpose of the
function, and budget) and
develop an event that can be
delivered effectively and
efficiently.
Catering staff
 Server
 Director of catering (DOC)
 Busperson (busser)
 Assistant catering director
 Food handler
 Catering manager
 Bartender
 Catering sales manager
(CSM)  Barback
 Catering sales representative  Sommelier
 Convention/conference  Houseman
service manager  Attendant
 Banquet manager  Clerical person
 Banquet setup manager  Engineer
 Assistant banquet manager  Cashier
 Scheduler  Ticket taker
 Maitre d’ hotel  Security
 Captain  Room service manager
How caterers price

 Three general types of pricing methods


used by caterers:
 thirds method
 contribution margin (CM) method
 multiplier method
The thirds method
 Calculating a per-person price that will cover
three things equally:
1. the cost of food, beverage, and other supplies (such as
napery, dance floor, etc.);
2. the cost of payroll to handle the function, plus overhead
expenses needed to open the room (such as turning on
the air conditioning units, etc.); and
3. profit.
 With a $30.00 price per-person, the caterer will
have approx. $20.00 to cover expenses, leaving a
$10.00 profit from each guest.
 The caterer will also add taxes and gratuities (or
service charges) to this price.
The contribution margin
(CM) method
 This is the typical pricing method used by
large caterers.
 Everything must make a profit.
 It is too difficult for large caterers to build
each party from scratch, so it is
necessary to standardize some things.
The contribution margin
(CM) method
 The caterer must know as much as
possible all the expenses associated with
“opening the room,” apart from the types
of menu items meeting planners will
order.
 These are essentially fixed catering
expenses, such as salaries and wages,
utilities, paper products, and marketing.
The contribution margin
(CM) method
 These total fixed expenses must be divided by
the number of attendees expected for a year.
 This gives the caterer a reasonable estimate of
the amount of fixed expense per attendee.
 To this number is added the per-person cost
for the food, beverage, and other variable costs
(such as special linen) that comes with a
particular catering menu option.
The contribution margin
(CM) method
 Once the caterer knows how much the
total variable and fixed expense is per
person, the desired profit margin is then
added to each menu option.
The multiplier method

 This is a version of the contribution


margin (CM) method.
 Once it is established, the caterer then
multiplies it by a factor that usually varies
from about 3 to 7, but can go higher
The multiplier method
 The factor is related to the type of services,
ambience, and so forth, provided to attendees.
 The more expensive, the higher the factor will be.
 The factor can be independent of these variables;
during the high season, even modest caterers can
command a high price.
 The factor, and the price, are influenced by
competition and what the market will bear.
 It will be as high as possible.
 To the caterer, there is no such thing as a price that
is too high.
Level pricing
Popular Up-scale Value Based

Chicken per- Picatta Oscar Dijon


person $ 24.00 $ 32.00 $ 22.00

Staff B-team A-team C-team


$500.00 $700.00 $400.00

Linen Color Overlays White

Chair rental Stacking Ballroom Padded


$850.00 $1400.00 $600.00

Floral Roses Orchids Carnations


$400.00 $600.00 $300.00

Music Duo Trio Solo


$550.00 $750.00 $375.00
Range pricing
Prime Rib Dinner Number of guests Price per guest

235 or less $29.75

236-265 $27.45

266 and up $24.25


The caterer’s objectives
 Earn a fair profit, consistent with the
amount of money invested in the catering
business.
 Generate sufficient catering sales
revenues to accomplish the above, to
cover all operating expenses, and to
have enough money left over to reinvest
in the business.
 Ensure customer satisfaction.
The caterer’s objectives

 Provide consistent quality and service.


 Convey a particular image.
 Develop a reputation for dependability,
flexibility, and solving problems.
 Stay on budget.

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