STYLES OF CATERING

OPERATIONS
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
◦ Explain catering operations
◦ Discuss why foodservice businesses from fine dining
restaurants to delicatessens are incorporating
catering services into their operations
◦ Define ways in which catering services have been
incorporated into foodservice operational styles.
◦ Discuss the categories of foodservice operations
offering catering reviewed in this chapter.
◦ The opportunities food service operations have to
offer catering services are many and varied.

◦ Catering management in the first part of the twenty-

first century will continue to expand in both volume
and diversity as the demand for ready-to-serve
prepared foods increases.
◦ The ability of a foodservice operation to successfully
offer catering services is affected by several factors,
notably location, customer profile, facilities, and
menu offerings, along with style or concept.

◦ These are some of the factors a business must

consider before deciding which catering service to
offer.
◦ Off-premise catering can be very successful for
independent caterers and problematic for full-service
restaurants.

◦ Equipment and resources are the factors that will

often determine how well an operation can conduct
off-premise catering.
◦ The availability of catering services is limited only by
the ability of food service operations to provide
them.

◦ Whether in the executive dining room of a large

corporation or at a garden wedding, it is possible for
food service operators from five-star hotels to
delicatessens to provide high-quality food and
service.
The categories of foodservice
operations offering catering reviewed in
this chapter are:
◦ 1. Full-service restaurants
◦ 2. Hotel food and beverage facilities
◦ 3. Catering halls
◦ 4. Independent caterers
◦ 5. Private Clubs
◦ 6. contract food service companies
◦ 7. Gourmet food shops and delicatessens
1. FULL SERVICE
RESTAURANT

◦ Full-service restaurants ◦ Location

have the opportunity to ◦ Customer profile
offer a variety of catering ◦ Restaurant style or
services. concept
◦ Staffing capabilities
◦ Restaurant physical
◦ Discuss the six important layout
factors that should be ◦ Cuisine and menu
considered. offerings
Location
◦ The proximity of the restaurant, hotel, Private Club
or catering service to office complexes and
centralized business areas helps establish the focus
of the catering service on business or social
marketing efforts.

◦ Population density also affects the volume of

anticipated catering business.
Location
◦ The location of the facility plays a role in
determining the type of catering services available.

◦ Storage facilities, expansion possibilities, and access

to major transportation routes are factors important
to catering-service production.
Customer Profile
◦ The market profile should classify customers as business or social.

◦ The range of needs of each group can vary greatly.

◦ Hotel customers often use the location for a series of meetings and meals held
over a two or three day meetings.
Restaurant style or concept
◦ The theme or concept of the restaurant should be taken into consideration when
planning catering services.

◦ Off-premise catering services do not need to blend with the facilities, but
SHOULD be designed to function within the restaurant facilities.
Staffing capabilities
◦ Flexibility and diverse skill level
Physical lay-out of Facility
◦ Facilities are a major factor in the ability of a
restaurant to provide on-premise catering services.

◦ The ratio of catering functions to restaurant services

that can be handled at a given time depends on the
size and flexibility of the physical plant.
Physical lay-out of Facility
◦ In some cases, it may be important to schedule on-
premise catered events at times when the facility is
ordinarily closed.

◦ Facilities, equipment and storage capacity will also

impact a facilities ability to successfully, and
seamlessly cater an on-premise event.
Cuisine and menu offering
◦ The primary cuisine and menu offerings of a
restaurant constitute one of the most important
considerations for on-premise catering.

◦ Off-premise catering services do not, however, need

to be identical to those services offered at the full-
service restaurant.
Cuisine and menu offering
◦ On premise catering should offer menu items that
duplicate the established menu as closely as possible
in order to enhance production capabilities.

◦ Profitability and effective purchasing for catering

functions requires that the ingredients for menu
items be he same as, or similar to, those on the
restaurant menu.
2. HOTEL FOOD AND
BEVERAGE FACILITIES
◦ The hotel food and beverage department provides
food-related guest services throughout a hotel,
conference, or resort property.
 The seven hotel food service
areas: ◦ Full-service restaurant
◦ Food items for these ◦ Coffee shop
combined foodservice ◦ Catering facilities*
areas are provided from a
◦ Room service
central kitchen, with the
exception of large hotel ◦ Recreational Areas
facilities. ◦ Lobby area bars
◦ Food market delicatessen
Hotel Foodservice Areas
◦ *Catering affords the possibility for the greatest
profit.

◦ Hotel catering services are usually classified as:

◦ Business
◦ Convention/conference
◦ Social
 Hotel Foodservice Areas
◦ The Chicago Hilton, located in downtown Chicago, breaks
down its annual catering business into the following
percentages:

◦ Business/Conference/Convention = 65%
◦ Social = 35%
Hotel Foodservice Areas
◦ The primary catering market for a hotel is based on
three factors:

◦ Location
◦ Hotel facilities
◦ Customer profile
3. CATERING HALLS
◦ A catering hall is a facility dedicated to private parties
with an on-site production kitchen and staff.

◦ The major factors that influence the market for a

catering hall are:

◦ Style or concept
◦ Facilities
◦ Customer profile
4. INDEPENDENT
CATERERS
◦ Independent caterers are private businesses offering
catering services to the public.

◦ These businesses operate with or without permanent

facilities of their own in which to hold functions.
4. INDEPENDENT
CATERERS
◦ The key to successfully providing catering services to
a number of functions simultaneously is the
duplication of as many of the menu items as
possible in order to minimize kitchen production.
 5. Private Clubs
◦ Private Clubs offer a self-contained facility that operates
both full-service dining rooms and private function space
along with a variety of food and beverage outlets.

◦ There are two primary types of Private Clubs which offer

catering amenities:

◦ Business Clubs (often in a downtown CBD)

◦ Country Clubs
◦ Private Clubs that offer catering amenities are broken down
into two general classifications:

◦ Business Clubs (generally in downtown Central

Business District - CBD)

◦ Country Clubs

◦ A Club’s ability to accept off-premise catering function

business is controlled by the same laws and regulations as the
solicitation of nonmember business.
6. CONTRACT Food Service
◦ contract food service companies provide institutions
such as hospitals and schools, as well as businesses,
with in-house meal programs designed to meet
specific needs.

◦ The contract food service segment of the

foodservice industry has been steadily growing since
the late 1980s.
7. GOURMET FOOD SHOPS
AND DELICATESSENS
◦ Gourmet food shops offer take-out foodservice
along with gourmet food products.

◦ Many of these products are used as ingredients in

the preparation of the food line.

◦ The trend for home-replacement food is significant

to this type of operation.
7. GOURMET FOOD SHOPS
AND DELICATESSENS
◦ When customers want something beyond fast food
for a take-home meal, they turn to establishments
that can provide meals that they would like to have
prepared for themselves.
Some of the services that catering businesses can offer to
both private and corporate customers include:

◦ Off-premise catering services,

◦ Packaged take-out foodservices,
◦ Beverage services,
◦ Entertainment services,
◦ Business meeting services,
◦ Conference and convention services,
◦ contract food service services
Off-premise Catering Benefits:
◦ Off-premise catering can be very successful monetarily
for independent caterers.

◦ However, several problems must be anticipated

regarding the off-premise facilities in which the final
production and service for functions takes place.
Off-premise Catering Benefits:
◦ In order to service off-premise functions, however, a
separate wait staff needs to be scheduled.

◦ In addition, at least one member of the kitchen

production staff will be assigned to the function and
therefore will be unavailable to the restaurant kitchen for
the time period involved for the off-premise function.
◦ Equipment as well as food will need to be transported both
to and from the off-premise function location.

◦ Subcontractors may be necessary for equipment such as

tables, chairs, dishes, glassware, linens, dance floors, and
tents.
Critical factors:
◦ Location
◦ Customer profile
◦ Restaurant style or concept
◦ Staffing capabilities
◦ Restaurant physical layout
◦ Cuisine and menu offerings
Key Points
◦ 1. The opportunities for foodservice operations to offer
catering services are many and varied.

◦ 2. Catering management will continue to expand in both

volume and diversity

◦ 3. The ability of a foodservice operation to successfully offer

catering services will be affected by a variety of factors.
◦ 4. Off-premise catering can be very successful for
independent caterers and problematic for full-service
restaurants.

◦ 5. The availability of catering services is limited only by the

ability of foodservice operations to provide them.

◦ 6. It is possible for foodservice operators from five star

hotels to delicatessens to provide quality food and service.
Discussion Topic:
◦ “Independent caterers have more flexibility than
other types of businesses offering catering services”.