Event catering - the critical importance of

Mar 30, 2011

Catering

The Critical Importance Of

Event catering requires both a good understanding of catering and also good planning and organisational skills - most people do not think sufficiently about or have the necessary “event catering experience” to guarantee that the catering at a function will be successful and result in a memorable function for them and their guests.

Below are some important pieces of advice for successful catering, which could be valuable as you think about an upcoming, important function which you need to organise.

• Quality, accurate catering is generally regarded as the most important component of a successful function/ event
• A poor catering performance is the biggest  reason for dissatisfaction or disappointment with an event eg All Blacks test match hospitality
• Understanding the strengths and abilities of a prospective caterer is a very significant driver for a successful function
• Choosing the best caterer for your particular function will greatly assist in the function being successful with catering that meets your expectations
• Having a good understanding of current catering pricing (both food and beverage) helps greatly in ensuring that you pay a fair and reasonable price for your catering requirements and work within your budget
• Accurate briefing of and negotiations with a caterer will likely result in a quality catering performance
• Only experience of and professional understanding of “catering” will provide the necessary assurance regarding briefing and negotiations with a caterer
• This experience will generally only be found with an experienced event manager or person who has significant experience or background in the food/ hospitality industry
• This experience will significantly assist you and your guests in experiencing a memorable, rather than disappointing function

My strong recommendation when planning an upcoming major function or event is to at least consider using the services of an experienced event manager who has considerable experience with hospitality and catering.

This article was written by Ian Fraser of Hospitality Solutions Ltd Ian Fraser has worked in corporate hospitality and event management for over sixteen years. In this time, he has organised over 800 functions and events and project directed some very large hospitality projects/ events. In recent years, he has also been approached by organisations to assist them in a consultancy role.	Hospitality Solutions Services event project management corporate hospitality event management NZ and International hospitality consultancy
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