Scaling your catering effort

Create a more limited menu

Making your catering menu smaller than your in-store menu delivers internal efficiencies and better customer satisfaction. Establish a “staple menu” for the year; add in 4 seasonal menus if needed.

Use existing ingredients

Think of your catering menu as a variant of your restaurant menu. Start with your popular restaurant items, and carry these across into catering, simplifying recipes and preparation wherever possible - eliminating sides, for instance. Use what you have, and avoid broadening your list of inventoried ingredients.

Encourage ‘bulk’ menu choices

Encourage your clients to order by the group. A platter of sandwiches for 10 people is much easier to execute than 10 individual, modified and custom labeled sandwiches. A 5 Lb bowl of pasta salad is easier to execute than 15 individual portions. Etcetera.

Eliminate hot food from your lunch menu

Hot food can be part of your catering program, but limiting hot choices, or reserving them for the dinner menu, will eliminate time and trouble in lunchtime preparation, delivery and setup.
Stick with room temperature or chilled items for lunch, such as platters, sandwiches, wraps, salads, desserts.

Prepare as much as you can the day before

Rationalize production to assembly and packaging. During restaurant down times, package & stage all of your non-perishable items hours before delivery; prep and portion sandwich ingredients for quick assembly.

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(0) Comments • Permalink • 03 22 2009

• John Dumbrille, MonkeyMedia.net

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