Print   Subscribe   Share

Catering's New Reality

Like everything else, it’s changed. Here’s how to make it work today.

Whether on-premise or off, catering can be a lucrative extension of your brand. But the economic downturn has changed the rules of the game:

• Corporate events and high-ticket expense account dining have dried up.
• Weddings and other social events are smaller in size and budget.
• Fancy and formal are out; casual, creative and flexible are in.
• Caterers new marching order: Do more with less—a lot less.

No more rigid Plan A and Plan B catering options.  
"We get one-on-one with clients and see what we can do at whatever price they have to work with,” says New York-based chef and restaurateur David Burke. "We want the business, so we’re more flexible in pricing."

Get more creative with basic ingredients.
"Catering menus today are driven by less-expensive proteins," Berghoff says. "Chicken is huge and so are inside round, flank steak, tilapia and salmon. Food costs have held steady and even dropped on some items, but you have to be creative to satisfy clients’ desire to both save money and serve something special."

Ditch formal sit-downs in favor of passed hors d’oeuvres and grazing stations to save on labor, rentals and food cost.
"You can do a Mediterranean, Asian and Latin station, for example. Or choose a single theme and repeat it at all three stations,” suggests Jim Israel, owner of Philadelphia’s Culinary Concepts catering company.

Excerpted from Restaurant Business, September 2009 

Make Catering Work For You

• Flexible Pricing
• Culinary Creativity
• Casual - Not Formal

Check out these products that are perfect for catering:

• CHEF REDI* Chicken Tenders 
• TENDERREADY® Chicken and Turkey
• PERDUE® Pan-Roasted Turkey Breasts
• SANDWICH BUILDERS® Sliced Meats