A Meeting Planner’s Guide to Catered Events

1. A Meeting Planner’s Guide to Catered Events • Chapter One • The World of Catering

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. independent banquet halls civic auditoriums stadiums, arenas ethnic social clubs fraternal organizations women’s clubs private city or country clubs, athletic clubs hospitals universities, libraries executive dining rooms in office buildings or corporate headquarters houses of worship recreation rooms in large housing complexes parks museums, aquariums restaurants with private dining rooms Types of Catering Venues

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. Director of catering (DOC) Assistant catering director Catering manager Catering sales manager (CSM) Catering sales representative Convention/conference service manager Banquet manager Banquet setup manager Assistant banquet manager Scheduler Maitre d’ hotel Captain Server Busperson (busser) Food handler Bartender Barback Sommelier Houseman Attendant Clerical person Engineer Cashier Ticket taker Security Room service manager Catering staff

15. How caterers price • Three general types of pricing methods used by caterers: • thirds method • contribution margin (CM) method • multiplier method

16. The thirds method • Calculating a per-person price that will cover three things equally: • the cost of food, beverage, and other supplies (such as napery, dance floor, etc.); • 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 • 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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

22. 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.

23. Level pricing

24. Range pricing

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.

26. 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.