Down Times
In catering business, everyday isn’t Christmas right. At the beginning of the year, there are usually less parties which equals less catering and less business. Yet, each season is different. Christmas and New Year remains the strongest selling period of the year. Then comes summer when wedding parties and catering business are in full swing. The in-between time at The Food Studio is when we have catering to all sorts of events, dinners during Ramadan and Easter, cocktail parties on Mother’s day and Graduations, children’s birthdays, engagement parties, catering to offices during corporate events, as well as small intimate dinners on Valentine’s or engagement parties. And yes we do offer a plat du jour for offices as well as an array of sandwiches and salads; all what keeps the business diversified and rolling.
Personnel and Training
The challenge does not stop at finding capable hands to work with you, “people who share your vision and zeal could sometimes be difficult.” For a proper service, staff has to be very skilled. Here where you need to get and offer adequate training and this may cost you a lot of time and money. The food industry is continually evolving and a lot of new dishes and recipes are being introduced and you would have to learn these things so as to keep up with the pace. For instance, we now have to prepare gluten-free meals or cholesterol free meals as part of the menu for parties. To beat this challenge, we are trying to do training quarterly or monthly and during down times.
Safety of Food
There is a challenge in keeping food safe and maintaining it in the appropriate temperature. The key to keeping food safe is to be constantly checking or monitoring it and properly supervising and training your staff. Safety of food begins when you have the required ingredients in your hands. The ingredients must be constantly refrigerated or frozen; this process has to continue when you defrost foods and begin to cook refrigerated ingredients. We strictly follow all the required food safety rules and regulations; we have refrigerated units, vans and mobile kitchen set ups, making it a safe catering experience.
The Client
Let’s just be honest, as a caterer team, we have to deal with different individuals and no two people are the same. Clients have different characters and what would appeal to client A might be totally repulsive to client B and this can be really frustrating.
And to earn you a referral is quite a challenge because humans are insatiable. To overcome this challenge, we continually ask for feedback from clients we have served. And what is best to do is to learn to get your emotions out of the way.
Event Logistics and Location Convenience
Well, it is here when the team must anticipate the flow of guests and avoid human traffic jams, and yes still expect some lapses. Experience has it that the bar and the food are in different areas of a room, or in different corners. You may want to consider when the host wants the bar and the food close to each other, with a thought that it is convenient for guests but not knowing that it is more challenging to staff and even for guests and attendees as “lines for each must move efficiently, and never meld together.”
