Module 1- The Catering Industry

Introduction
The catering industry is comprised of businesses that provide food,
beverages and other services to a variety of clients, usually for special events.
Catering industry jobs vary from small intimate affairs to large events that involve
providing not only food and beverage service but also tableware, linens, service
personnel and other aspects of the event
This industry includes restaurants, schools and hospital cafeterias, catering
operations, and many other formats, including ‘on-premises’ and ‘off-premises’
caterings. Catering is a multifaceted segment of the food service industry.
Learning Objectives:

1. Explain the role of Catering in the Food service industry.

2. Identify the types of catering and catering establishment.
3. Analyze the impact of catering industry.

Lesson 1 – Types of Catering

Motivation

Food and beverage industry is probably the most diverse but specialized industry in the
world. It is certainly one of the largest, employing millions of people in a bewildering array of
jobs around the globe. Sectors range from the glamorous five-star resort to the
less fashionable, but arguably more specialized, institutional areas such as hospitals, industrial
outfits, schools and colleges. Yet of these many different sectors, catering has to be the most
challenging. Whatever the size of the catering operation, the variety of opportunities available
is endless. “The sky is the limit with catering”.

Lesson Proper (Content/Information)

The food service industry encompasses those places, institutions and companies that
provide meals eaten away from home. This industry includes restaurants, schools and hospitals
cafeterias, catering operations, and many other formats. Including ‘on-premises’ and ‘off
premises’ caterings. Catering is a multi-layered segment of the foodservice industry.
A banquet is a formal meal held to celebrate an event organized in honor of a person or an
anniversary. It is a more elegant way of serving meals to guests. This is because it creates a

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

pleasant ambiance all around with more staff on board to ensure everyone is well taken care
of. Events like birthday parties, marriage ceremonies, and farewell parties have a similar type of
meal serving offered in a banquet. The luxurious meals served in a banquet combined with a
super cool atmosphere work perfectly for guests and they deliver a unique experience, as
people mark and celebrate a particular event. Another distinguishing factor is that banquets
have a major stage where the guest of honor sits together with other prominent faces. The
salutation by the host is made to everyone in attendance and usually ends with a speech after
the meal is served. It is often held in a special hall that can accommodate all guests while
maintaining both ambiance and luxury at the same time.

Catering refers to the business of providing food and other related services for special
occasions at a remote site or event venue. A caterer is someone who organizes the delivery,
preparation, and presentation of a variety of foods for guests. During a catered event, a full-
service catering company is hired to make the event unique and memorable by handling
everything from decorations to food presentations. They offer a wide variety of event packages
and catering services that can be tailored to a particular event. They always have a waiting staff
that ensures, catering includes a variety of occasions where people eat at varying times rather
than eating together at one time in one place.

The foodservice industry is divided into three general classifications: commercial

segment, non-commercial segment, and military segment. Catering management may be
defined as the task of planning, organizing, controlling and executing. Each activity influences
the preparation and delivery of food, beverage, and related services at a competitive, yet
profitable price. These activities work together to meet and exceed the customer’s perception
of value for his money. Catering management is executed in many diverse ways:

1. Commercial – considered the profit generating operation, includes the independent

caterer, the restaurant caterer and the home-based caterer.

2. Non-commercial or the non-profit – consists of the following types of catering

activities: business/industry accounts, school, college and university catering, healthcare
facilities, recreational food service catering, social organizations and transportation
foodservice catering.

3. Military – encompasses all catering activities involved in association with the armed
forces and/or diplomatic events.

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

 There are two main types of catering on-premises and off premises catering that may
be a concern to a large and small caterer.

On-premise catering for any function – banquet, reception, or event – that is

organizing/sponsoring the function. Off premise catering takes place in a remote location, such
as a client’s home, a park, an art gallery, or even a parking lot, and the staff, food, and décor
must be transported to that location. Off premise catering often involves producing food at a
central kitchen, with delivery and service provided at the client’s location. Part of all the
production of food may be executed or finished at the location of the event. Catering can also
be classified as social catering and corporate catering. Social catering includes such events as
weddings, bar, high school reunions, birthday parties, and charity events, Business catering
includes such events as association conventions and meetings, civic meetings, corporate sales
or stockholder meetings, recognition banquets, product launches , educational training
sessions, seller-buyer meets, service awards banquets, and entertaining in hospitality suites.

ON-PREMISE CATERING

All of the required functions

and services that the caterers execute
are done exclusively at their own
facility. For instance, a caterer within
a hotel or banquet hall will prepare
and cater all of the requirements
without taking any service or food
outside the facility. Many restaurants
have specialized rooms on-premise to
cater to the private-party function. A
restaurant may have a layout strategically designed with three separate dining rooms attached
to a centralized commercial food production kitchen. These separate dining rooms are available
at the same time to support the restaurant’s operation and for reservation and overflow
seating.
In addition, any of the three dining rooms may be contracted out for private event
celebrations and may require their own specialized service and menu options. Other examples
of on-premise catering include hospital catering, school, University/college catering.

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

OFF PREMISE CATERING

Off premise catering is serving food at a

location away from the caterer’s food
production facility. One example of a food
production facility is a freestanding
commissary, which is a kitchen facility used
exclusively for the preparation of foods to be
served at other locations. Other examples of
production facilities include, but are not limited
to, hotel, restaurant, and club kitchens. In most
cases there is no existing kitchen facility at the
location where the food is served. Caterers provide single-event foodservice but not all caterers
are created equal.

They generally fall into one of three (3) categories:

1. Party Food Caterers – supply only the food for an event, they drop off cold foods and
leave any last-minute preparation, plus service and clean-up, to others.

2. Hot Buffet Caterers – provide hot foods that are delivered from their commissaries in
insulated containers, the sometimes provide serving personnel at an additional charge.

3. Full-Service Caterers – full service caterers not only provide food, but frequently cook it
to order on site.
- They also provide service personnel at the event, plus all the necessary food-
related equipment (china, glassware, flatware, cutleries, tables and chairs, tents).
- They can arrange for other services, like décor and music as well
- Full service caterer can plan and execute an entire event

TYPES of CATERING ESTABLISHMENTS

Various catering establishments are categorized by the nature of the demands they
meet. The following are some of the catering establishments.

RESTAURANT
A restaurant is an establishment that
serves the customers with prepared food and
beverages to order, to be consumed on the
premises. It covers a multiplicity of venues and
diversity of styles of cuisine.

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

TRANSPORT CATERING

The provision of food and beverages to passengers, before, during and after a journey
on trains, aircraft and ships and in buses or private vehicles is termed as transport catering.
These services may also be utilized by the general public, who are in the vicinity of a transport
catering unit. The major forms of modern day transport catering are airline-catering, railways
catering, ship catering and surface catering in coaches or buses which operate on long distance
routes.

AIRLINE CATERING

Catering to airline passengers both during the

journey on board the air craft, as well as at airports have a
variety of food and beverage outlets to cater to the
increasing number of air passengers.

RAILWAY CATERING

Catering both during the journey as well as

during halts at different railway stations. Traveling by
train for long distances can be very tiring; therefore a
constant supply of a variety of refreshment choices
helps to make the journey less tiresome. On-board
meal services are also provided on long distance
trains.

SHIP CATERING

Catering to cargo crew and passenger ship

passengers. Ships have kitchens and restaurants on
board. The quality of service and facilities offered
depends on the class of the ship and the price the
passengers are willing to pay. There are cruises to
suit every pocket. They range from room service and
cocktail bars to specialty dining restaurants.

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

SURFACE CATERING

Catering to passengers travelling by surface transport

such as buses and private vehicles. These eating establishment
are normally located around a bus terminus or on highways.
They may be either government run restaurants, or privately
owned establishments.

OUTDOOR CATERING

This catering includes the provision of food

and drink away from home base and suppliers. The
venue is left to the peoples’ choice. The type of food
and set up depends entirely on the price agreed
upon. Outdoor catering includes catering for
functions such as marriages, parties and
conventions.

RETAIL STORE CATERING

Some retail stores, apart from carrying on their

primary activity of retailing their own wares, provide
catering as an additional facility. This type of catering
evolved when large departmental stores wished to
provide food and beverages to their customers as a part
of their retailing concept.

CLUB CATERING

Refers to the provision of food and beverages to a restricted member clientele. Some
examples of clubs for people with similar interests are golf clubs, cricket clubs, turf clubs etc.
The service and food in these clubs tend to be of a fairly good standard and are economically
priced. Night clubs are usually situated in large cities that have an affluent urban population.
They offer entertainment with good food and expensive drinks.

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

WELFARE CATERING

The provision of food and beverages to people to

fulfil a social obligation, determined by a recognized
authority. This grew out of the welfare state concept in
western counties. It includes catering in hospitals, schools,
colleges, the armed forces and prisons.

INDUSTRIAL CATERING

The provision of food and beverages to ‘people

at work’, in industries and factories at highly subsidized
rates. It is based on the assumption that better fed
employees at concessional rates are happy and more
productive.

LEISURE-LINKED CATERING

This type of catering refers to the provision

of food and beverages to people engaged in ‘rest
and recreation’ activities. This includes sale of
food and beverages through different stalls and
kiosks at exhibitions, theme parks, galleries and
theatres. The increase in the availability of leisure
time and a large disposable income for leisure
activities has made it a very profitable form of
catering.

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

Off-premise Catering: Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages of Off-premise catering:

a) Most off-premise caterers require some form

of advance deposit prior to an event. This
deposit provides the caterer with some
security if the event is canceled and also can be
used to purchase some or all of the food and
supplies for the party.

b) There is no need for large amounts of capital to

get started, since most off premise catering
operations begin by using the existing kitchen
facilities of a restaurant, club, hotel, church, or other licensed foodservice business.

c) All of the necessary catering foodservice equipment such as chinaware, glassware,

flatware, tables, chairs, and linens can usually be rented, thus avoiding having to invest
in expensive equipment inventories. Food and supply inventories, as well as operating
costs, are much more easily controlled, because clients must advise the caterer in
advance as to the number of guests that are expected.

d) Off-premise caterers need buy only the amounts necessary to serve the event, unlike a
restaurant where there is a large variation from day to day regarding the number of
patrons and their menu selections.

e) Off-premise catering generates additional revenues for existing operations like hotels,
clubs, and restaurants. They can generate even more profit by providing other services-
rental equipment, flowers, décor, music, entertainment, and other accessory services.

f) Payment for an event is normally made directly to a manager or owner, eliminating a

middleman, whether it’s a wedding planner, on-site food and beverage director, or one
of the caterer’s own staff members. This form of direct payment provides for better
cash control and fewer folks to share the profit.

g) Advance forecasting is more accurate for off-premise caterers, because parties are
generally booked weeks, months, or years in advance.

h) Off-premise events generate tremendous amounts of free word-of-mouth advertising,

which can produce future business without the necessity of advertising. Many off-
premise caterers feel that satisfied guests at one party will either directly or indirectly

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

 book another party by speaking favorably to friends and co-workers about the event
and the caterer. In other words, one party can create future parties.

i) Caterers also have the advantage of being somewhat selective about their clients. There
are no laws that require you to accept every request to cater. If the job doesn’t meet
your standards, politely decline.

Disadvantages of Off-premise catering:

a) Catering managers, owners, and staff undergo periods of high stress during very busy
periods.

b) Deadlines must be met. There are no excuses for missing a catering deadline. Stress is
compounded because the workload is not evenly spread throughout the year. For most
off-premise caterers, 80 percent of the events are scheduled in 20 percent of the time.

c) Weekends are generally busier than weekdays. Certain seasons, including Christmas, are
normally busier than others. Of course, caterers must maintain general business hours
too.

d) Revenues are inconsistent, making cash management very difficult, particularly during
the slower periods when expenses continue yet revenues do not .

Catering Personnel

The Basic Banquet and Catering Service Personnel

1. Catering Manager- the catering manager exercises

overall responsibility for planning and administration
including establishment of policies and standards for the catering business.

2. Catering or Banquet Coordinator- the catering coordinator designs banquet packages as well
as handles marketing and booking of functions. He attends to the preparation and signing of
banquet contracts and monitors execution of items stipulated in such contracts. He coordinates
closely with the organizer regarding their event requirements, ensuring that service standards
and the client requirements are complied with.

3. Catering service supervisor/ headwaiter- the catering service supervisor plans, organize,
directs, and controls the set-up and service for all catering functions. In consultations with his

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

superior, he formulates policies and guidelines to ensure efficient and effective flow of banquet
operations. He checks and monitors the preparations and actual services carried out in all
functions. He also conducts orientation and training of staff based on company standards.

4. Captain Waiter- the captain waiter overseas the banquet set-up and service every function.
He supervises the service staff and bus persons in their respective stations. He sees to it that
the service is carried out in compliance with service standards and client’s requirements. He
attends to the necessary preparations before, during, and after the function. This he does by
ensuring that the bus persons and service staff clear the dirty dishes when needed. He attends
to the customer’s needs, problems, and complaints.

5. Wine Steward- expertise on wines and good interpersonal skills are

required for this position since it is the wine steward’s job to suggest, sell
and serve wine to the guests. He should know and be able to tell the
guest which wine will go with the food on the menu.

6. Waiter- the waiter is responsible for set-ups and service for catering
and/ or banquet operations. He sets up the dining
area as per client’s requirements as reflected in the
banquet event order/ contract. He serves food and
beverage according to professional standards and
clears tables of all soiled dishes keeping it free from
soiled items. His duties also include attending to the
requests and inquiries of guests. He makes beginning
and ending inventories and accounts for losses and
breakages.

7. Bus person/ dining room attendant- the bus person assists the service staff in setting up,
serving water, clearing the dishes, and cleaning up. The job of a bus person requires high level
of efficiency and organization; well- trained to become a service person. He performs other
related duties assigned by his superior.

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

8. Service persons- as the title implies, their job
requires them to provide service for guests. Since
they interact directly with guests, they are
considered to be the eyes and ears of the dining
room manager. Service persons have to be well-
trained and well-skilled for them to provide the
guests excellent service.

The duties of a service person include

preparing the station and checking for cleanliness, greeting of customers, suggesting menu
orders, taking orders, clearing dirty dishes, anticipating customer’s needs, preparing and
collecting the bill.

9. Secretary- the secretary handles paper works, office records, and other pertinent reports.
He/ she may entertain client’s inquiries, handle bookings, make client calls and may prepare
banquet proposals, event orders and contracts. He/ she performs other related duties as may
be assigned.

10. Property custodian- the custodian is responsible for the proper safekeeping and issuance of
supplies and equipment. He/ she maintains and controls operating equipment used for the
function.

The Kitchen Personnel

1. Kitchen supervisor/ Head cook/ senior chef

The kitchen supervisor/ head cook/ senior chef supervises

kitchen operations such as preparation and cooking of dishes included in the menu for every
function. He/she coordinates with the catering manager/ owner regarding the dishes to serve,
recipe purchasing of needed materials, receiving, and proper storage of ingredients. In addition,
he takes charge of maintaining high standards of sanitation and safety in the kitchen.

2. Assistant cook/ kitchen helper

The assistant cook/ kitchen helper assists in the

preparation of food in the kitchen and helps in observing
and maintaining cleanliness and orderliness in the kitchen
such as doing dishwashing and housekeeping duties.

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

Stations

Restaurant dining rooms should be divided into small sections having 16 to 24 seats
called stations. With this method, service people are assigned one part of the restaurant
instead of entire dining area. Usually, a station is delegated to one service person. It is up to the
manager to organize the stations in order to ensure excellent guest service.

The following should be considered when dividing the room into sections:

1. Number of guests at each table

A maximum of 24 seats is allowed for each station.
Included in each station are small tables that can seat two
and large tables that can seat 4 or six people.

2. Amount of food preparation required

The number of seats should be less than 24
if the menu requires several items to be prepared at
the guests’ table. If there is set menu, the number
of seats can be greater.

3. Distance of guest tables from the kitchen

As a rule, the station having the smallest number of tables should be farthest from the
kitchen. This is because this location will require the service person a longer period to obtain
food from the kitchen.

4. Physical attractiveness of the station

The location of the tables would determine its
desirability to the guests. Tables by the widows are the
most preferred while those near the restrooms or kitchen
are considered the most undesirable.

The manager must see to it that the assignment of

the desirable tables to the servers are rotated.

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)

5. Competency of the Staff
The manager should gauge the competency of each of
his/ her staff, and take this into consideration before
delegating their respective stations. Planning and
consultation with the staff is necessary before implementing
changes.

Methods of Assigning Stations

The two methods of assigning stations are:

1. Rotation method
In this method, the staff is rotated daily among the stations. This method allows the
closure of poor stations during slow days. The advantage of this method is that it gives the
service staff the chance to handle both the better and poorer stations.

2. Seniority method
In this method, the most senior service people are given permanent stations which are
usually the best stations. The seniority method is often implemented in restaurants where
guests who “lunch” daily prefer their table and service person to be the same every day.

Side work

Side work is one of the jobs that the service staff must attend to. Filling up of the salt
and pepper shakers, folding of table napkins, and dusting and wiping of all stainless steel
equipment are just some of the side work duties that must be done by the service staff.

Side work can pose a problem if the management fails to define the specific duties and
responsibilities of the service staff regarding side work. To overcome this, management must
be able to impart to the staff the importance of doing side work and its contribution to the
success of the business.

References:

Monoj, Sharma, Catering Technology Food Service and Hospitality Management, 2019
Food Service and Catering Management: A Practical Guide, 2004
Scanlon, Nancy Loman (2010), Catering management Third Edition

FSERV 6- Banquet Function and Catering Management (2nd Semester AY 2020-2021)