What are the Responsibilities of a Professional Caterer?

  • Added:
    Aug 11, 2014
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What are the Responsibilities of a Professional Caterer? Photo by Colin Armstrong

A professional caterer has to take control of more than just preparing and serving the food. They have to be able to coordinate and create a certain ambience. There is more to commercial catering than turning up with a few meals.

In this article, we are going to reveal the responsibilities a caterer will have whenever they pick up a job. As you will see, commercial caterers need to have the right skills in multiple areas.

Event Coordination

You have to conform to the event you are working at. This means you have to time everything perfectly. When the guests are ready to sit down for their meal, you have to have everything on the table. This will require liaising with the event’s manager to make sure you can get things ready.

You will also need to have the right equipment at the venue. It could include commercial coffee machines or hot plates to keep food warm.

Preparing Food

The food preparation is the responsibility of the catering company. They will need to take the menus from the customer and prepare everything to a tee. As a caterer, it is your job to make sure you do it as efficiently as possible. This means you will need to concentrate on reducing wastage and profit loss.

As part of your food preparation, you will need to come up with a way of storing the food until it arrives at the venue and is ready to serve. Customers want fresh, hot food that iswell presented.

Setting the Venue

Believe it or not, caterers have to do more than setup bakery equipment and deliver food. It is common practice for them to have to get the dining hall ready. They’re responsible for making sure there are enough chairs and tables, as well as making sure all the cutlery, napkins, and other forms of dining paraphernalia is there and ready to use.

Serving the Food

Assuming this is not a buffet dinner, catering companies will provide staff to help serve the food. This requires good coordination to ensure everyone knows what they are doing and what the guests expect. Most catering companies will be forced to have separate teams for each area, which makes good management essential to the event’s success.

Cleaning Everything Up

The majority of customers prefer to pay extra to take advantage of a catering company’s cleaning services. After all the guests have gone home, it’s the job of the caterer to clean up the dining area and leave it in the same condition as it was before.

It will require logistics management to ensure everything is put back in its proper place without any breakages. Any breakages on your part will come out of your own pocket.

Services on Demand

Take note, some customers may decide to take care of different areas by themselves. For example, some catering equipment suppliers  will only ask for the equipment. They will choose to supply their staff and send the equipment back again. It is important for catering businesses to offer their clientele as much choice as they possibly can. It is what the general public expects.

Author's Profile

Kid Catering Equipment is a UK provider of commercial kitchen and bakery equipment. They understand what customers expect when they order commercial kitchen equipment for their events.


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