4 Catering Mistakes To Avoid

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Hosting an event is a nerve-wrecking affair by itself. What’s more, you have to think about catering the right food for your guests.

Well… the idea of providing a spread for your guests might seem easy, right? Order a few dishes and bam, a successful event! However, speaking from personal experience, and for those who had organized and hosted an event before, you’ll know that it is not as easy as expected.

Don’t worry though! Here are 4 mistakes that I think you can avoid to ensure a successful event.

1. Not Providing Enough Food

It is often difficult to estimate the amount of food required for an event. Many unexpected things can happen. E.g. More guests may turn up than expected, or some might eat more than expected, or that the caterer you have catered from has smaller food portions. And we all know that it IS important to keep your guests happy by providing enough food.

So, how do we avoid serving up lesser than needed to our guests? Generally, try to cater for additional 3-5 pax if you are worried. Alternatively, you may also opt to switch out a side dish for a staple if you know that there are going to be some big eaters coming for your event.

Similarly, if you know that most of your guests are small eaters or your event is held after the lunch hour where most of your guests would have already had some food prior to your event, you may even switch your staple out for more side dishes.

Don’t forget to consider the time and type of your event! An office tea break (usually around 4pm) doesn’t need that much food as compared to a lunch event.

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2. Forgetting About Allergies and Dietary Restrictions

Allergies and dietary restrictions are rather common and should be checked and verified with your guests prior to you confirming your menu with your caterer.

While many of us try to cater to all of the different dietary needs of our guests, it is sometimes unrealistic to cater for all. In this case, you can consider getting separate food for your guests with special dietary needs. You may also check with your caterer if they are able to provide separate arrangements for that.

But if you ask me, I think that providing food that are friendly for all would be the best-case scenario to avoid any embarrassment of having a guest arrive only to find out there’s nothing for them to eat!

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3. Timing Your Food Delivery 

A lot of people do not realize the importance of the timing for delivery. If the delivery time is set too early, your food might be at risk of turning bad. Conversely, if the food is delivered too late, you might be faced with a lot of side looks from your hungry guests.

Don’t worry, in FoodLine, we go by ready to eat time! Let us know your ready to eat time, and the experts from the logistic team will gauge the time neededto deliver and set up the food by the time mentioned!

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4. Not Considering the Experiences of Past Clients of The Caterer You’re Ordering From

You will be surprised by how much you can learn about a caterer from the experiences of their past clients. The internet had made it easier for people to look for such information. If you find multiple consistent reviews of a caterer, chances are that the reviews are mostly trustworthy and you can take them into considerations when deciding on a suitable caterer for your event.

In FoodLine, we take the feedback of our clients very seriously and all of our client’s reviews of the caterers can be found on our website at https://www.foodline.sg/reviews

However, you don’t have to worry about all these! Our sales managers are here for you!

Call the corporate hotline at 6592 5057 or drop an email to corporate@foodline.sg and we will help you from the start to end!

Browse our caterers and menus at www.foodline.sg

Feature Image By: Ye Chen on Unsplash