One way to stand out from your competitors when opening a catering business is to think of something that can make your business unique.
When you are first starting, your operation will most likely be on a smaller scale, which is why it’s even more necessary to establish your niche in the market. Perhaps, you might want to specialise in luxury and cater to the more affluent clients?
If this sounds like a good idea, here’s what you need to know about starting a luxury catering business.
Bespoke Food
The first step in opening a luxury catering business is to have a menu. Since you are targeting luxury customers, create a special menu tailored to their needs and preferences. Find out the type of foods these people want. What level of service do they expect? Would they care about diet restrictions?
When creating a menu, see what your competitors are offering. By looking at your competition, you’d be able to skip through a lot of work, such as finding out what ingredients are available in your area.
Make sure the food you will include on the menu is something that can travel. With catering, you will usually need to travel a long distance to reach the event. So, this is something to consider when creating your catering menu. If you already own a brick-and-mortar restaurant, create a menu that features the most popular foods that your customers will usually order from your restaurant.
Food Standards
When opening any food-related business, you must make sure to abide by the laws on food safety. So, talk to your local environmental health officers and have them inspect your kitchen. During their inspection, they will check your countertops, walls, and other facilities to check if they work in good condition.
The local health inspectors will also assess your ability to impose proper hygiene measures when preparing the food and advise you on any upgrades you need to do in adherence to the food safety laws.
The Food Safety Regulations also require caterers to ensure that your staff is trained and knowledgeable on matters about food hygiene. Consider taking on basic food hygiene training courses to know more about this. Remember, failure to comply with the regulation can result in prosecution with a hefty fine.
Communicating with Clients
In the catering business, proper communication with luxury clients is essential. So, ask the right questions and pay attention to what your clients want. You should be aware of all the details about the event, including the budget. If you have an idea of how much your client will be willing to pay, it will be easy for you to come up with a list of foods to prepare.
Another thing to know from your client is the number of guests expected to attend the event. This is very important as it will give you an idea of the number of foods you need to prepare. It also helps you plan the overall logistics and how to set up the serving area.
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