Planning for a corporate event can be pretty challenging. Aside from making provisions for a conducive venue, there’s also the challenge of ensuring enough food and drinks are made available for attendees. Usually, catering for corporate events is slightly different than planning catering for a wedding. As such, it’s essential that you get the right hands to handle the catering needs. Here are essential tips on catering for your next corporate event:

1. Set a budget

The first thing that can ruin your catering plans is poor budgeting. It is illogical to plan for rice and drinks when the budget available can only cover small chops. As much as you can, clarify all your plans with the management before you present your budget to a caterer. If you’re unsure of what would be needed, you can hire event planners to help provide professional help in budgeting and planning for everything you need.

2. Understand the theme of the event

Failing to understand the theme of the event is another recipe for failure. If it’s an end-of-the-year dinner for employees, a buffet will go over nicely. Focus on the theme of the event so you can plan your menu accordingly.

3. Know your guests

It is essential you know the profiles of the guests attending the event. Typically, the profiles should describe the preferences of the guests, their professional levels, and how often they attend the company’s events.

4. Provide enough options

Guests like variety and some control over what they are eating. If the event is a breakfast function on a weekday morning, you can plan for coffee, tea, fruit juices, and maybe pastries. If it’s lunch, you can go for two to three dishes and two to four appetizer options. Dinner typically should include three to five appetizers, soup or salad, two servings of dessert and two to three side dishes.

5. Include seasonal items

When catering for corporate events (or any events for that matter), it is also great to add seasonal items. If the event is slated for December, consider taking advantage of some popular end-of-the-year food items which the attendees will enjoy. Apples, bananas, broccoli, carrots are nice options.

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Photo by Frank Zhang on Unsplash