Expand your sales channels with catering services

In this era of running a restaurant, just one income stream from selling food may not be enough. Since we already have a restaurant, a team, recipes, equipment and tools, why not create opportunities to increase income through various channels? One of the interesting and still going strong channels is catering services. When thinking of catering services, most people think of weddings and graduation ceremonies. But in reality, the catering market is very diverse and new markets can be opened, depending on whether the entrepreneur sees these opportunities or not. We have some great ideas to recommend for restaurant owners who are interested in increasing their revenue from catering services.

Advantages of catering business: easy to control costs, good profits, easy to manage Opening a restaurant, it may be difficult to predict when there will be many or few customers. Sometimes we think that near closing time, there will be fewer customers, so we let almost all the employees go home. It turns out that the shop is flooded with customers, the service is not fast enough, we are exposed in the media, or the ingredients we bought are not enough to use up before losing the opportunity to make sales. But if it is a catering service, there are almost no management problems because we can control and plan the work in advance, including costs, the number of ingredients, equipment, the number of menus, the number of workers, and most importantly, we know the “profit” in advance.

 Many people may think of catering services only as Chinese tables, one of the most familiar catering services. Currently, catering services come in many different formats, such as: Chinese table service format is preparing food as a set menu and serving food gradually to the table. Buffet is a service format in which food is prepared at designated points for attendees to serve themselves. Cocktails The service format is similar to buffets, where food is prepared and placed at designated points for attendees to serve themselves. However, the types of food do not focus on main dishes, but rather on light snacks. Food stall The service format will be a catering service for various events, where there may be many food stalls for attendees to choose from. Coffee break and snacks The service format is a set menu of desserts and drinks, which is popular for meetings and seminars. Snack Box The service format is similar to coffee break and snacks, but the difference is that Snack Box, snacks and drinks will be put in a box. Suitable for short-term events that require convenience and speed, such as press conferences, seminars, various ceremonies such as merit-making ceremonies, funerals, etc. Boxed food is a service format that involves cooking food to order and putting it in a box. You can set a menu for customers to choose from. It is suitable for seminars, activities that require convenience and budget savings. You can see that the catering business market is not ordinary. There are many customer groups to choose from to market to. It depends on whether the entrepreneur sees an opportunity or not.

I want to start a catering service. How should I start? Thailand is very conducive to catering business because we often have festivals and ceremonies almost all year round. And with people's behavior changing from catering to hiring for events, even big food brands are giving importance to this market. Many brands offer off-site catering services to meet market demand. Therefore, if restaurant operators want to provide catering services, the first basic advice is to create awareness among target customers about what types of catering services our restaurant offers, such as creating a sign in front of the store, through various online channels of the restaurant, preparing food packages with prices and menus, and taking yourself to experience the atmosphere of various events, whether it's a wedding or a party, to understand the needs of each customer group because each customer group has different needs for each type of event. In addition, you should build good relationships with business groups related to organizing various events, such as wedding dress rental shops, card shops, souvenir shops, clubs, university booths, etc. Don't stick to any one activity. You should be able to provide a variety of services or offer new services that are different from the catering services that most people are familiar with, such as catering for monks, providing lunch for children in schools or shelters, etc. Restaurant operators should not overlook the catering market because it is still a market that can grow a lot. The most important thing that entrepreneurs need to take into account is the quality and service format because if customers are impressed with this business, it is very difficult to switch to another service provider.