Catering Data points:

In 2019 alone, Catering is an 11 billion dollar industry as reporting by https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/caterers-industry/. It’s also on the rise year over year increasing by and average of 4.9%, and it currently employs over 218,000. As the economy roars on, and especially with strong company profits, you can expect these numbers to keep climbing. As a catering or Private Chef company, I can attest to this strong growth.

Reasons for the Boom:

So why are private diners and corporations increasingly choosing catering versus traditional restaurant dining? Increased company profits aside, the catering game has evolved in a number of ways. Restaurants are capitalizing on the opportunity for off-premise revenue. This is really a no brainer. A day in the life of a restaurant is a collection of revenue highs and lows. Any smart restaurant owner knows they’ll need to increase sales during the period of their revenue low times. Catering is by far the most profitable and least labor intensive.

Secondly, customers are more savvy and educated about food. Customers are raising their expectations on what exactly catering food should be. For instance, wedding food has traditionally been god awful with event hosts simply accepting this fact as their are potentially hundreds of people to feed. However, in recent years, wedding food has started to become more creative, fun and an important part of the event.

The third and perhaps most important point is accessibility. With the coming of new phone apps, websites and unique business strategies, catering food is everywhere at a reasonable cost to the consumer. However, not all catering is created equal. Let’s narrow it down to three in home styles for simplicity. Traditional companies usually specialize in what I call it “drop off” style. Then we have restaurant catering, and Private Chefs or Personal Chefs. So let’s go over some pros and cons of each style.

Pros and Cons:

Catering companies obviously “specialize” in this type of food-service. I’m using quotes because one can’t assume by specializing in a certain field, necessarily makes them good at it. These companies normally produce very large batches of food in a fairly short amount of time using large batch equipment and cookware. In my opinion, this is often the worst quality of food as there is little love creating such large amounts at once.

Restaurants aren’t normally specializing in this type of service, however often times execute it well. You probably often eat at the restaurant supplying the food for your event, so you know it’s great. Being able to vouch for a certain place is always a pro. Restaurant food isn’t always necessarily the best food to “carry-out”. I’m sure you’re already aware as you probably order take-out from the same place and weren’t as impressed as dining-in. So this can be a major con as restaurant menus aren’t often designed for catering purposes specifically.

Private Chefs or Personal Chefs are the best of both worlds. Menus are being designed for the restaurant experience, however they are prepared in your home. This essentially is eliminating the negative “take-out” element of restaurant food. The Chef is front and center as he prepares the food for your event. This is dinner and a show as you can feel free to interact, ask questions and learn. Nothing beats a chef preparing hot and fresh food in front of your eyes. So try entering your location and date, searching for your chef, choosing your menu, and making a reservation. https://foodfireknives.com/