Case Study

Jens Special Event Catering Company

The mission of this catering company is to provide catering events that incorporate desired
themes. These events will incorporate the theme with the menu and the decoration displays. Each
event should cater to the needs of the guests.
Event: Mardi Gras themed with a Southern Louisiana/ Southern Cuisine (7: 15pm)
Dinner will be served around 7:30 to 7:40
Event will End 9:15 (Staff will stay longer to clean and take down equipment)
Reason For event: My client is having a party and is interested in southern Cuisine. This catering
company is designed to cater events with a special theme. Mardi Gras is a popular event in the
south and occurs in Louisiana. One popular food item that is associated with Mardi Gras is
Gumbo. This is the reason for the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo being offered as the signature
dish. The other food items on the menu also follow a southern theme as well.
Price $50 a plate $20 Alcohol
Menu
Sausage and Chicken Gumbo with Rice
Summer Berry Salad
Macaroni and Cheese
Corn Bread
Dessert
Banana Fosters Bread Pudding
Beverages

Ice Tea, Coffee, Chardonnay, and Red Tree Apothic Red Wine

Menu Item

Menu Item Cost (total)

Individual Cost

Selling Price/ per

plate

Sausage and Chicken

Gumbo (Signature
Item)

$51.80

$1.73

$4.32

Macaroni and Cheese

$19.20

$.64

$7.18

Cornbread

$3.36

$.11

$4.50

Summer Berry Salad

$43.48

$1.45

12.00

Banana Foster Bread

Pudding

$51.24

$1.70

Coffee and Tea

$75

$2.50

$10.00

Total

Total

Total

$244.08

$8.13

$50.00

$12.00

Wine: There will be five tables at the clients home in her large empty dining room. Each table
will seat six guests. Each table will have two bottles of red wine (Red Tree Apothic Red Wine)
and two bottles of white wine (Chardonnay) The bottles were bought for $12 per bottle. The
tables will start with two bottles, one red and one white. When both of the bottles are finished or
almost empty, new bottles will be brought to the guests by the wait staff.
12x20 =240 bottles bought for the event
20x30=600 collected from all the guests

Equation Specialty Item = 40% of Selling Price

Sausage and Chicken Gumbo $51.80 /30 = $1.73 (Individual Price)
1.73/.4= $4.32
Recipe
Sausage and Chicken Gumbo Servings:30
30.06 Tablespoons Butter
3.76 Cups Diced Onion
1.88 Cups Diced Celery
3.76 teaspoons of Kosher Salt
1.88 Cups Diced Red Peppers
7.52 Tablespoons of Minced Garlic
1.88 Teaspoons Black Pepper
1.88 Gallons of Chicken Stock
.94 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
7.52 Cups of Rice
7.52 Teaspoons of Salt
15.03 Tablespoons of Four
5.52 lbs Italian Sausage
4.5 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

Reasons for Pricing

Macaroni and Cheese: http://www.macheesmo.com/the-homemade-trials-mac-n-cheese/

Sausage and Chicken Gumbo: (substituted shrimp for chicken due to the reason client
does not like seafood) http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/shrimp-sausagegumbo.html
Banana Bread Pudding http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016640-bananas-fosterbread-pudding
Corn Bread http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/cornbread/8990e15c-fc1d-4a8d-b8b34b37f45eca49
Salad http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/berry-delicious-summer-salad
White wine chardonnay $12( estimates taken from Red Wine as well)
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/06/budget-wine-hall-of-fame-best-wine-ona-budget-under-20-affordable-red-white-rose-sparkling.html

Some of the sources have chef tec information with equations that are attached to see
costs.

Organization Chart:
Staff Total = 7 Workers (8 including me) There are only 30 guests. Therefore the
amount of staff should not be too many people. Two prep/ kitchen people will
suffice for preparing foods. There will be three people on wait staff. There will
also be one person that is part of the wait staff and part of the kitchen prep where
he or she is needed most.
Head Chef: Part of the Head Chefs job is to order all of the ingredients and figure
out the costs of the food items. The head chef will be in charge of the Chicken and
Sausage Gumbo. During the Prep Day The Chef will Prepare the Chicken and the
Sausage and will chop and cook the items. So the next day, It will be easy to warm
the chicken and the sausage. The head chef will also be in charge of the two
kitchen prep workers and will make sure that products are being made while
following sanitation and health regulations including the Hazard Analysis and
Critical Control Points
Day of Event: The head chef and the other members of the staff will help transport
the food and other necessary equipment. The head chef will warm the meat and
will cook the rice and prepare the roux. On down time, he or she will be making
sure that all the other cooks are performing their duties and will make sure that all
cleaning tasks are being accomplished. The chef will also perform garnishes and
plating.

Wait Staff: These staff members will carry the plates out to the guests. And will
pour the wine from the tables for the guests. The guests will also clear dishes away
as well. At the end of the night. This staff is in charge of taking down the
decorations
Floater: If the kitchen seems backed up then the floater will help the kitchen staff,
The floater will also help carry in equipment and will ride in the second van to
bring in the prepped food. The floater will also help the wait staff if he or she
needs help and will be dressed in the same attire as the wait staff. This member is
trained in the kitchen and as a wait staff member.
Kitchen Prep: These members will prepare the contents of the cornbread and the
banana foster bread pudding. These members will also be in charge of dish
washing and cleaning. A large dish washer will be provided at the house and at the
catering facility.
Event Day: These staff members will be in charge of baking the products and
preparing the salad and getting the dishes ready for the chef to plate. They will
also take care of cleaning duties as well. These members will ride back with the
chef and take back the supplies and equipment after event.
Me: My duties will be to communicate with the guests and client and will decorate
the room and will go between the kitchen and the event to make sure everything is
going smoothly. I will also help take down the equipment and some of the
decorations.

Time Line of Event: Within a Month

First Day: Research has been conducted with the client. The clients favorite aspect of Louisiana
is Mardi Gras. Therefore a Mardi Gras theme was presented to the client. The client talked about
some of her favorite foods but left the menu up to the caterer (me). The client wanted to host the
event at her home. Therefore, she had to be educated the correct form of etiquette to be able to
interact with her guests. The caterer will lay out steps to meet the goal. A contract is made and
the event will start.
First Week: A strategic plan is created to hire staff and make up a time frame. The preparation
period will be done the night before which includes preparing the basic functions of the food, to
make the event flow smoothly. Proper equipment needs to be obtained. Although, my catering
company already has most of the equipment that is needed. The staff is hired for two days, the
prep day and the event day. The decorations have to be ordered and have to be given a great deal

of thought. They are simple and not pricy and will take a half hour to set up which will be done
mostly by me.
Second Week: All of the recipes are checked and the ingredients have been properly ordered.
Day Before the Event: The kitchen workers will go in and prep the food. The chef will gather the
meat and cook the meats for the Gumbo. The kitchen workers will prepare the banana foster
bread pudding. The bananas foster contents will be prepared the night before. Therefore the
Bread pudding will be ready to back as soon as the entre arrives at the event. The cornbread
contents and the macaroni and cheese will be prepared before as well. This should only take an
hour with clean up as well. The prep workers should implement cleaning within tasks. The only
item that will not be prepped would be the salad. The chef will go over the plans for the next day
right ten to fifteen minutes before the departure of the staff. The goal is to have dinner served at
7:30-7:40.
Day of Event: 6:00 pm. I will arrive an hour before the event to ensure that all of the decorations
are displayed in the way that the client wants the tables and decorations displayed. The living
room is huge and the client has agreed to have the room cleared before the day of the event, so
that tables can be displayed. I will have all of the linins and some of the equipment that I brought
over with the large company van.
6:30: The prep/ kitchen cooks and the head chef will arrive in the other large company van with
the prepared food and the other half of the equipment. The Chef will gather supplies and will
start quickly with steaming the rice and warming up the meat and creating the Roux. The prep
cooks will put the corn bread in the oven 45 minutes until serving time. The corn bread takes
twenty minutes to make but five minutes will be for cooling and five minutes will be used to
plate. The Salad will be prepared by the other prep staff 20 minutes before the food is served.
Within this time I will be back in fourth to make sure the guests (the staff will be using the
clients elaborate huge kitchen).
7:15-7:30 Wait Staff will arrive and will meet with me for instructions and will start pouring
guests drinks and offering Coffee or Tea. Once food is prepared, Wait staff Will bring out food
one table at the time. The hosts table will be served first followed by the table that is adjacent to
it. This is the pattern. Each wait staff member will have one table and will and two of them will
have another table. The other wait staff member with one table should be helping the other wait
staff members. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, The prep will be putting the Banana Foster Bread
Pudding in the Oven. All the dishwashing and major Clean up will take place during this time.
These activities will be administered from the head chef. The Head chef will clear his station and
prepare the plating and decorating the dessert, so when the dessert is finally baked, he will be
able to serve the product immediately and will be able to clean with the prep crew in about ten to
fifteen minutes. By this time, the two hours should be completed and they will head back to the
facility and unload the van.

8:00 9:00 pm. The wait staff will continue to clear dishes and pour drinks and will serve desert
in between this time.
9:15- 10:00 pm. The wait staff and I will clean up the tables and will clear the room and will load
the truck. I will unload the belongings in the facility.
Equipment: Most of the equipment will be provided by the client, such as knifes, sauce pans,
four skillets to cook the Gumbo on each burner and a large oven for the cornbread and the desert.
Only on.Huge jugs to hold the water and sweet tea. There will be a coffee brewer to hold the
coffee which will be provided by the client. There would also be large hotel pans for the
cornbread and banana foster bread pudding (about four pans each which we will be providing.
My catering company will also provide measuring utensils and mixing bowls. The catering
company will provide their own china and other basic cooking utensils. There will be
thermometers to make sure temperatures are adequate. There will also be heating and cooling
bins. Other equipment that will be utilized are two company vans to transport food and
equipment
Written Reports/ Documents: A proposal is first prepared to display the functions of my
catering company and the services that I can offer to my client. This consists of the decorations
that I will incorporate at the event including the tables all the way to the equipment. This
document also explains details as little to the uniforms of my workers. This document also
discusses how most of my catering jobs are mostly off premise and quickly prepared at the
location of clients preference. The location can only be within 15 minutes of my catering
institution.
A contract between the client and I should be written immediately in order to secure all
liabilities. This contract consisted of the number of guests, costs for each plate and alcoholic
beverage, location of the event, the times (when dinner and desert should be served), equipment
that could be used at the event. In case the client cancels, there is a place for refunds,
cancelations, and in case the client decides to add on more guests.
A budget should also be included to make sure there are no hidden costs and that a profit is being
made.
A business plan can be prepared. It provides short term goals for the business during their event.
It will help the caterer plan the strategies for the event.
A waste sheet would be a good document to have at the event as well. This sheet could keep tract
of the waste and used product. If there is a lot of waste, then the catering company would know
to order less product in order to increase profit for the next catering event.
Insurance: The insurance that will be needed will be insurance on the equipment, personal items
of the employees, the client and I. This will make sure that the event is well protected and if

anything wrong happens, it will not hold Jens catering company accountable. This catering
company is slightly new, so the whole staff works as a crisis team as well. Before the catering
event, The staff met and spoke about unforeseen crises or events that could possibly go wrong at
the party. Also before the event was established to take place, there was a contract signed
between the client and I. This would secure any liabilities.
Budget
Food Cost $244.08 (Chart Listed Above)
Labor $363.50
Wait Staff (3) $15 per hour = $135
Chef $30 per hour= $105: 3.5 hours of work
Prep/ kitchen (2) $11 per hour $72.60: 3.5 hours of work
Floater $17 per hour: $72.60: 3 hours of work
Decorations: $150
Transportation: $50 dollars maximum
Alcohol= $240
Emergency Money: $200
Total: 1,247.58
Profit = 852.42 + 200 if emergency money not used or all of transportation