SSM - CATERING

INTRODUCTION

Catering definition

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing

single event-based food services. These establishments generally have
equipment and vehicles to transport meals and snacks to events and/or
prepare food at an off-premise site. Banquet halls with catering staff
are included in this industry. Examples of events catered by
establishments in this industry are graduation parties, wedding
receptions, business or retirement luncheons, and trade shows.

Restaurant or Foodservice definition

Organizations in the Food Services and Drinking Places prepare meals,

snacks, and beverages to customer order for immediate on-premises and
off-premises consumption. Some provide food and drink only; while others
provide various combinations of seating space, waiter/waitress services and
incidental amenities, such as limited entertainment. The organizations are
grouped based on the type and level of services provided. The industry
groups are full-service restaurants; limited-service eating places; special
food services, such as food service contractors, caterers, and mobile food
services; and drinking places.

Catering is not only about appealing to the taste buds of the individual but
also to all the other five senses of a human being. With the right
atmosphere, it is possible to appeal to all of these senses making the
occasion unforgettable. Of course, beautifully prepared food can alone do
this, but now days, caterers want to reach out to the customers in all
possible ways and bowl them over.
• The venue
• The menu
• The décor

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These are certain areas, which the caterers aim to cover for an all
round, win.
.
Whatever may be the occasion; a bachelor’s party or the annual meeting
of a corporate; deeply satisfying the guests are the sole aim.

Catering seems pretty straightforward and simple: You cook some food and
serve it, right? That is the basic idea, but there's more to it.

• Food maybe the most important thing in the catering world, but its
only one part of the service. Many catering companies today include
full event planning. There has been a change in approach of the
companies and while extending their services; other activities are
also concentrated upon. It's not that food is no longer a focal point,
but rather that it is part of a broader mission.

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PEST ANALYSIS

POLITICAL FACTORS

₧ Price hike in L.P.G: This is going to have a direct effect on catering

industry. This increase comes after Govt. realized the shortfall in
demand and supply of Butane and Isobutene, constituents of LPG.
Hence, prices were increased by Rs.20. although this quite a substantial
increase but caterers are not in the mood to pass it on to consumers.

₧ Food and Drug administration: Govt. has recommended the formation

of F&O of India, which has plans to make registration of all caterers
mandatory to ascertain a fix standard below which quality of food
served will be prohibited.

₧ Ban on Plastic bags: a ban on plastic bags means difficulty in

carrying/storing/transporting food or food items. As today services like
`FREE HOME DELIVERY` has become a part of expected service.
Hence any inability to provide these types of services may affect the
Caterer’s image. Also it will increase the cost of replacement or finding
a better substitute than plastic.

₧ Service Tax: imposition of indirect taxes is definitely going to affect

the industry. As these taxes are not borne by Service Provider but by
the consumer who will have to shell out 10.5% of the bill amount. Also
other taxes like Entertainment tax etc. will increase consumer’s outlay.

₧ Rise in Fuel prices: increase in Fuel rates will affect caterers who
provide mobile services, as it involves transportation of services. And
this will directly be proportional to distance traveled. Hence, an
increase of Rs.2-3 per litre seems unfavorable for this industry. But
this just seems to be the small picture as prices of Oil tends to rise in
international markets, Govt. will not be able to provide a cushion for any
further increase.

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₧ Policies of FCI: better known as Food Corporation of India, it is a

regulatory authority, which decides a price range for agricultural
consumables. But it fixes only on estimates of Demand and supply.
Hence any unreasonable increase in produces is restricted and is
working in favor of catering industry. Hence Gone are days when onions
made people cry by selling at exorbitant prices.

₧ Govt. should take up initiative of setting up more number of APMC

markets.(Agriculture Produce Marketing Centers). The reason for this is
that villagers/farmers can directly sell goods in these markets without
intermediaries coming in to picture, which obviously decreases the
prices of raw materials required in catering industry. According to a
study `Vegetables, fruits` etc offered in local market are extrapolated
to an extent of 100% of their cost prices.

₧ Permits, Licenses: as in case of caterers who offer additional services

like Liquor etc, certain types of permits are required which are for
limited time-periods. Although this is a socially good move but it still
hampers the industry as it is said, “it is not what goes in is bad, but it is
what comes out is bad”. In addition, there are other restrictions like
time limits (after 11 pm drinks will not be served etc.) and with a ban on
certain category of bars, it is anticipated some pressure will shift on
Catering industry (Hotels etc.).

₧ There are also legal/constitutional factors, which have impact on this

industry. like The Bombay Hotels and Establishment Act, which states
that if any hospitality or catering industry which employing more than
14 persons (inclusive of 2 part timers) will be classified as an
establishment and thus will have to offer benefits like Minimum wages
etc.

₧ According to recent UN survey, India ranks 116th in doing business,

whereas it Pakistan at 90th and China at 60th positions respectively.
Hence forget Shanghai, even Karachi seems to be a distant dream.

₧ As Catering, outlets require quite a large amount of space, but Govt.

focus on Housing sector may affect the caterers in negative way. A
recent UN study sad that we need to build 4000 houses per hour or

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96,000 houses per day, only then will we be able to provide sound
accommodation to our populace. Although this may sound a windfall for
caterers but looking at space constraints, it seems impossible.
ECONOMICAL FACTORS:

€ Consumer spending has increase tremendously given the

explosion of choices available to him. Another factor contributing
to the increase in spending is that Cost of living has skyrocketed.
Hence, it is not an option but compulsion to spend more even on
necessities like food.
A recent study indicated that consumers’ spending for food is
approximately 20% of their total income in Delhi and 18% in Mumbai.

€ Tourism also plays an important role. As tourism and Catering go

hand in hand. This is because as number of tourists increases it
gives rise to variety of menus, which can be restaurants etc. thus
giving them an opportunity to encashed upon. Hence, tourism as a
sector should given top priority for development of catering
industry. Although India ranks amongst top 3 tourists
destinations, there is still a great scope of improvement.

€ With Business cycles running at peak. Sensex violating 8000

mark and inflation rates down to 3.63%, it is spendthrift’s
heaven. What this means is economic stability has a spillover
effect on people. It is just like a self-fulfilling prophecy. People
think economy seems healthy and they spend money but as it goes
the other way, economy prospers as they spend money
increasingly.

€ The Earning capacity has also taken a quantum leap. For the
year 2003-04 the per capita income was around Rs.25000 ($545)
p.a. in urban areas whereas in rural areas it around Rs.11500
($255) p.a. whereas per capita income of Pakistan stood at $690
p.a. hence with an increase in income levels people tend to spend
more.

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Note: the earning capacity should not be confused with spending capacity,
as they both are different terms. They differ as earning include saving
which are not included in expenditure.

€ Spurred by the liberalization process, there has been a gradual

move away from a supply-constrained economy to a demand-driven
one. Moreover, the typical Indian consumer's mindset has
changed as well. Austerity is no longer considered a virtue, debt
is not a taboo any more in a typical middle-class Indian family and
with easy availability of cheap Consumer Finance, and there are
positive signs of growth for catering industry.

€ With economy opening up, and catering sector should be

encouraged and FDI limit should be increased, as analysts say the
limit should be raised to 100% or at least 60% with FEMA
restrictions be abolished, so as to encourage investments in
catering sector.

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SOCIAL FACTORS:

$ Westernization: The West has tremendous impact on Indians.

The mindset of people today is `to live for the day` attitude.
They believe to live in present and not to risk their present for
their future. Hence, they believe in spending whatever is earned.

$ Bandwagon effect: this refers to people aping others either due

to their status, power etc. hence, it effectively means that
people try to imitate each other so as to prove their superiority.
This also affects the spending behavior of consumers.

$ The Average age of India is around 28 years. Hence, it is said

that India is very young at heart whereas average age of China is
33 years. In addition, amount spent by youths (age group 20-35)
is more than amount spent by any other age group. Hence,
catering/restaurants in fast foods that cater to taste of youths
have n% scope of expansion with such a wide consumer base.

$ Catering is one those few sectors where there is no formal or

necessary training required. Like there are no prerequisites
except to the fact, the need of capital and to earn fast buck is
the need of the day for everybody.

$ Giffen effect: according to Sir Robert Giffen, when prices of any

superior goods fall, people instead of buying low priced substitute
tend to offset the decrease by purchasing superior quality goods
given the same outlay. And so even though cost of living has

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increased, earnings capacity has superceded it by many times.

And with fierce competition and choices prices have come down.
Hence, this psychology makes people go for plush restaurants
occasionally offsetting with low quality consumables.

$ Paradox of Value: it means that items that are of prime

importance, without which no one can do are sold at quite low and
affordable prices. As water, food etc. are things without which
nobody can do. They are of utmost importance and which makes
them invaluable but in fact they are the one that are priced the
lowest (the necessities). Thus encouraging their consumption and
to make it available within everybody’s reach.

$ There has been a change in peoples attitude toward almost

all types of catering

For example, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. This little bit
of advice is being taken very seriously by airlines, Menus are being
designed, selected and prepared with both eyes firmly fixed on the
customer’s tastes. The traveler of today, it has been realized, no longer
accepts what is dished out. He knows what he wants and nothing less than
the best will do.

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TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS:

The catering industry has various facets where there is direct

dependence on the technological advancements:

Ŧ Temperature controlled environments- the

transportation is one of the main aspects of catering
services. Often the kitchen and the service delivery site
are far and wide away form each other. Hence to reach
the required food and drinks to the site without
deteriorating the quality of the food it is important to
maintain a controlled environment. Transporting the food
in specially modified carriers or vans, which have a
conditioned environment, nowadays does this.

Ŧ Burners- traditionally the caterers have been using the

gas burners and LPG cylinders to fuel them. but now
slowly but steadily especially in the five star catering the
companies have started using the latest electric burners
popularly called 'Hot Plates'. These do not emit any
smoke heat or fire. They heat only when come in contact
with metal. Hence, they automatically shut down when not
in use.

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Ŧ Computer software- the hospital catering is generally an

avid user of this technology. There are various software’s
in use. When one feeds in the data or name of a
particular food dish in to it, it straight away lists the
required ingredients in precise quantity as per the
patient’s calorie intake allowance. Such software’s have
made the life of hospital caterers quite easy and
accurate.

Ŧ Besides the above-mentioned specific factors, there

are many other small n undetected points, which go often
unnoticed. These can be-the dish washers- pressure
boilers- electronic weighing machines- laser blade knives,
etc.

These factors together have made the catering industry an up to date 21st
century service industry. In addition, the increasing competition has made
use of these almost an essential art of business.
With this the ease in payment, one can now pay from their cell phones etc
have removed all the hassles.

PRODUCT MIX

Level Type of service Catering

1. Basic core Food and beverages.
product

2. Expected service Hygiene, taste,

banquet services, etc.
3. Augmented Working as per the
service customer needs by
providing specialties.
4. Potential service The best of the
specialties. For e.g. the
desserts at Sea
princess

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Product lines:

1. Width: it refers to the number of different services offered by the

caterers. For e.g. airlines, railways, hospitals, corporate meetings,
etc.

2. Depth: it refers to the variety of services offered. It may differ

from sector to sector. For e.g. airlines need the food, which is dry
and portable and can be preserved for little linger. Hospitals require
nutritious food, which does not affect the health of its patients.
Schools provide their students with the balanced diet, etc. thus, the
needs change according to different fields.

3. Consistency: it is the relationship maintained between the different

services. The ultimate motive of catering is to supply food that is to
be consumed by its customers. For e.g. food provided in hospitals,
parties, schools are all finally consumed.

CLASSIFICATION OF CATERING INDUSTRY:

The catering industry can be divided into three categories

1. Commercial Catering
2. Transport Catering
3. Welfare Catering

Commercial Catering:

As the name suggests, it is catering for commercial purpose. Another

thing that becomes implied is, commercial activities are performed with the
aim of making profits. But in present settings, where the customer is the
king, it is not possible to make profit at his cost. Customer satisfaction
ranks equally with profit making.

Two different kinds of Commercial Catering are:

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 Residential Catering
 Non residential Catering

Residential Catering
This involves providing food beverage along with accommodation facilities

1. Hotels: they provide for food, beverages and accommodation facilities.

And depending upon the type of service offer they can be classified on
the basis of stars or on the basis of clientele can be classified as
business, transit, etc.

2. Motels- these are situated on the highways and cater mainly to the
travelers. They provide facilities like parking, refueling, and garage,
along with basic provision for food and beverages and accommodation.
The stay of the customers here is generally very short and is mainly
during a halt in an overnight road journey.

3. Resorts & Spas: they are hotels located at places away from the city
mainly at sea side or on hill stations. These resorts are very distinct in
off seasons as the places are used more during the holidays. The stay of
guests is much longer than those in motels. E.g. Club Mahindra

4. Floatels: Located on floating boats, which provide food, beverages and

accommodation facilities. According to the size of the floatels the
facilities vary. E.g. House boats

5. Guest Houses: the standard of accommodation here is not as good as a

hotel or a resort. The services offered are not very professional and
the menu is also not very elaborate. Expenses are much less than other
establishments and people who cannot afford to avail the luxuries of
hotels or resorts prefer these guesthouses.

6. Lodges: provide only Accommodation facilities. They are generally

located near railway stations or near bus stops.

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7. Circuit Houses: similar to guest houses but the standard is better. They
are generally owned by the State government and are used by the
government officials.

8. Youth Hotels: these are necessarily cheaper than hotels. And provide
for accommodation though may or may not serve food. E.g. YMCA,
YWCA.

Non-Residential Catering

As the name suggests these provide for food and beverages but not
accommodation.

1. Restaurants: Depending on the type of food served they are classified

as specialty restaurants .Eg. Chinese, Thai Fast food Mexican or multi
cuisine restaurants. Restaurants can be associated with hotels or may
be independently present.

2. Bar: these places serve only alcoholic drinks along with light snacks.
They may or may not be attached to restaurants or hotels. In India the
rules and regulations governing the bar are very strict which limit the
scope and working of this place.

3. Fast Food Outlets: generally independent outlets and deal in food and
beverages which can be prepared and consumed quickly. They don’t
serve alcoholic drinks. Emphasis is mainly on quick preparation and
service.

4. Discotheques: these are business premises, which provide facility for

large gathering of people to dance along with music played by the DJ.
They may have a small bar in the corner. However the emphasis here is
more on the dance and the music rather than the food items served.

5. Vendors: they are generally present on railway station and provide food
and non-alcoholic beverages. They cater mainly to the weaker sections
of society.

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Transport Catering:

1. Railway Catering: In this case pantry cars are attached to the trains
where the food is cooked or in most cases catering is done by outside
contractors. The Indian Railway mainly did earlier catering only.
However private players have been coming in the picture leaving less
market for the Indian railway catering. E.g. Recently. Mc Donald’s along
with Radha Krishna Hospitality Services Ltd. has bagged the first
private railway contract.

2. Marine Catering: This is the catering mainly done for the crew and the
passengers. In the modern day the cruise liners have become much
known and have a very high standard of catering. They are equipped
with facilities like restaurants, bars, discotheques, golf course,
swimming pool, laundry, ball rooms, casinos, etc. On theses liners the
service reaches its maximum. Apart from different kinds of meals

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served social activities like parties, dance, etc are also organized to
earn good will and provide customer satisfaction.

2. Airline Catering: Today airline catering has reached a high level of

sophistication. Unlike earlier where only limited items were listed on the
menu, today the menu is much more elaborate. Specialized training is
provided to the airhostess and the crew for rendering professional
services. Eg. Recently, Ambassador Sky Chief bagged contract in Air
India. They are to serve 28,000 meals per week. This is the only caterer
that serves meal on the Air India.

Welfare Catering:

This catering involves catering without profit. Although loss is not the
objective either. It is generally out of compulsion or obligation or a
legal requirement or charity.

1. Industrial Catering: Carried out in big industrial or manufacturing units.

Different levels and types of employees are served in different
canteens. The employees contribute very small amount of food cost and
are served buffet meals. The company itself may either carry out this
catering or the contract may be given to any private body.

2. Institutional Catering: This type of catering is carried out in schools

and college canteens or in institutional hostels. Here the price charger
to the students is very nominal. This is generally run by the institution
itself or sometimes by the students. Very rarely it is given to outside
contractors.

3. Service Catering: This is done in jails and in military services where no

money is charged at all from the consumers. The food is either cooked
in-house or is outsourced.

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4 I’S

 INTANGIBILITY

Product life cycles can be short - Unlike manufactured items which tend
to a have relatively long product life cycle, service delivery systems often
change for example, microwaves cannot be used while catering the
customers in the flights, which makes warming up the food a hectic job. On
the other hand items of food being perishable commodities tend to have a
short life cycle. So, if the food is not preserved properly, it might lead to
loss of essential nutrients and thereby making it unable to consume.

It is difficult to build brand loyalty - This is because in service

businesses, copying is very easy. If one caterer decides to come up with a
new dish or make a different kind of presentation or some new
arrangements, the other caterer copies it within no time. That is why it is
necessary to be innovative again and again and come out with new service
features. Thus, they have to keep themselves distinguishing from
competitors. At the same time, FOOD is such a commodity that can lead to
a lot of service failures if adequate care is not taken to preserve thereby
leading to a bad rapport on the part of the customer towards a customer.

Example: Suppose if, there are 10 functions arranged and of those even if
2 of them are not catered properly, it affects the prospects of other
future customers leading to hesitation in giving orders. They might feel
there is a lack of authencity in the catering company, though the actual
reasons may nary in nature.

Company reputation is crucial - Company reputation is crucial in service

businesses because consumers are unable to measure with any accuracy the
quality of service they are getting. In the catering industry, what affects
the most is the word of mouth. Even if a single fault is spread to other
people, the customers perceive that they might probably go through the
same. Thus, the number of customers diminishes.

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 INVENTORY

There is no buffer from fluctuations in demand - Due to the

characteristics of services; there are no inventories to buffer fluctuations
in demand. Caterers do not prefer to stock up the inventory. Even if they
do, it’s for a very short duration because they mainly have to deal with
fruits, vegetables, and other food items which are highly perishable. But
the caterer should have a good amount of back up so as to meet the
demands of their customers. Services do not have inventories that can be
used to buffer the imbalances between the supply of products and the
demand for products.

Because there is no decoupling of the various stages of production,

planning and control can be complex – they have to be good at
forecasting and planning with the help of their past experiences. For
example, if more guests turn up in the party than expected, they cannot
ask the guests to leave or to stay hungry. All this requires a good back up.
The caterer for the purpose of customer satisfaction should meet even the
urgent demands. That is a perfect example of how planning and control are
so complex when you don't have an inventory to buffer the demand. You
cannot tell the customer that there are no seats and that you will put them
in an inventory box until tomorrow when the flight arrives.

 INCONSISTENCY

Difficult to establish standards especially with respect to psychological

aspects of service - It is much easier to define a commercial product
than a service offered because all people have different tastes and
preferences. Few may stress more on presentation, whereas others might
go for much better tastes. Even establishing the specifications is more
difficult than it is with a physical product.

Hard to ensure standards are being met - For the same reason, it is
much more difficult to measure whether or not set standards are being
met. On each airline flight that you take, you can be treated very
differently. Within the same flight you might be treated well at one
moment and terribly at another moment. As management, how do you know,

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other than customer's letters, that your customers got the level of service
you want to deliver?

Quality control in recruiting and training is crucial - Quality control, in

this context, comes in large part from recruiting and training. If you have
a certain part of your service or aspect of your service concept that you
are trying to deliver, you have to recruit the right kind of people. If
personality is important, you have to get people who have good
personalities. If the service is being catered to some wedding, more often
the workers are localized. If it’s some big party, the people are hired from
the hotel management institute so the can present well according to the
kind of guests. Whereas, if it’s some important corporate meeting the
staff who has to serve is owned and not temporary as the need to present
and behave well. Have a good knowledge and experience about the quality of
service to be provided.

 INSEPARABILITY

Since customers must come to the place where the service is provided,
each service facility has a limited geographic area it can serve - This is
a reality of the service business, unlike a manufacturing business where you
can produce a product and ship it around the world. In a service business,
it is very difficult to deliver over a distance. For example, if a person is
asking Sea princess Mahal for catering a function that is to be held at
Bandra, they would recommend Sea princess lands end rather go all the way
from Churchgate to Bandra carrying all the necessary equipments.

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CORE/SUPPLEMENTARY PRODUCTS IN SERVICES

INFORMATION

PAYMENT CONSULTANCY

CORE
PRODUC
T

BILLING ORDER-TAKING

EXCEPTION SAFE-CUSTODY

HOSPITALITY

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Many service products consist of a bundle as it were, that includes a

variety of elements and even some physical goods. It is important to
distinguish between the core product that the customer buys and the set
of supplementary services that often accompany that product.
In the Catering Industry the core product is the food offered for a
particular event and the supplementary service may include decoration,
arrangement of chairs tables etc, the theme, hospitality, etc. Now the
decision faced by the firms in planning and configuring the service delivery
process a combination of both core and supplementary products are
summarized as follows:

1. INFORMATION: Usually first step in service delivery providing

information regarding the service, information regarding processes,
cost, benefits etc. So in the Catering industry, SEA Princess’s outdoor
catering service has been taken as an example. It starts with a phone
call, here the customer is informed about the different schemes
provided by SEA PRINCESS may be for a lunch, dinner or just a get
together etc, information regarding the menu, extra facility if wanted
etc. In short he is given an overview of the service, which is going to be
provided.

2. CONSULTATION: This is one step further after the customer is

informed, the customer requirement is found out and solution
development takes place. Continuing with the example of SEA
PRINCESS the customer may choose a scheme suitable to him and make
the necessary changes regarding menus, themes, decoration, cost etc.

3. ORDER TAKING: This is a specific detailed document includes what the

customer has asked for in the form of order, reservation, and
application. At SEA PRINCESS it is done very systematically. Every
customer’s requirement is documented in a MOF (menu order form) that
systematically includes items like number of people, venue, menu,
beverages, timings, prices (pre-determined), themes, crockery, etc.

4. HOSPITALITY: Indicates – to ensure that their employees treat

customers as guests. When SEA PRINCESS goes for outdoor catering,
depending upon the number of people attending there are people

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roaming around asking about the taste of the food, escorting the
guests, etc.

5. CARE TAKING – SAFE CUSTODY: Indicates taking good care of

customers’ belongings. In catering – it would be, to take care of the
health of the guests, so proper hygiene to be maintained while
preparing, heating, serving, the food and also the venue which belongs to
the customer should be taken proper care of.

6. EXCEPTIONS: Indicates doing things for the consumers that are not
normally undertaken in the normal course of service may be special
requests, problem solving, complaints handling etc. Giving an example the
order for outdoor catering in SEA PRINCESS is to be done before 48
hours of the events but for regular customers or at emergency
situation, the order a day before is also undertaken with the same kind
of quality at times at the same cost.

7. BILLING: Providing a detailed billing to educate customers regarding

description of the payments that have to be made. SEA PRINCESS
provides a detailed bill showing cost of each item provided i.e. a self-
explanatory bill.

8. PAYMENT: Payment refers to the mode or the method of payment. This

has to be pre-decided, keeping in mind – ease to the customer. At SEA
PRINCESS they operate in 50:50 ways where 50% of the money in
advance and 50% post-service. This ratio may be changed based on the
customer is receiving the service.

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PRICE

KINDS OF CONSUMERS:
Knowing the type of customer is as essential as knowing the difference
between salt and pepper.

• Budget consumers:

These are the type of consumers who are very cautious of the money
they spend on food and prefer economical food. They eat outside more out
of necessity than choice.
Due to the everyday nature, they prefer light homelike food rather
than heavy restaurant food.
E.g.: students and employees residing in hostels would fall under this
category.
The people having long working hours beginning early morning also can be
considered as budget customers.

• Variety seeking consumers:

They are those kinds of consumers who frequently visit food joints.
As they eat by choice, variety of food is the essence. They may visit a food
joint once every week
E.g.: a family going out every week would not wish to have the same food on
every outing. Wouldn’t it be as monotonous as eating at home? Their basic
intention is recreation.
College students are another good example.

• Occasional consumers:

They are consumers who hardly eat out or visit restaurants and
prefer home made food, due to health or other economical reasons.
E.g.: Middle and Old age would fall under this category of consumers as
they usually prefer home made food to outside food and occasionally would
go visit a restaurant. Also a Lower middle class family could be an
occasional consumer for the simple reason that he cannot afford to visit
frequent restaurants or eat out.

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• Bulk regular consumers:

These are the consumers who generally purchase the raw materials
or prepare food in large quantities on a regular basis. There is also the
likelihood that these consumers may have entered into a contract with the
catering or other enterprise to provide the requirement on a regular basis.
E.g.: A vada pav wala may purchase the commodities that he requires in
bulk, everyday.
This is also typically observed in case of canteens. Even the food in
college canteens are prepared in large quantities; making them bulk
customers.

• Bulk occasional consumers:

These are the consumers who purchase food in bulk, i.e. in large
quantities but in certain special situations or on certain special occasions,
like in case of wedding or party orders.

PRICING STRATEGIES
Cost-Based Pricing
This approach involves setting prices relative to financial costs. The
firm should set a price sufficient to recover the full costs- variable, semi
variable, and fixed- of producing and marketing a service and then add a
sufficient margin to yield the desired level of profit at the predicted sales
volume. Service businesses with high fixed costs include those with an
expensive physical facility, or a fleet of vehicles, or a network. On the
other hand, the variable costs for such businesses of serving one extra
customer may be minimal.
Under these conditions, managers may feel that they have
tremendous pricing flexibility and be tempted to price very low to make an
extra sale. Some caterers promote loss leaders, which are services
provided at less than full cost to attract customers who will then be
tempted to buy profitable service offerings from the same organization.
Managers need to keep track of the actual costs associated with loss
leaders so that the amount of promotional subsidy is fully understood.

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However, there can be no profit at the end of the year unless all
relevant costs have been recovered. Many service businesses have gone
bankrupt by ignoring this fact. Hence, firms that compete on the basis of
low prices need to have a very good understanding of their cost structure
and of the sales volume needed to break even at particular prices. For
example: Sea princess has its profit margin of about 60%. Whereas, a small
caterer has about 35% to 40%. The profit margin is decided keeping in
mind the reputation as well as the goodwill of the firm.

Perceived value pricing:

Customers are the value maxi misers, within the bounds of search costs and
limited knowledge, mobility and income. Customer perceived value is the
difference between the prospective customers’ evaluation of all the
benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alternatives.
Total customers value is the perceived monetary value of the bundle of
economic, functional and psychological benefits of costs customer expects
from a given market offering. Total customer cost is the bundle of costs
customer expect to incurs in evaluating, obtaining, using and disposing of
the given market offering. He adds up all the values from the four sources
i.e. product, services, personnel, and image. Thus, while pricing its services
the firm has to keep in mind the image of its services in the market. Even
other aspects such as attributes, benefits, values, culture, personality and
the user have to be considered while targeting the customers to whom the
services are to be offered as well as while setting the prices.

Some basic strategies are:

• Premium strategy: this is what Sea princess offers i.e. high quality
and even charges high for the services offered.
• Overcharging strategy: in social parties and weddings the caterer
offers medium quality of food but charges high price looking at the
environment and the kind of people approaching.
• Medium-value strategy: in railways the services offered are of
medium quality and even the price charged is moderate keeping in
mind the status of the travelers which is not so high.
• Good-value strategy: in this case, the quality of service is moderate
whereas, the price charged is quiet low. This kind of strategy is

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mostly seen in college and school canteens so that it becomes

affordable for the students.
• Economy strategy: here the quality as well as price both is low. It is
mainly seen in shops, which are on streets such as jhunka bhakar,
etc.

Product Type Customer Type Pricing Strategy

Hotels Occasional Premium

Motels Budget Economy
Resorts and Spas Occasional Premium
Lodges/Guest Houses Budget Economy
Hostels Budget Good-value
Restaurants, Bars, Occasional/ Variety Premium
Discotheques seeking
Fast food joints Occasional/ Variety Overcharging
seeking
Vendors Budget Economy

Railways Budget Good-value

Airlines Occasional

Industrial Budget Economy

Institutional Budget Good-value

Service Budget Economy

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ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AT SEA PRINCESS

Organizational chart

Catering office

Banquet sales office Operations office

Head Purchase Public relations F & B Manger

Manager Manager

Assistants
Head waiters Chefs

Stewards Assistants,
Helpers

Unskilled employees

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PROMOTION

Through promotion, marketers inform existing or prospective

customers about service features and benefits, price and other costs, the
channels through which the service is delivered, and when and where it is
available.
In catering business, generally, the caterers or entrepreneurs do not
follow aggressive marketing strategy. A general rule of the thumb in
catering is that, the more customized your catering services, the lesser is
the aggressiveness of the marketing strategy. For instance, it is the least
aggressive in off-premise catering.
The target market from various sources can receive this
information.

Messages Transmitted Through Production Channels:

In this category, communications are developed within the
organization and transmitted through the production channels used to
deliver the service itself.

Front-line staff:
In catering services, employees in front-line position, i.e. wait staff
serve the customers directly. They promote services of the organization
through excellence in service delivery, technical knowledge.

Service outlets:
Both planned and unintended messages reach the customers through
the medium of service outlet and environment created. In catering
business, factors like hygiene, etc promote the organization.

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Messages Transmitted Through Marketing Channels:

In catering business, very few well established catering firms like
fast foods chain, etc, undertake these tools of promotion.

Advertising:
In catering business, advertising is done through Print media and
Websites.

a. Print: Publicizing the achievements of your service

organization, like the chef winning some award.
Restaurants can offer to provide recipe columns to newspaper publications.
If the offer is accepted, you have a medium, which is effectively saying
that yours must be a good product otherwise it wouldn’t be allowed to be a
part of the publication.

b. Direct Mail: Local Restaurants use direct mail to provide

“flyers” and “take-away menus” for home delivery services in
the neighborhood area market. This provides local market
coverage at low cost.

c. Website: Nowadays, the catering firms have their own

websites to promote their services.

Sales Promotion:
The objective of sales promotion is to accelerate the purchasing decision
or motivate customers to use the service sooner.
a. Sampling: This is generally used in function catering, whether
held in banquet halls or off-premise.

b. Coupons: local restaurants use this. For example, restaurant

gave special discount coupons to the winners of COLOSSEUM.

c. Special offer: offerings that encourage customers to

persuade others to join them in using the service. For
example, “Bring two friends and the third person eats free”.

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d. Gifts: McDonalds give gifts on the purchase of “Happy Meal”

pack.

Messages Originating Outside the Organization:

Some of the powerful messages about a company and its product come
from outside the organization and is uncontrollable by the organization.

Word-of-mouth:
Robert Lewis, professor at Geulph University, has observed that someone
who purchases a service may go away empty-handed but not empty-headed.
They have memories, which can be shared with others. It is the job of
service provider to make these memories as pleasant as possible.
In off-premise catering, word-of-mouth is the most important means of
marketing. As it is viewed to be more credible than those initiated by the
firms are.

Media Editorial:
Media coverage initiated by broadcasters and publishers. Many magazines
and newspapers employ restaurants critics to evaluate restaurants for
their reader. Food guide books give details of different eating places in
different places and rate them on the quality of food, service menu,
surroundings and price

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PLACE

Decisions on where to deliver service have a great impact on the

nature of customer’s service experience because they determine the type
of encounter, if any, with service personnel, price and other cost incurred
to obtain the service.

Thus, product can have an effect upon the location of any kind of
restaurant and vice-versa.
Elements to be considered before deciding the location of distribution
outlet:

a) Socio-economic status and spending power of the

local residents.
b) Customer’s age group
c) Eating out habits.(frequent / occasional )
d) Ethnic origins of the local population.
e) Customer’s self-perception (adventurous/
conservative attitude toward food)
f) Proximity to competitor’s outlets.
g) Accessibility
h) Real estate costs.

Thus, we can say that choosing the right location has a lot to do with the
success of a restaurant. Decision regarding location in off-premise catering
is not a matter of concern for the caterer.
In catering business, the fast food or quick service outlets should be
built in a central location where there are crowds of people 24hours of day.
This is a major reason why this joint are found near the railway stations,
sub-ways, etc.

The best location for a high-class restaurant is in a selected area of

town, in a mansion or stately home where it is a part of the attraction. For
example, Mumbai branches of hotels like Taj, Oberoi, JW Marriot are all

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located along the seashore, giving it a beautiful view of the sea, Mumbai
being the city of seven islands.
Coffee-shops, snack-bars etc are usually do well at transport
interchanges, movie theatres, department stores and hypermarkets.
PEOPLE

In high – contact services like catering, personnel is central to service

delivery. Their presence makes the service more tangible and in sometimes
more personalized.
Thus, from the firm’s perspective, service staff is crucially important, as
the service levels and the way service ids delivered, can be an important
source of differentiation as well as competitive advantage.
From the customer’s perspective, the encounter with the service staff is
an important aspect of service, and based on this encounter, the customer
judge the performance of the service.

Hire the right people:

In catering services, it is an important stage due to its high contact nature.

But, selecting the right kind of staff who is good at customer service can
be difficult.
Talking about catering business, the first job that comes to our mind is
cooking / chef. But that is not the case.

The kitchen staff covers

a) Head Chef (chef de cuisine)
b) Assistant Head Chef (sous chef)
c) Pastry Cook (chef pâtissier)
d) Fish Cook (chef poissonier)
e) Roast Cook (chef rôtisseur)
f) Vegetable Cook (chef entremettier)
g) Soup Chef (chef potager)

The dinning room staff covers:

a) Restaurant Manager
b) Head Waiter
c) Reception Head Waiter

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d) Station Waiter
e) Commis Waiter
f) Wine-waiting Staff.

The number of staff is determined by the operation and can be scaled

down to suit all types and sizes of kitchen.
The personnel officer or manager of a catering business must know the
qualities to look for when recruiting new staff. Staff must be selected on
their capabilities or potential for the particular post. Those who have to
deal directly with customers must possess the necessary social skills as
well as the practical skills of the job.

Employees working at the front of the house, which includes waiting and
reception, should be selected for their personality, appearance on duty,
stance and body language, use of eye-contact, facial expression,
composure and manner of speech. The intuition of the personnel manager
can be backed up by a psychometric test and the candidate’s reference
from school, college or previous employer as well as the keenness of the
applicant to get the job.

Catering enterprises recruit staff for the entry level positions from the
Hotel Management Institute and other institutes providing courses in
catering business. These recruits have knowledge about the practices and
routines involved in catering.

Function caterers rely mainly on on-call staff rather than permanent part-
time or full-time people due to the unpredictability of business and
constantly changing workload.

Enable the people:

In catering, it mostly on-the-job training for their particular operation by
utilizing the skills and knowledge of their own supervisory members of the
staff who are capable of giving instructions on the company’s methods and
policies.

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Some have a philosophy of encouraging the staff to become more

accomplished by positive encouragement and the prospect of incentives to
staff that show a willingness to increase their capabilities.

Some establishments will give support to staff that wishes participate in

national and local competition.
Senior staff may be sent on a visit or tour of other establishments in
other countries where they can gather ideas for new techniques and new
dishes.

There are several commercial firms of trainers who offer their own
tailor-made courses to various grades of staff employed in a catering
business. Such courses aim to increase the capabilities of all members of
staff from waiter to middle-rank manager. They are on the client’s
premises or at the training firm’s own school.
The courses are conducted by experienced trainers who are capable of
drawing out better results from staff, whether new recruits or long-
serving hands taking a refresher course. The aims are to widen the
horizons of each member of staff, to give pride in their job, to boost
morale, and make them more effective at their job.

For example, New York city’s Yippee offers training programs at two skill
levels. The first is a basic program that conveys elementary information
and traditions about table service; this basic course is suitable for new
recruits. The other programs are more advanced in nature, designed to
enhance the skills of experienced professionals who could benefit from
coaching on the finer points of table service.

Motivate People:
Staff performance is a function of ability and motivation. Hiring, training,
are nothing but keys to motivation.
As a catering manager, one has to motivate and encourage his staff,
specially the front line wait staff. As they may be facing a high level of
emotional labor. Emotional labor arises from the discrepancy between the
way frontline staff feel inside and the emotions they are expected to be
cheerful, compassionate, sincere, or even self-effacing: (emotions that can
be conveyed through facial expressions and gestures and words). In the

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event they don’t feel such emotions, they are required to suppress their
true feelings in order to conform to customer expectations.

Performance incentive can also be provided to stimulate their competitive

nature. For example, employee of the month, appraising the chef for
coming up with innovative dishes.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS REQUIRED FOR RUNNING A CATERING

SERVICE.

a) Competency in cooking and food preparation: A

high degree of skill in cooking as well as ease, efficiency and speed in food
preparation are the most important pre-requisites for a successful small
caterer.
b) Planning and organization: A high degree of skill
is required in planning and organizing of off-premise catering. Some areas
of catering demand only a modest amount of these skills: industrial
catering with a mobile kitchen, large-event catering is relatively simple to
conduct. But off-premise catering compels to plan and organize for each
event.
c) Efficiency: In catering, it is essential that the
food that the guests are waiting for arrives at their table as quickly as
possible. Preparation time must be kept to a minimum and only a high
degree of efficiency can achieve this.
d) Ability to work under pressure: To be a caterer,
one must be able to live with and work under pressure and not show it.
Nothing is predictable during an event. The guests at each one are
completely different; they prefer different food, eat different portions
and interact with the wait staff completely differently.
e) Skill in problem solving and crisis management:
Off-premise catering is bound to have unexpected problems. When so
much equipment, food, drink, staff and peripherals must be transported
and set up for a complex event, problems will crop up at times.
f) Ability to deal with clients confidently and
successfully: One has to deal with the clients personally most of the time.
The personal interaction with the client decides whether there will be any
future business from him.

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DESIRABLE SKILLS:
a) Well-developed marketing and selling techniques.
b) Good record and bookkeeping skills for
administrative chores.
c) Ability to deal with staff.
d) Solid financial and budgeting skills.

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PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Ambience:
Those characteristics of the environment pertain to our five senses.
The ambience atmosphere is composed of several design elements and
details that have to work together to create the desired service
environment. The resulting atmosphere creates a mood that is perceived
and interpreted by the customer.

a). Flavour: In catering services flavour of food is very important. This

is one of most crucial criteria against which the service is judged.
Playing pleasant music cannot compensate a customer’s
disappointment with food quality of the catering establishment.
Success of the caterer depends on this factor.
The basic flavor (sour/ bitter/ salty/ sweet/ pungent) of a
dish comes from the main ingredient, which can be enhanced or
diminished by adding seasonings and flavors but should not be
entirely baked.
b). Visual Environment: Color plays a big part in creation of atmosphere
and contributes to the “feel good” factor, which helps put the
customers at ease in a restaurant. There must be a perfect blend of
colors including the surrounding walls and windows, carpet and
curtains, lampshades, pot plants and floral arrangements, the table
and chairs, etc,.
Cool blue and green colours give a feeling of relaxation, while
warm yellow gives a more stimulating feeling. This is why fast-food
outlets are decorated in warm, light colours, which help speed up the
rate of turnover. In case of an up market restaurant, deep colours
give a sense of warmth and security.
Lighting is also important in creating atmosphere and includes
natural light from windows and doorways. There are recommended
lighting levels for the various sections of a dining room and kitchen,
depending on their size and use. Many different kinds of lamp bulbs are
available, each giving a particular effect, which can help, create the
desired atmosphere of a room. Candles are used-to create a cozy
environment, especially for evening meals and special occasions.
The overall requirement is to make the room look inviting, to
help customers look their best, and to enable them to read the menu

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easily. Emergency lighting is obligatory in case an incident occurs that

demands a hasty exit or in the event of a power failure.
c). Auditory Environment: Sound is an essential element in the creation
of atmosphere in a dining-room, because it can give customers a
feeling of belonging and of participation in the activities. Silence
makes the room feel eerie and loud noises such as a dish or piece of
cutlery accidentally dropped by waiting staff will cause consternation.
The pleasant hum of conversation, however, can add to the mood
of the dining room. Staff should be taught to work quietly and not to
engage in idle chatter between one another or to start up a
conversation with the guests. Background music such as piano or tape
might be suitable for the venue.
d). Thermal Environment: Customers will enjoy their meal more if the
temperature of the restaurant is just right. All public areas should
be kept at a constant room temperature using unobtrusive air-
conditioning. This will provide comfortable conditions.
e). Scent: An ambient smell is the one that pervades in the
environment. The presence of scent can have a strong impact on our
mood and thus influence our buying decision.
In catering business, aroma of food is a very crucial factor.
After a customer has looked at the colour of the food placed on the
table, it is the aroma that takes over and excites the appetite. For
example, many restaurants like to serve garlic bread as an appetizer.
It works very well for cafes, pizzerias.
Menu:
On entering a catering establishment of any kind, a customer looks
at the menu to see what dishes are available and at what prices, and from
this information decides what to choose. A caterer views the menu as an
outward expression of the business. It demonstrates how professional the
people who run the business are. A menu is the “modus operandi” of
catering business which it has to work from.
A menu is the means of communication between the caterer and
customer and therefore must be written in the language they speak and
understand. French, being the international language of cookery, top hotels
use French names and terms in their menu, usually with a description
written underneath each entry.
In catering business, whether restaurants or off-premise, a menu
should be compiled, bearing in mind the following points:

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a) The sequence of courses (starters, main course,

dessert)
b) Suitability of dishes.
c) Selection of dishes and balance of menu.
d) Capability of staff
e) Availability of equipment.
f) Season of the year.
g) Availability of resources.

Layout:
In catering, the planning of layout is often advisable to work
backwards, starting not at the goods delivery bay but at the customer’s
entrance and dining room. This is the first place the customer sees and is
the main revenue producing area.
It is essential to know the total area available and approximate
amount of space to be allocated to each component part, like kitchen,
stores, and other ancillary areas, in addition to the dining room.
Ideally, the kitchen, dining-room, bars and ancillary areas should be
located on the same floor so that communication and movement of food,
beverages and personnel between them is easy.
The physical layout should reflect:
a. Needs and demands of customers.
b. Policy of the firm.
c. The menu and its range of products.(products and techniques of
service and presentation.)
d. The nature of establishment.
In off-premise catering, the caterer has to customize the layout for
every event in accordance to the space available. His floor plan should
include the smallest of details like where to place the floral displays.

Equipments:
In catering business, a large part of the investment is in the form of
equipments, which include both fixed and mobile items. The need for
equipments will vary depending on the type of operation. Large-scale cost
sector catering operations work to a fairly restricted menu. Thus, those
equipments will be needed which are suitable for bulk cooking. Commercial

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firms offer a fairly wide range of dishes and therefore work with small-
scale equipment.

These include:
a. Kitchen equipments: heavy-duty or fixed equipment like the
cooking range, etc. general kitchen machinery used for chopping,
cutting, mixing like mixer, food processor, etc. Small kitchen
equipment like pans and moulds, cutting instruments, other
utensils, etc.
b. Dining-Room Equipment: furniture like tables, chairs, etc.
crockery, glassware, cutlery, serving dishes, linen, floor coverings.

Staff Dress Code:

Now a day, in catering business, staff dress code is becoming a
necessity. The more formal the catering business is, the more dressed up
the staff should be. For example, in a café or pizzeria the staff would
probably have particular colour combination to be used as uniform. While in
a high-class restaurant, the wait staff will probably be dressed in a tuxedo.
To foster a neat appearance of frontline staff, mirrors can be
placed where staff can be automatically check their appearance before
going “on stage” to meet customers.
In off-premise catering, the client appreciates having uniformed
staff serves, as it looks more professional and businesslike. Before taking
off for an event, it is important to make sure that everyone’s uniform and
appearance is acceptable.

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A sample dress code in a catering business would include:

 Black trouser or skirt.

 White tux shirt.
 Black shoes (clean and shiny)
 Hair pulled back (neat and clean)
 No large or dangly earrings.
 No earrings for men.
 Black socks for men.
 Conservative make-up.
 Well-kept hands (nails short and clean)

Customer Amenities:
A good restaurant should offer facilities other than the room where
meals are taken: reception area, cloakroom for men and women and foyer
for waiting. Cloakroom and toilet facilities must be kept clean and secure at
all times; many customers judge an establishment by the quality of these
facilities.

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PROCESS

FLOW OF SERVICE MAPPING

PAYMENT/
CATERING
BILLING

COMPLAINT HANDLING
FIRST DATE
AT SITE/AFTER THE
EVENT IS OVER

PROPOSAL TEMPORARY
KITCHEN

MARKETING
PLANS STAFFING

PREP TIME SETUP

BIG EVENT
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SERVICE MAPPING DIAGRAM

The Services Process MAPPING displays the activities you may need
to execute to achieve successful implementation and in-service
management of your services program. These activities are intended as
guides for consideration as you plan your services program. They are
structured for a services program in which the prime services contractor
will provide all human resources, ancillary equipment, and all space and
facility modifications.
"The moments of truth for an outdoor event are three
times greater than for an event held in, say, a ballroom," Among the
forces that can literally rain on your parade: bad weather, high winds, local
laws, bugs and power shortages, to name a few. The key to a successful
outdoor event, is to "map out every detail and potential problem prior to
the event. It's easy to figure out what's right about the spot, but our job
is to find out what's wrong -- or could go wrong."
And while it might seem cheaper to head for a park instead of a
hotel ballroom, that's hardly the case. "Outdoor functions almost always
ending up being more expensive than traditional ones,"

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CUSTOMER AND Blue printing for banquet HOUSEKEEPING

BANQUET Services
MANAGER AND FEEDBACK
INTERACTION

PRESENT MENU SERVED TO

AND OTHER GUESTS
FACILITIES

DICUSSION SERVE IN
WITH CATERING CHAUFFIN
CHEF AND PLATES
PLACING ORDER AND
DELIVERED TO
BANQUET

HEAD CHEF GETTING

INDENTS REQUISTION
REQUISTION TO KITCHEN
AND PREPARE
FOOD.

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The First Date (service encounter) STAGE 1

A popular mantra in the catering business is "How can I make it

happen for you?" For most, this isn't an empty statement. A caterer worth
his or her salt (and all the other spices in the spice rack) stands firmly
behind this phrase.
After you make contact with a catering firm, the caterer's first job
is to figure out what you want and decide how their company can create it
for you. This process usually begins with a client-caterer meeting -- sort of
like a first date. Whether it happens during the initial phone call or a
scheduled appointment, the client services representative wants to get as
much information as they can to help them prepare a proposal for you. The
way client is treated would effect the perception of the person towards
the company.
- Should essentially connect you to the right person immediately
- The receptionist would be pleasant and helpful
- The official will give an immediate date for meeting.
As a client, you should be ready to answer these questions:

• What is the proposed date and time of the event?

• Is this a social or professional function?
• Do you have a general budget in mind?
• How many guests will attend?
• Have you selected a venue or setting?
Of course, depending on the type of function, other questions can
(and should) come into conversation. Keep in mind that this initial discussion
is critical because it will be the backbone of the caterer's proposal. So, if
you have certain ideas in mind, you need to be as explicit as possible. This
-- what's in the client's "minds-eye" -- is the most important thing to
discover.
What is their favorite kind of food?
• Do they like formal or informal functions?
• When they entertain, what are their gatherings like?
• Do they prefer small or large groups?
• What do your parents like to do in their spare time?
• What's their favorite vacation destination?

MOMENTS OF TRUTH:

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What is a moment of truth? It is any episode or event in which the

customer gets an impression of the builder's products, service or people.
Nothing is neutral about a moment of truth. It leaves a positive or negative
impression on the customer's mind. Moments of truth can build or destroy
trust and confidence in the minds of prospects and homeowners. Moments
of truth can and often do dictate buying decisions. Moments of truth
become word-of-mouth advertising.

The key is to ensure that every moment of truth is a positive one for
the customer. Each encounter you or an employee has with a customer is a
moment of truth. The customer's perception (reality) of your company is
formed by every encounter. To deliver superior customer service, every
encounter must result in a positive experience for your customer. For
example, every time the phone rings at your business, it is a moment of
truth. Are your customers/prospects greeted with a cheerful, professional
and efficient handling of their call? How each call is handled provides one
of the most opportune moments of truth for you to make a positive impact
and help customers "feel" good about doing business with you and your
company.

The Proposal (STAGE 2)

The foundation of a proposal is the information gathered during an

initial inquiry or meeting with the prospective client:
• type of event
• date
• time
• guest count
• venue
• favorite foods or menu ideas
Armed with these guidelines, the caterer can build a detailed
proposal that includes the actual menu, beverages, an itemized listing for
equipment rental, the staff requirements and any necessary food or
beverage taxes. How much it will cost him for extra facilities and main
course. Cost per person is being given to him. Then host and banquet
manager, executive chef sits together and decide upon a menu. After menu
had being compiled, details are filled in banquet catering checklist.

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When planning a proposal, caterers generally consider several other

factors in addition to the basic information. For example, the CATERING
staff usually knows that their social clients usually eat less food (18-22
bites -- think bite-sized candy bar or an orange wedge, an average sized
bite of food) than their corporate clients (22-28 bites). The time of day
and length of an event can also dictate how much food you need. A party
held right after work, during "cocktail hour", say from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
could center on hors d'oeuvres and other light fare because the guests will
probably have plans for dinner after the reception.
Other menu planning considerations include:
• Balanced menu - a standard menu should include a balance of two
proteins (meat, poultry or seafood), one vegetable and one starch
(pasta, rice or potatoes).
• Courses - for seated dinners with multiple courses, each course
should complement the next and there should be some variety.
• Buffets - the number of buffet stations corresponds to the number
of guests.
• A good rule of thumb is one buffet per 75 guests. If the guest list is
large, say 750 or more, you can increase the number of guests per
buffet ratio to one buffet per 100 guests.
When the proposal is ready, the caterer gives it to the client for his
or her perusal. After the client accepts the proposal, the caterer
schedules another meeting to discuss the decor and layout and to plan a
detailed timeline of the event.

Making Plans (STAGE 3)

Caterers and other event planners today have many useful tools to assist
them in planning the perfect event. One product, called Room Viewer,

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automates the process of drawing up floor plans for events and parties.
Whether indoors or out, no matter the shape or specs of the room, blue
printing helps the caterers utilize the space to its best potential.

Meeting Planners
Facilities Managers
• Caterers
• Special Event Planners
• Rental Companies
• Production and Audio Visual Companies
Blue print lay out an entire function, from the buffet tables to seating
arrangements to floral displays. Not only does it help in the planning phase,
but it's useful during the execution of the project, too. Caterers can make
printouts showing exactly where everything should go (even down to the
placement of utensils) so the catering staff will have a precise map of the
event. These blue prints are especially helpful when caterers work with
outside vendors, such as equipment rental companies that supply everything
from tables and chairs to linen and china. Each vendor is given a printed
diagram of the event plan to use for planning and setup.

The staff required for this purpose is:

• 1 Coordinator per event
• 1 Supervisor per event
• 1 Buffet Attendant per buffet / station
• 1 Runner per buffet / station
• 1 Kitchen Manager per buffet station
• Stewards n waiters as per requirement

Elbow Room

No one likes to attend cramped functions where you feel like you're going
to knock something over on the way to the buffet. To ensure adequate
space, here are some general guidelines:

The Big Day's Almost Here( STAGE 4)

On Schedule

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One of the most valuable tools in planning and executing an event is a

detailed schedule. Depending on the nature and length of an event, these
schedules can be several pages long, covering each moment, from setup to
service to breakdown almost minute-by-minute. Large events may have 100
or more staff members on hand. These schedules are a script of exactly
what should happen and when; providing direction to each of the many staff
involved.
Caterers have to consider several factors before finalizing the
schedule. Set-up time is a big consideration. For example, if an event is
outside, with no set structures, the caterer might need a couple of days to
get the site ready, depending on the number of tents, decor and layout.
Cleanup is also a major concern. For standard functions, they generally like
to have at least 3 hours for setup and a couple hours for breakdown.
The caterer also needs to consider the nature of the gathering. If
it's a wedding reception being held in a different location from the
ceremony, will all the guests arrive on time? If there is a cocktail
reception, how long should that last prior to the dinner? The caterer also
has to leave time for a bouquet toss, toasts and the cake cutting. If the
event is at a rented facility with a strict end-time, the team has to
precisely time and execute all this according to the schedule.
Keep in mind that some facilities do book more than one event in a day. If
you're arranging a morning function and have the place booked until 3:00
p.m., that means you, all of your guests, the catering crew, and all their
equipment and supplies must be off-premise by 3:00 p.m. sharp.

Prep-Time
The timeline for this work definitely depends on the size of
the function. For a corporate event for 300 people, for example, the
kitchen staff would order food about 4 days in advance and start the
actual food prep 1 night before. A smaller gathering, perhaps 50 guests or
so, doesn't require as much time. The staff would order the food 2 days
ahead of time and the food prep would start a morning to the event.
Catering kitchens are similar to restaurant kitchens, in that the staff gets
most of the foodstuffs and supplies from large distributors, but goes to
local markets or specialty shops for specialty items.
So everything is planned and ready to go, let's see how the big day
unfolds...

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The Big Event (STAGE 5)

Getting to the Site on Time

The big day has arrived. This is when the catering team finally puts
the itinerary to use. It's time to load up all the equipment, supplies and
foodstuffs. Working from an extensive packing list, the crew loads vans
and trucks with all the supplies. Nothing goes unchecked - the crew
accounts for every linen, glass, and chafing dish, tray, pot, pan and silver
piece on the packing list. They even itemize small items like aluminum foil,
saran wrap and garbage bags. Finally, when everything else is on board, they
load the food.
At this point, you might be thinking, "Back-up there a minute – “Yes,!
Caterers use an array of portable appliances and heavy equipment -- ovens,
fryers, hot boxes and dishwashers to name a few as backups. Also keep
their suppliers ready of any unexpected demand.

The Set-up
The catering crew transports the supplies to the event site and
unloads it all. If the site has cooking facilities, the crew unloads the
cooking equipment (pots, pans, serving dishes, etc.) and food right away.
Then they set up the tables and chairs, according to the precise floor plan.
Typically, the client services representative or coordinator that planned
the event manages all the setup work. Sometimes, the firm has to execute
this front-house setup in connection with other vendors. This is where the
detailed schedule, floor-plan and layout come in handy. Thanks to the
detailed plan, the florist knows where to place arrangements; the
orchestra knows where to set up their instruments, and so on.
For an outdoor event without cooking facilities, things get a little
more interesting: The crew has to assemble a temporary kitchen
immediately. The team divides the tents into two staging areas, one for
presentation and serving and one for cooking. A hanging wall separates the
two areas of each tent. On the kitchen side, tables line the outside walls
and run down the center.
If the caterer is serving the food buffet style, the crew will set up
stations with serving platters and chafing dishes around the event. The
kitchen staff cooks and prepares the food and buffet attendants and

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runners keep the stations stocked. Sterno cups keep food warm and dry ice
keeps food cold.

STAGE 6

After the entire function is over equipments are brought back to hotel and
housekeeping comes in picture. There are men employed to clean the plates
and other utensils. Later on feedback is taken form the host about the
service provided.

CRITICAL AND NON-CRITICAL INCIDENTS: -

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A critical incident is any crisis event with sufficient impact to

overwhelm the usual coping skills of an individual. In the case of services it
could be something that causes the customer to dislike the a certain
service to such an extent that he does not use that service anymore and he
does not let his family and close friends also use it.
The Examples of critical are: -
1. In the case of hospital catering, the caterer has to keep in mind
what the doctor has prescribed for the patient while preparation of
individual patient’s food. This is because if there is a single incident
also where the patient after having his food started feeling worse
and the cause was found out to be the food, and then the caterer
would be removed from his contract.
2. Another incident that could happen is in the case of educational
institute caterers. If any student falls sick and he complains to the
management then the caterer’s contract would be with the
institution would be over.

These incidents are critical incidents for the caterers as they could
lose their customer’s therefore they have to pay more attention to the
food preparation.

Importance of Critical Incidents: -

These incidents are important from the service provider’s point of
view because he know that occurrence of such events could lead to a loss
for his company. If such incidents occur then the caterer has to lose the
institution as a customer and it might so happen also that the management
of the institute might spread the dissatisfaction to other institutes. Also
the finding out of such incidents can help the service provider to find out a
way in which such incidents do not occur where he is providing his service;
in this case it would be the place where he is offering food.
Therefore the caterer has to make sure that the above-mentioned
incidents do not occur so that he can safe guard his company.

The following are the 7 steps to ensuring customer satisfaction so that

such critical incidents do not happen:

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1. Encourage Face-to-Face Dealings

This is the most important part of interacting with a customer. If

you're not used to this sort of thing it can be a pretty nerve-wracking
experience. It's important to meet your customers face to face at least
once or even twice during the course of a project. The customer finds it
easier to relate to and work with someone they've actually met in
person, rather than a voice on the phone or someone typing into an
email.
E.g. In Sea Princess, in the case of out-door caterers, the caterers
involve the customer in the entire process at every step and therefore
gain his loyalty.

2. Respond to Messages Promptly & Keep Your Clients Informed

This goes without saying really. We all know how annoying it is to wait
days for a response to an email or phone call. It might not always be
practical to deal with all customers' queries within the space of a few
hours, but at least email or call them back and let them know you've
received their message and you'll contact them about it as soon as
possible. Even if you're not able to solve a problem right away, let the
customer know you're working on it.
E.g. In Sea Princess, when there is a delay in the setting of the food
table the caterer approaches the customer and explains to him about
the delay and asks the customer to keep the guests engrossed for some
more time so that there isn’t any dissatisfaction on the part of the
other customers.

3. Be Friendly and Approachable

It's very important to be friendly, courteous and to make your

customers feel like you're their friend and you're there to help them
out. It's vital that you keep a clear head, respond to your customers'
wishes as best you can, and at all times remain polite and courteous.
E.g. In Sea Princess, normally during weddings, the parents of the
married couple are very anxious about whether the reception is going as
per planned or not and therefore they come again and again to the

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caterer’s inquiring whether everything is in order. During this time the

caterer tries to be calm and polite to the customer.

4. Have a Clearly Defined Customer Service Policy

This may not be too important when you're just starting out, but a
clearly defined customer service policy is going to save you a lot of time
and effort in the long run. If a customer has a problem, what should
they do? If the first option doesn't work, then what should be done?
Should they contact different people for billing and technical enquiries?
If they're not satisfied with any aspect of your customer service, whom
should they approach? There's nothing more annoying for a customer
than being passed from person to person, or not knowing who to turn to.
E.g. At Sea Princess, making sure they know exactly what to do at each
stage of their enquiry is of utmost importance. So they make sure their
customer service policy is present.

5. Attention to Detail

Have you ever received a Happy Birthday email or card from a company
you were a client of? These little niceties can be time consuming and
aren't always cost effective, but remember to do them. Even if it's as
small as sending a Happy Holidays email to all your customers, it's
something. It shows you care; it shows there are real people on the
other end of that screen or telephone; and most importantly, it makes
the customer feel welcomed, wanted and valued.
E.g. In Sea Princess, in the case of out-door caterers they remember
the day of the event for which they were called for example, for
marriages, engagements, etc. They send cards to these customers every
year on that day.

6. Anticipate Your Customer's Needs & Go Out Of Your Way to

Help Them Out

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Sometimes this is easier said than done! However, achieving this

supreme level of understanding with your customers will do wonders for
your working relationship.
E.g. In Sea Princess, sometimes the customers do not now which venue
to select or which decorators to call. The caterers provide them with
this information and help them out.

7. Honor Your Promises

The simple message: when you promise something, deliver.

E.g. In Sea Princess, they make sure that all the arrangements have
gone as per the customer satisfaction and there isn’t a single guest
from the party who hasn’t completed enjoyed every aspect of it.

Conclusion
Customer service, like any aspect of business, is a practiced art that takes
time and effort to master. All you need to do to achieve this is to stop and
switch roles with the customer. What would you want from your business if
you were the customer? How would you want to be treated? Treat your
customers like your friends and they'll always come back.

SERVICE FAILURE: FISHBONE

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FISHBONE ANALYSIS

The following are the reasons that lead to delay in service:

1. Customers: - Our customers too can lead to a service delay. In the

catering industry the information provided may be inadequate or wrong.
The information required would include the no. of people, the venue, the
menu, the date and time. Another fault of the customer that leads to
service delay is last moment changes. In the case of out door functions
everything is finalized a day in advance. If the customer wants to change
something in the information provided by him, it would cause the service
provider in- convenience and it could lead to a delay in service.

2. Other Causes: - The other factors that play a role in service delay are
the weather conditions, the owner of the venue and transportation. Bad
weather could cause the caterer in losing some of his materials during
transit. The kitchens in open air can sometimes be completely made
unusable by a sudden rain shower.
The caterers have to come at least a day in advance and set up their
equipments for a smooth flow of the function. But it could so happen that

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the owner of the venue has another function planned for the earlier day
and it would not be possible for them to set up the equipment. This could
lead again to delay in service.

3. Facilities and Equipments: - The equipments involved in catering would

be the furnace, crockery, the table and chairs, the table cloths, trolleys,
mixers for drinks, etc. Shortage of these items can cause a service delay.
For instance if the delivery of ice creams (deserts) is to be made to a
certain place during the summer, the desert van has to be of high quality
and well maintained. If not then the desert could melt and cause total
damage of the food even before delivery.

4. Material supplies: - The food items are the core of the service of the
caterers. If the raw materials are not on time or up to mark then it can
lead to various problems. The quality of raw material required for cooking
not being adequate or spoilt could lead to a service delay. The source of
raw materials is far from the kitchen site or the raw materials are
unusable on arrival. The chefs may be hasty in cooking up the meals if the
raw materials are late on arrival. The food quality may be unsatisfactory if
the raw materials are not of good quality.

5. Front Stage Personnel: - The front line staff would be the waiters
serving drinks and food. Service delay here could be that the waiters
outside could have given wrong information to the kitchen and this could
lead to the food not coming on time. It also could be due to delaying in
heating the food or delay in taking the food outside to the buffet table.

6. Backstage Personnel: - The catering service is a very people oriented

industry. Hence the personnel whether front or backstage have to be of
the best quality possible. The people responsible for delivery of produce
i.e. the food items on order basis are unprofessional. The delivery vehicle is
loaded with food items in a haphazard way causing spillage and damage. The
goods are not in the same condition as expected by the customers and the

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chef. The decorative appeal is lost. The caterer faces a set back due to the
carelessness of the backstage personnel.

7. Procedure: - Here delay in service would be due to faulty service

mapping. Faulty service mapping means that the time allotted for traveling
or the time between the courses could have been calculated wrongly and
which could lead to a service delay.
The recipes of certain caterers are so famous that they are known to have
gained business because of their unique tastes. However inconsistency in
the tastes of certain food items has also lead to problems for caterers
everywhere. The techniques and level of skills used by different chefs are
different. An item made by a chef on a particular day may not taste the
same as made by another on another day. This happens as they both are
separate individuals with different backgrounds. The food items taste
different and the customers are confused as to what has happened. The
caterer loses credibility and reliability as far as the quality and consistency
of the service is concerned.

8. Information: - Here there are two kinds of information. The

information provided to the customer about the set up of the entire
function and the information given to the other customers at the venue.
The information provided by the caterer to the customer could be about
the seating arrangement, etc. This could create a problem for the
customer if he wanted to have his guest seated in a certain manner. The
other information would be the information provided by the waiters and
other employees at the venue about the location of the food (especially
where different types of cuisines are prepared) and drinks.
However there can be gaps and misunderstandings at any given time.
The caterer may underestimate the expectations of the customer and
misguide the chef about the importance of the operation. The chef hence
will not be too particular about the presentation and decoration of the
tables and food items. The customer is not happy about the presentation of
the service and the food items on the table. The customer expresses his
dissatisfaction to the caterer or the manager who in turn may fire back at
the chefs and waiters for their lapse in service delivery.

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SERVICE RECOVERY:
Although many firms may aspire to offer 'zero defects' service, the
possibility of service failures cannot be wholly eliminated simply because of
the variety of factors that may impact on the delivery process.
Consequently, the manner in which firms respond to service failures is
increasingly seen as a factor that may separate the more successful firms
form the others. This response, termed service recovery, is defined as the
process by which the firm attempts to rectify a service failure. Some
researchers suggest that a firm's response to failures can either reinforce
customer relationships or exacerbate the negative effects of the failure.
In fact, some assert that it is often a firm's response to a failure, rather
than the failure itself, that triggers discontent. Recoveries are critical
because customers perceiving poor recovery efforts may dissolve the
buyer-seller relationship and purchase elsewhere. Such customer turnover
can be costly, especially given that it costs more to win new customers than
it does to retain current ones. As a consequence, service failure and
recovery encounters have been recognized as critical moments of truth for
organizations in their efforts to satisfy and keep customers.

EXAMPLE: DABBAWALAS
The clients of the dabbawalas are an extremely satisfied lot. They
have no disputes with the dabbawalas policy-making things simpler. If in a
particular case the clients tiffin gets misplaced or lost the dabbawala
takes the responsibility for it. It was primarily the responsibility of the
dabbawala who is under the respective clients contract to ensure the
safety of the tiffin. He has taken his own decision to delegate the job
delivery to another member and hence, he has to bear the loss for the
misplaced tiffin-box. Therefore, this policy being simple as it is, the client
is quite satisfied because there are no disputes and claim issues. In case of
absence of the usual dabbawala, the client is not deprived of services, as
there is a back up in most cases.

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COMPLAINT HANDLING

“Do it right the first time all though this is the first law of quality,
no quality minded business can afford to be without contingency plans as to
how to act when things go wrong. Even the business that generally
performs well on providing quality service still has to deal with dissatisfied
customers sometimes.
The catering business is also not immune to this. The core reason of the
occurrence of a problem in most of the cases is due to internal failure.
These may vary from rude staff to lengthy delays or billing errors. Another
factor causing these failures is eternal issues such as failure in public
infrastructure, personal troubles of the customers etc.
Some of the complaints are made during or before the service is delivered.
Like if the caterer gets into contract with the school catering but is not
able to purchase raw material as per the requirements of the client. In
such case the client will put forth a complaint to the caterer. At times
complaints appear after the service is provided. Taking the above case in
mind, if the caterer is not able to provide adequate amount of food to the
children then again the client may feel dissatisfied.
The restaurant industry has experienced a dramatic increase in customer
complaints over the last several months. A large majority of complaints are
received via web sites. This method of communication makes it easier for
your customers to complain. When consumers have a problem with
something, they tell someone about it. They talk about companies that have
overcharged them, provided poor service or who have rude employees. In
fact, research shows that people who have a problem are likely to tell eight
to ten people about it. However, fewer than one in twenty people who have
a complaint will formally complain to the company itself. Top restaurant
managers and owners welcome complaints because complaints are customer
feedback, which can be used to improve service performance/reduce cost.
They make it easy for customers to complain, even encourage complaints,
and then they bend over backwards to set things right and make changes so
that future customers do not experience similar problems. Restaurants
find that effectively handling customers with problems is critical to their
reputations. Make it easy for your customers to complain and your
customers will make it easy for you to improve.

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QUALITY

One definition of quality is that the product has a distinguishing

characteristic, which shows a superior standard of excellence as compared
with a lesser product. This means that dishes must be judged on their
appearance as well as their taste. The following points are aspects of quality:
• The dishes suit the tastes of a cross-section of
the customers
• The dishes are appropriate to the kind of meal
and the occasion
• The food is fit for human consumption and is
produced in compliance with legislation
• The standard size portions give value for money
• The food is prepared and served to retain its
nutritional value
• The dishes have a degree of originality but are
true to their names and menu
Descriptions
• The meals contain a proper balance of taste,
texture, seasoning and aroma
• The dishes are neatly and artistically arranged
to make them visually attractive
• The dishes are served at the correct
temperature and to the correct standard.

THE PERCEPTUAL GAP

Perception is the process of detecting and interpreting information

from the external world. The knowledge is stored, processed, and used as
required. It helps us make sense of daily occurrences and how to deal with
them.
Waiting staff have to make use of their perception when dealing
with customers and take action to prevent any barrier building up between
them and their customers. Quality of service is judged by the ways that
staff in the restaurant look, speak, behave, and dress and how knowledgeable
they are about food and drink and the finer points of service. The lack of any
of these attributes could cause a gap to form between server and consumer,
which could prevent the latter from enjoying the meal and the former from

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getting job satisfaction. Waiters should try to put themselves in the place of
the customer and imagine what it is like to be kept waiting to be served.
The perceptual gap that exists between the producer, who evaluates a dish
according to its quality and what it cost to produce, and the customer, who
evaluates a dish according to its look, smell, taste, and value for money. It is
important that efforts are made to bridge the gap to ensure customer
satisfaction. This can only be achieved through empathy or adopting the
perspective of the other party

QUALITY CONTROL
The main use of quality control in the catering industry is for
aspects of hygiene and health in cook-freeze and cook-chill production units,
which produce meals on a large scale. The control must extend from the
purchase of ingredients to the regeneration of the meals at the ultimate
destination. Ideally, quality control should be implicit in all kitchens and
services. Statistical sampling is an inherent part of the process.
Quality assurance is an aspect of quality control, which sets out to
ensure that the quality of products on sale meets the needs of customers.
It means serving meals, which fulfill customer expectations at the price level
of a particular establishment.
The restaurant of a luxury hotel will have a large menu and wine list
filled with expensive dishes and wines to meet its customers' requirements of
gourmet food and skilled service. At the other extreme a small restaurant
tucked away in a back street can fulfill its customers' requirements from a
very limited list of food and drink and operate as successfully as the much
grander hotel restaurant. Each gives good-quality food of its kind in relation
to the charges it makes. Quality assurance has been a major factor in the
success of some of the UK's biggest food retailers who in the annual reports
and accounts make mention of the research they carry out for new products
and commitment to quality assurance of all their goods.
Quality assurance concentrates on the actual product. In this way an
organization develops a framework enabling quality to be achieved at all levels.
This highlights the need to train staff of all grades in order to
develop their awareness of quality standards and to give them a sense of
involvement. Staff must be encouraged to put forward new ideas that could
improve the operation of the business. A working party consisting of
departmental heads and members of the workforce should meet regularly to

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establish goals and how they may be achieved, with the aim of promoting a
culture, which will encourage all to work to their highest possible standards.

RATER

Reliability:
 Doing something by the certain time, if they promise to do so.
 When customers have a problem, firm will show a sincere interest in solving
it.
 Will perform the service right the first time.
 Will provide their services at the time they promise to do so.
Reliability is very important in function catering when the client is giving
the responsibility of serving the guests to the catering firm.

Assurance:
 Behavior of employees will instill confidence in customers.
 Customers will feel safe in their transactions.
 Employees will be consistently courteous with customers.
 Employees will have the knowledge to answer customer questions.
The wait-staff can assure the customers regarding the food. They can even
tell the customers as what item he would, as per his requirements.

Tangibles:
 Will have modern-looking equipment.
 Visually appealing.
 Employees will be neat in appearance.
 Materials (e.g., menu) associated with the service will be visually appealing.

Empathy:
 Will give customers individual attention.
 Will have employees who give customers personal attention.
 Will understand the specific needs of their customers
In restaurants, there are station waiters who are responsible for a
group of 4-5 tables, i.e. it is their duty to see to it that there is no error in
service delivery on these tables. In this manner, individual attention is

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given to the customers. Empathy is also very important in function catering,

as the caterer has to consider the specific needs of the clients.

Responsiveness:

 Will always be willing to help customers.

 Will give prompt service to customers.
 Will never be too busy to respond to customer requests.
For example: the wait-staff willingly answers to the queries of the
customers regarding a particular food item.

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