CATERING INDUSTRY

CATERING INDUSTRY

1. INTRODUCTION
2. CATERING INDUSTRY
3. CATERING SEGMENTS
4. TYPES OF CATERING
5. TYPES OF CATERING ESTABLISHMENTS
6. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CATERING AND ALL OTHER INDUSTRIES

1.INTRODUCTION

Hospitality is probably the most diverse but specialized industry in the world. It is certainly one of the largest, employing millions of people in a bewildering array of jobs around the globe. Sectors range from the glamorous five-star resort to the less fashionable, but arguably more specialized, institutional areas such as hospitals, industrial outfits, schools and colleges. Yet of these many different sectors, catering has to be the most challenging. Whatever the size of the catering operation, the variety of

opportunities available is endless. “The sky is the limit with catering”.

2.CATERING INDUSTRY

The food service industry (catering industry in British English)

encompasses those places, institutions and companies that provide meals eaten away from home. This industry includes restaurants,schools and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many other formats, including ‘on-premises’ and ‘off-premises’ caterings. Catering is a multifaceted segment of the food service industry. There is a niche for all types of catering businesses with in the segment of catering. The food service industry is divided into three general classifications: commercial segment, noncommercial segment, and military segment. Catering management may be defined as the task of planning, organizing, controlling and executing. Each activity influences the preparation and delivery of food, beverage, and related services at a competitive, yet profitable price. These activities work together to meet and exceed the customer’s perception of value for his money.

3.CATERING SEGMENTS

Catering management is executed in many diverse ways within each of the four segments. The first, commercial segment,traditionally considered the profit generating operation, includes the independent caterer, the restaurant caterer, and the home-based caterer. In addition, hotel / motel and private club catering operations are also found in this category.

FOOD SERVICE CATERING INDUSTRY

Military Segment

• Military Functions
• Diplomatic Functions

Commercial Segment

• Independent Caterers
• Hotel / Motel Caterers
• Private Clubs
• Restaurant / Catering Firms

Non-commercial Segment

• Business / Industry Accounts
• School Catering
• Health Care Facilities

• Transportation Catering (in-flight catering)
• Recreational Food Service(amusement and theme parks,conference and sport arenas)
• College and University Catering Social Organizations (fraternal and social clubs)

4.TYPES OF CATERING

There are two main types of catering on-premises and off premises catering that may be a concern to a large and small caterer. On-premise catering for any function - banquet, reception,or event - that is held on the physical premises of the establishment or facility that is organizing / sponsoring the function. On-premise catering differs from off-premise catering, whereby the function takes place in a remote location, such as a client’s home, a park, an art gallery, or even a parking lot, and the staff, food, and decor must be transported to that location. Off-premise catering often involves producing food at a central kitchen, with delivery to and service provided at the client’s location. Part or all of the production of food may be executed or finished at the location of the event. Catering can also be classified as social catering and corporate (or business) catering. Social catering includes such events as weddings, bar and mitzwahs, high school reunions,birthday parties, and charity events. Business catering includes such events as association conventions and meetings, civic meetings,corporate sales or stockholder meetings, recognition banquets,product launches, educational training sessions, seller-buyer meets,service awards banquets, and entertaining in hospitality suites.

• ON-PREMISE CATERING

All of the required functions and services that the caterers execute are done exclusively at their own facility. For instance, a caterer within a hotel or banquet hall will prepare and cater all of the requirements without taking any service or food outside the facility.

Many restaurants have specialized rooms on-premise to cater to the private-party niche. A restaurant may have a layout strategically designed with three separate dining rooms attached to a centralized commercial food production kitchen. These separate dining rooms are available at the same time to support the restaurant’s operation and for reservation and overflow seating. In addition, any of the three dining rooms may be contracted out for private-event celebrations and may require their own specialized service and menu options. Other examples of on-premise catering include hospital catering,school, University/ college catering.

• OFF-PREMISE CATERING

Off-premise catering is serving food at a location away from the caterer’s food production facility. One example of a food production facility is a freestanding commissary, which is a kitchen facility used exclusively for the preparation of foods to be served at other locations. Other examples of production facilities include, but are not limited to, hotel, restaurant, and club kitchens. In most cases there is no existing kitchen facility at the location where the food is served. Caterers provide single-event food service, but not all caterers are created equal. They generally fall into one of three categories.

• PARTY FOOD CATERERS

Party food caterers supply only the food for an event. They drop off cold foods and leave any last-minute preparation,plus service and cleanup, to others.

• HOT BUFFET CATERERS

Hot buffet caterers provide hot foods that are delivered from their commissaries in insulated containers. They sometimes provide serving personnel at an additional charge.

• FULL-SERVICE CATERERS

Full-service caterers not only provide food, but frequently cook it to order on-site. They also provide service personnel at the event, plus all the necessary food-related equipment china, glassware, flatware, cutleries, tables and chairs, tents,and so forth. They can arrange for other services, like decor and music, as well. In short, a full-service caterer can plan and execute an entire event, not just the food for it.

5.TYPES OF CATERING ESTABLISHMENTS

Various catering establishments are categorized by the nature of the demands they meet. The following are some of the catering establishments.

• RESTAURANT

A restaurant is an establishment that serves the customers with prepared food and beverages to order, to be consumed on the premises. The term covers a multiplicity of venues and a diversity of styles of cuisine. Restaurants are sometimes also a feature of a

larger complex, typically a hotel, where the dining amenities are provided for the convenience of the residents and for the hotel to maximize their potential revenue. Such restaurants are often open to non-residents also.

• TRANSPORT CATERING

The provision of food and beverages to passengers, before,during and after a journey on trains, aircraft and ships and in buses or private vehicles is termed as transport catering. These services may also be utilized by the general public, who are in the vicinity of a transport catering unit. The major forms of modern day transport catering are airline- altering, railways catering, ship catering and surface catering in coaches or buses which operate on long distance routes.

• AIRLINE CATERING

Catering to airline passengers on board the air craft,as well as at restaurants situated at airport terminals is termed as airline catering. Modern airports have a variety of food and beverage outlets to cater to the increasing number of air passengers. Catering to passengers en route is normally contracted out to a flight catering unit of a reputed hotel or to a catering contractor or to the catering unit operated by the airline itself as an independent entity.

• RAILWAY CATERING

Catering to railway passengers both during the journey as well as during halts at different railway stations is called railway catering. Traveling by train for long distances

can be very tiring; hence a constant supply of a variety of refreshment choices helps to make the journey less tedious. On-board meal services are also provided on long distance

trains.

• SHIP CATERING

Ship catering is catering to cargo crew and passenger ship passengers. Ships have kitchens and restaurants on board. The quality of service and facilities offered depends on the class of the ship and the price the passengers are willing to pay. There are cruises to suit every pocket. They range from room service and cocktail bars to speciality dining

restaurants.

• SURFACE CATERING

Catering to passengers traveling by surface transport such as buses and private vehicles is called surface catering. These eating establishments are normally located around a bus terminus or on highways. They may be either government run restaurants, or privately owned establishments. Of late there has been a growing popularity of Punjabi style eateries called dhabas on the highways.

• OUTDOOR CATERING

This catering includes the provision of food and drink away from home base and suppliers. The venue is left to the peoples choice. Hotels, restaurants and catering contractors meet this growing demand. The type of food and set up depends entirely on

the price agreed upon. Outdoor catering includes catering for functions such as marriages, parties and conventions.

• RETAIL STORE CATERING

Some retail stores, apart from carrying on their primary activity of retailing their own wares, provide catering as an additional facility. This type of catering evolved when large departmental stores wished to provide food and beverages to their customers as a part of their retailing concept. It is inconvenient and time consuming for customers to take a break from shopping, to have some refreshments at a different location. Thus arouse the need for some sort of a dining facility in the retail store itself. This style of catering is becoming more popular and varied nowadays.

• CLUB CATERING

Club catering refers to the provision of food and beverages to a restricted member clientele. Some examples of clubs for people with similar interests are turf clubs, golf clubs, cricket clubs etc. The service and food in these clubs tend to be of a fairly good standard and are economically priced. Night clubs are usually situated in large cities that have an affluent urban population. They offer entertainment with good food and expensive drinks.

• WELFARE CATERING

The provision of food and beverages to people to fulfill a social obligation, determined by a recognized authority, is known as welfare catering. This grew out of the welfare state concept,prevalent in western countries. It includes catering in hospitals,schools, colleges, the armed forces and prisons.

• INDUSTRIAL CATERING

The provision of food and beverages to ‘people at work,’ in industries and factories at highly subsidized rates is called industrial catering. It is based on the assumption that better fed employees at concessional rates are happy and more productive. Catering for a large workforce may be undertaken by the management itself, or may be contracted out to professional caterers. Depending on the choice of the menu suggested by the management, catering contractors undertake to feed the workforce for a fixed period of time at a predetermined price.

• LEISURE-LINKED CATERING

This type of catering refers to the provision of food and beverages to people engaged in ‘rest and recreation’ activities. This includes sale of food and beverages through different stalls and kiosks at exhibitions, theme parks, galleries and theaters. The increase in the availability of leisure time and a large disposable income for leisure activities has made it a very profitable form of catering.

6.RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CATERING INDUSTRY AND ALL OTHER INDUSTRIES

Food is the sustained of life regardless of whether they belong to animal kingdom or plant kingdom. All living beings consume food as they come in nature. Subsequently they may convert the raw natural food into usable form on their own. This transformation never involves the art and science of coking, which is a specialty of human beings alone. Importance of food for the human beings is amply, accurately and appropriately stated in the following age old sayings: “hungry man is an angry man” and “even the army marches on stomach”where stomach implies food Employment of largest number of people in the world in general terms (at home) and in commercial terms (catering) is in food preparation and servicing. Roughly half the world population (women) is actively engaged in the art and science of food production and then alone comes reproduction. Food production, simply stated, is the transformation of raw food material into palatable, appetizing and easily palatable tasty food. Unlike all other living organisms, man has to “buy” food by paying money. Where does the money come from? It comes only from industries. Any industry in the world has the primary objective of making money. Money so generated by the industrial activity is shared between the employer and the employee, however disproportionate it may be. Money so shared is used to take care of the three important objectives: food, clothing and residence. Whatever left after meeting these primary objectives may go towards acquiring wealth. As clearly stated above, food is the very basis of existence or survival. To buy food, man needs money. The money comes or must come from industries, all of which have the primary objective of making money and share with those who help generate it. Since the raw food needs to be transformed into palatable food fit for consumption which is achieved, as already stated, through general cooking (household) or commercial cooking (catering). Therefore,there is no industry in the world which is not directly or indirectly, one way or the other, related to the food (catering) industry. Commercial food industry or the catering industry is the only industry that provides food, at a price, away from home. Various types of catering services available would include general or specialty services such as transport catering,welfare catering, industrial catering, etc.