Catering industry

The catering industry encompasses those places, institutions and companies that provide meals eaten away from home. The service is feeding an individual who is not eating at home and the product is the meal itself. There are so many people to feed; the entire world consists of consumers and manufacturers, so the catering industry is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the world. Those who eat away from home spend vast sums of money on restaurant or catered meals. Restaurants offer their service and product at a fixed location (e.g. large hotels which provide special meals for groups holding celebrations, meetings or banquets) while the catering business is a mobile one providing foodservice either for special occasions or for places where meals are usually not prepared (e.g. meals served by airlines, etc.). 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 is actively engaged in the art and science of food production and then alone comes reproduction. Food production is the transformation of raw food material into palatable, appetizing food. And the money for it comes from industries. Any industry in the world has the primary objective of making money and share with those who help generate it. Therefore, there is no industry which is directly or indirectly related to the food industry.

Catering industry has the tasks of planning, organizing, controlling and executing. Each activity influences the preparation and delivery of food, beverage, and related services at a profitable price. These activities work together to meet and exceed the customer’s expectations.

The restaurant and catering industry employs millions of people throughout the world. Like most other service businesses, foodservice is labour intensive which means it employs a high proportion of workers in relation to the number of people it serves.

Four segments are distinguished. Commercial segment, traditionally considered “for profit”, includes the independent, the restaurant and the home-based caterer, plus hotel /motel and private club catering operations. The non-commercial segment, or ‘not-for-profit’, consists of business/industry accounts, school, college and university catering, health care facilities, recreational food service catering, social organizations and transportation food service catering. The military segment encompasses military and diplomatic functions.

There are two main types of catering on-premises and off-premises catering. On-premise catering is held on the physical premises of the establishment. Off-premise catering often involves producing food at a central kitchen, with delivery to and service provided at the client’s location. Catering can also be classified on the basic of the type service required on different purposes. Event catering is divided into social and corporate. Social catering caters for private events. It includes such events as weddings, high school reunions, birthday parties, and charity events. Business (or corporate) catering means something to do with business and includes such events as association conventions and meetings, civic meetings, corporate sales or stockholder meetings, recognition banquets, product launches, educational training sessions, etc. Industrial catering is not pointed at gaining profit. It provides meals for schools, hospitals, factories, universities, airlines and other institutions. Mobile catering is not done through contract and moves from place to place in a van or truck designed to carry food and equipment, e.g. vendors at festivals, fairs, meals-to-go service and parking-lot vendors.

Another typology is based on a type of catering establishment. A restaurant is an establishment that serves the customers with prepared food and beverages to order, to be consumed on the premises. The provision of food and beverages to passengers, before, during and after a journey is termed as transport catering. The major forms of modern day transport catering are airline-catering, railways catering, ship catering and surface catering in coaches or buses which operate on long distance routes. Outdoor catering includes the provision of food and drink away from home base and suppliers (e.g. marriages, parties and conventions). Retail Store catering evolved when large departmental stores wished to provide food and beverages to their customers as a part of their retailing concept. Club catering refers to the provision of food and beverages to a restricted member clientele (e.g. turf clubs, golf clubs, cricket clubs). The provision of food and beverages to ‘people at work,’ in industries and factories at highly subsidized rates is called industrial catering. Leisure-Linked catering refers to the provision of food and beverages to people engaged in ‘rest and recreation’ activities (e.g. at exhibitions, theme parks, galleries and theatres).

There are three types of caterers who cater to popular demand. 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 provide hot foods that are delivered from their commissaries in insulated containers. 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 and so forth. They can arrange for other services, like décor and music, as well.

With regard to changing social patterns, it is expected that there will be more changes in the consumer demand for the most of the existing types of foodservice. This is because people’s food-related behavior is connected to a variety of social habits and customs which can be strongly influenced by the changes in the world economy and in the economic structure of the family, especially in the industrial nations.

The environment is important to every stage and every aspect of design, construction and other preparations for opening a catering business. Equally important, the total sense of an area must be part of the type of service which is to be provided. The combines effect of changing social patterns and heightened public awareness has contributed to a rapid change in the variety and complexity of food establishments. The increasingly complex and sophisticated techniques which have been developed in every area, from production and processing to marketing and distribution, require a very high level of expertise and highly qualified labour resources to open a foodservice establishment. A catering business should fulfill a basic human need in a pleasurable and profitable way.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14