The term “off site” or “off premise” catering can be a boom or a disaster to any cater and food catering operation. Off site means less actual physical resources on hand which may be easier for start up operations. However off site food presentation and delivery also means that there are more and potentially more troublesome and serious consequences and sequels which are not as easily covered up, overcome or dealt with.
In an off site catering event backup is some distance and time away. As always practical logistics come into play. And disasters can snowball and escalate in a hurry. One or more details may be overlooked. An otherwise simple glitch in equipment or products may arise. Backup is usually some distance and time away.
How to deal with such an event. For the most part it comes down to “pre call “or “pre event “planning. The importance of planning and prepping cannot be overemphasized or stressed with enough effort. On top of that redundancy, that is having the same service in product or service done in more than one way or manner.
This way a backup of sorts is always in the works. If you take the care to do a most thorough job of planning and check lists, most everything will go smoothly. The actual big event will seem to you like a movie that you have “seen before’. The actual catered event will seem to be something that you have seen in your mind many times – all very surreal. Most problems will have been anticipated. If mistakes do occur they generally can be solved, with a sane mind, fairly easily. It is amazing with only a few things to take care of, rather than a series of immediate demands and disasters, how these problems can be overcome.
The basic rules are to prepare lists ahead of time during the planning process. Make sure these lists are available to you and on hand. You can put them on a computer but it is better to have a hard copy of paper. Some people use spiral notebooks, others bind the materials in professional cirlux type binding. Either way the papers will be easier to find and utilize. On top of that you will appear professional, organized, and a person who pays attention to detail.
The lists will evolve over time. It’s sort of like the lists that families develop over time for camping trips. So many items to take and if one is forgotten a major disruption and inconveniences may result. As the event comes closer in time run through your lists ensuring that the actions are taken, or products taken or packed. Check and recheck the list. It is similar to the check list that commercial pilots use before take off.
Be redundant just to be sure. Check again when you are packed and ready to leave for the big event. Before unpacking at the site you can check again, if something is missing there will be should be some overlap time to fill in the missing item or items.
In the restaurant business three times are deemed of vital importance – location, location and location. In off site food catering – it is planning, preparation checking and rechecking. You can never be too sure.
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