Catering Management

Questions 1. Discuss the ways in which equipment can contribute to the success or fall- ure of catering functions. 2. Determine what categories of front-of-the-house equipment are essential for a catering operation to have on-property. Would it be possible for a catering company to operate without owning any of this equipment? How would you organize your operation to operate this way? 3. Identify the basic equipment needed for a sit-down dinner for 150 guests. Using a local rental company or an online source, calculate the total costs for rental equipment. 4. Outline the reasons that scheduled equipment inventories are important to the ongoing operation of catering companies. 5. What challenges do refrigeration. dishwashing. and waste removal present for off-premise catering operations? How can using a rental company help reduce costs and labor as well as maintain quality? 6. From the list of specialty theme functions listed in the chapter. choose three. Outline all of the equipment and prop needs associated with each theme 7. Research rental companies in your community. Using the lists of both front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house equipment in this chapter, deter- mine what could be rented from these companies. List Items that are not available, Answer the following questions: Are the prices from each rental company competitive? What are the differences in the rental policies of the companies? Does one company offer better value than another for price, quality. and service? 8. Create a floor-plan setup for a large reception featuring a variety of food- and-beverage stations. Refer to the table designs In Figure 11.4 for Ideas.Questions 1. Define the term quality as it relates to a catering business, Identify the key questions that are essential to determine the level of quality standards for a catering operation. 2. What is the definition of a Magic Moment or moment of truth? Provide three examples of this concept from your experience. 3. Discuss the Importance of establishing critical paths of service in a catering operation. 4. Why are staffing levels Important in a catering operation? What difficulties do staffing levels pose to a catering business compared to a restaurant? 5. Identify the steps in the training cycle, giving a short summary of each. Explain the importance of the training cycle to a catering operation. 6. Define the term service gap. What are some ways to Identify service gaps In an ongoing catering operation? 7. Identify four or five customer complaints listed as service gaps in Figure 10.1. For each of these complaints, determine two or three service recovery situa- tions that would be appropriate from both a service and financial perspective. 8. Interview the management of a local catering company. Using the ques- tions suggested in this chapter to identify service gaps. determine existing service gaps and recovery steps for each. 9. Create critical paths of service for a meal service for either your school's catering services or a local catering business. 10. Using the training cycle outline in this chapter, develop a training cycle for a catering operation. Establish objectives. design training activities for those objectives, and create performance guidelines and evaluation criteria. 11. Management is often resistant to the expenses that accompany training active- ties. Using the Information in this chapter, develop a statement that addresses the return on investment and need for quality standards as an approach to overcoming negative reaction to a proposal for a training program