Save money where you can with these cost-cutting ideas for your catering business. Make the most out of your ingredients and keep some cash in your pockets!
Learning cost-cutting ideas for your catering business menu is crucial in saving money and making the most out of your ingredients. When creating a catering menu, keep our following tips in mind for the most cost-effective foods and items. Anywhere you can save extra cash in your business will open more doors of opportunity for you to dabble in.
Offer Seasonal Dishes
When certain ingredients are in season, they become cheaper. For example, buying seasonal summer fruits like cherries, watermelon, or berries can be challenging and expensive during the winter. Change up the menu depending on the season you are in for better dishes and more savings. This also gives your clients seasonal delicacies they cannot find anywhere else and sets you apart from the competitors.
Be Mindful of Customer Food Waste
After your first couple of catering events, you’ll soon get a handle on the amount of food your clients are consuming. Cut down on large portion sizes for foods and dishes that are not as popular to minimize food waste after events. Avoid tossing your money in the trash and crack down on food waste by using up older ingredients, serving smaller dishes, and pre-portioning the food before beginning the cooking process.
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Avoid Serving Food During Happy Hour
If your client also hosts a happy hour at their event, chances are the guests will gravitate towards the drinks over appetizers. Instead, you are given more time to prepare lavish dishes and save money in the pockets of your business and the client’s bill for the end of the night. This also minimizes the dishes and ingredients you’ll need for that event and allows you to focus on more cultural, savory main course meals.
Optimize Your Supply Chain
Go through the supply chain where you buy your ingredients and find any gaps in service. A smart decision is to order all your foods from the same supplier to get everything on time and save shipping money. All your ingredients will come together, and you won’t have the impossible task of tracking where everything is in the shipment process.
Small changes can make a world of difference when trying to save money in your business. All of the above cost-cutting ideas for your catering business menu will gradually save you cash and optimize your menu tenfold. Guests won’t notice these little changes, and saving money can help you take your catering business to the next level.
