Equipment Needed for Catering Business

In a catering business, thorough preparation, and a strong sense of creativity are keys to success. As caterers, not only is it your duty to cook what is requested from the menu. You need a lot of different supplies and pieces of equipment to tie in the whole service other than pots and pans.

For those of you who are interested in starting their venture in the catering business, here is a list of some of the most common equipment and items for catering businesses:

BUFFET TABLE SUPPLIES

The buffet table is where most of the action will happen during the event. This is where most of your large pieces of equipment will be placed, and where your base of operation will be during the event.

• Warming trays/ Chafing dishes – these keep your food warm and presentable during the service. Have enough trays to accommodate the number of viands a client can order in a service.
• Serving dishes – Food like salad, desserts, and other finger foods do not belong to chafing dishes, so make sure you have decorative serving dishes for them.
• Glass pitchers – It is recommended that each of your servers have one water pitcher available to them so they can readily serve.
• Serving tongs and spatulas – make sure that these are long and sturdy enough not to break or fall inside your chafing dishes when people are scooping food.
• Assorted decorations – the buffet table serves two purposes in an event: to hold food, and to serve as side decoration. Be creative in coming up with your table decorations. Some even have small electric-powered fountains, or large bouquets.

DINNER TABLE SUPPLIES

Dinner tables will require different sets of supplies for catering businesses. These supplies will require a bit of storage as you will be keeping quite a number of them to accommodate different occasions and themes.

• Different types of plates and bowls – There is the dinner plate, the bread plate, and a lot of other plates and bowls that are used for different food. You don’t need to purchase all types of them, but at least have plates and bowls for the main dishes, soup, and dessert.
• Baskets – these are usually used to serve bread, as well as a decoration piece itself. Buy different sizes to cater to varying number of guests, and different decorative styles.
• Silverware – Familiarize yourself with the different silverware, and always bring more than the expected number of people in your catering service.
• Glassware – Just like silverware, different glasses have different purposes. Stock up on the most common types for different occasions.
• Napkins – If you are strict on your budget, you can have white generic napkins for your stock; but having different colors and designs to match your clients’ themes or your available linens would look a lot better!
• Linen – this includes table cloths and cloths for stage decoration. Buy different colors to match your clients’ themes.
• Tables and chairs – plastic tables and chairs would do for small scale caterers since you will be skirting them anyway, but for medium to high end, it is recommended to have the likes of tiffany chairs.
• Different table centerpiece decorations – You can use flower vases, balloons, or tall candles as table centerpieces. You don’t need to have a wide variety of supplies as long as you can be creative in remodeling them for the occasion.

CONSUMABLE SUPPLIES

Catering services nowadays almost always provide stage and table designing, if not, at least the catering area. Designing will require you creativity, skills, and also a lot of these supplies.

• “T” pins or Corsage pins – these are the small pins that you use for table skirting and stage design. You will always need a few hundred pieces of these pins as you are guaranteed to lose a lot of them in every catering service you conduct no matter how careful you are in retrieving them. Do not worry as these are cheap and can easily be bought in volumes.
• Thumb Tacks – Similar to T- and corsage pins, you will always need a large number of supply of thumb tacks to use for stage decorations, and also a replacement for the pins should you run out of them.
• Trash bags – trash bags will be used to dispose leftovers quickly. Some also use trash bags to hold balloons and other decorations together when bringing them to the event before setting up. Always have trash bags ready during a catering service as it is your duty to keep the catering area spotless and appetizing.
• Tin foil – In every catering, there will always take-outs. Be ready to whip out rolls of tin foils and small plastics or paper bags.
• Hand sanitizers and alcohol – You and your people will be handling food throughout the service. Sanitation must be one of the top priorities you and your people must observe at all times.

There as just some of the most common supplies you need in order to get your catering business up and running. To know more about starting a catering business, check out “How to Start a Catering Business” by BusinessCoach, Inc!