Corporate event catering on a budget

You don’t need to have the biggest budget to create a big impact for your corporate event catering. Planning, budgeting and creativity will all help you create the wow factor while keeping costs down. To help with the planning we have put together some tips to show you how to stretch your budget whatever the occasion.

What type of food is the most cost effective?

Basically, any rice or noodle-based dishes are popular with guests as well as being delicious and filling, making them an affordable hot food option. If your event is in the morning why not serve a brunch menu, including pastries, seasonal berries and fruit for example. Brunch menus tend to not be meat heavy and as this is where the majority of the costs lie, so it’s a very good option to keep costs low but still make an impact.

How can you reduce the overall cost of the food?

It is well known that meat and fish are the most expensive ingredients, so why not go vegetarian? There are plenty of ways to create stylish menus based on salads, pasta and vegetables, which work as a cold buffet or hot sit down menu. What’s more, as long as the food is delicious, meat eaters will enjoy it as much as the vegetarians, so everyone wins!

Does the event need to offer a sit down meal?

When planning your corporate event, think about the additional costs of having the catering provided. If you’re having a sit down meal, then you’ll also need to take into account the costs of waiting staff, linen/glass hire etc. People would also expect to be served a three course meal with coffee, all of which pushes costs up. If you provide a buffet, you can reducing waiting costs, as well as the costs of, say, a starter which people will not expect to be provided. You could also provide cheaper options for dessert.

What else can you do to reduce the cost?

We are all aware that when free catering is available, guests enter the ‘eat and drink as much as you can’ mentality, which in turn increases the cost of your catering. So why not hire smaller plates and glasses? A slightly smaller plate or wine glass might subconsciously discourage guests from wasting food or taking too much of your carefully planned dishes.

If you plan your event effectively and creatively, and make sure you stick strictly to your budget, you should be able to enjoy an event with maximum impact and minimum costs!

For more about how we can manage your event and provide you with the delicious food needed for a memorable experience, get in touch!