Creating the wow factor with your business catering

The month ahead provides loads of opportunity for creating the wow factor with your business catering. Here’s a few tips for making your catering memorable and stand out…

Make it personal

Whether you are catering for clients, staff or suppliers – nothing blows people away like personalised food! Whether you’re catering for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a big corporate event, the personal touch will go a long way.

Creating food with your logo on it – or better still, your client’s logo – gives instant pizzazz and shows flair and imagination.

Indeed, the personal touch can be as simple as making sure you meet the food preferences of your guests. By providing gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan options for individuals with special dietary requirements shows you’re including everyone, and will be very much appreciated by those who need them.

Be creative

TV shows such as The Great British Bake Off and Masterchef have made creative cookery mainstream.

So think creatively when it comes to cakes – your flavourings, colours, shapes and decorations. Tie this in with the personal touch and you’re sure to have a winner.

With savoury dishes you can push the boat out and include vivid colours, textures, herbs and spices. Remember, presentation is everything, and people eat with their eyes long before their taste buds are engaged.

Time spent creating a feast for the eyes will really enhance the experience – though always make sure your food tastes as delicious as it looks too!

Seasonal specials

Delight your guests with seasonal specials and themes. October is a great example – there are loads of National and International celebration days and weeks. For instance, did you know…

• National Cake Week runs from 1st – 7th October
• National Seafood Week is from 7th – 11th October
• Chocolate Week runs from 12th – 20th October
• National Curry Week is 7th – 13th October
• World Pasta Day is 25th October

Local produce

Local food for people who prefer to eat foods which are grown or farmed close to the place of sale or preparation. Local is not only fresher and tastier, it also helps the environment by limiting the number of ‘food miles’ undertaken.

Here in Hertfordshire we are lucky enough to have a massive choice of farms, farm shops, butchers and growers who provide us with the majority of ingredients we need to ‘keep it local’.

Locally sourced ingredients don’t just stop at farm-reared meat, vegetables and fruits, but includes honey, jams, chutneys and other condiments. Delicious!

Food and drink pairings

It’s worthwhile planning the pairing of your food and drink for your event. Some great examples would be:

• Champagne and oysters
• Sweet wines with desserts
• Red wine with meat
• Craft beer with cheese

Self serve bar

For evening events, self serve bars have seen a resurgence recently, particularly gin and champagne bars.

Empowering guests to select their own combinations and quantities is a great talking point at an event, shows generosity, and always makes the night a memorable one.