July/August 2004
Cheat Sheet: Food and beverage

Cost-saving tips and advice on planning your next meal function

By Linda C. Chandler

How to save on receptions
• Think deep rather than wide. It’s less expensive to order bigger quantities of fewer items than lots of variety in lesser amounts.
•  Limit seating. People consume less when they’re standing.
•  Use butler service (tray passing) for more expensive items. It tends to limit the amount people take.
•  Provide smaller plates.
•  Spread offerings around the room instead of in one central location.
•  Place bars at the back of the room. Butler service wine or champagne. Or limit alcohol to beer and wine only.
•  Activity stations, such as carving or fresh pasta, provide diversion and limit consumption.
•  Order items divisible into smaller servings. Have sausages, quesadillas and spring rolls cut in halves.
•  Plan for an early reception. If it’s late, attendees may use the reception for dinner.

How to save on breakfasts
• Use packaged goods that can be returned if not consumed, such as granola bars or cereal packages, and be sure to inventory them.
• Ensure coffee and juices are refreshed only as specified by contract.
• For smaller meetings, ask about “coffee kits” that let you make it yourself, rather than ordering by the gallon.
• Consider an omelet station instead of hot meats and eggs on a buffet.
• For appearances, have mini-muffins or bagels rather than cutting pastries in half.
• Order fruits that are in season. Whole fruit is cheaper than cut fruit.

How to save on breaks
• Provide refreshments in centralized areas rather than individual meeting rooms.
• Schedule breaks with defined start and finish times (30-45 minutes) instead of having coffee or sodas available all morning or afternoon.
• Using water coolers and cups is cheaper than serving bottled water.
• Iced tea, lemonade and fruit punch are cheaper than soda and go farther because of the ice in the cups.

How to save on luncheons and dinners
•  Plated meals are generally less expensive than buffets. Quantities are known, and waste is reduced.
•  Box lunches are less expensive. Assembly is fast for the food preparation staff; quantities are defined; and it’s a flexible, grab-and-go meal.
•  Choose a pasta-based main course.
•  Limit entrée options to two choices, or serve smaller portions of two options, such as beef and fish, on the same plate.
•  Require wine servers to ask before pouring. Avoid wine bottles at the table.
•  Use the afternoon break as dessert time rather than serving dessert at lunch.

Drinks by the numbers
 170 12-ounce glasses of beer per keg
 21 6-ounce cups of coffee per gallon
 5.5 4-ounce glasses of wine per bottle

Top 10 tips for saving on food and beverage
1. Know your group’s history and the draw of the event and venue.
2. Manage your banquet guarantees with tickets.
3. Communicate your budget concerns to the chef/caterer.
4. Offer to “piggy-back” or “gang” on a larger meeting’s meal order. If your group eats what the other group ordered, you can save.
5. Select regional specialties and in-season foods.
6. Choose plated over buffet meals. Use butler service for more expensive items.
7. Write set-up and replenishing policies into your contract. Monitor delivery and removal.
8. Whenever possible, use “on consumption” billing.
9. Meet with catering staff to determine what items were or were not well received, so you can add the facts to your group’s history.
10. Contest any discrepancies upon billing.

Don’t guess who’s coming to dinner
Knowing what to count on has a lot to do with the location and the venue.
• If your banquet is in a hotel room in a resort destination like Orlando, FL, and the weather’s nice, count on many — even those with reservations — to opt out and enjoy alternate entertainment. Put the banquet at Animal Kingdom or Universal, and you’ll keep their attention.
• If the destination is short on evening attractions and restaurants or if it’s a remote conference facility, count on higher attendance at evening functions.
• For final-night events, check with the hotel(s) for departure lists to help gauge how many attendees are leaving early.

Break formulas if there’s no group history
Morning
• Hot beverages: 1.5 cups per person. 85% coffee, 10% decaf, 5% hot water for tea
• Cold beverages: 1 per person, billed on consumption
• Pastries: 1.25 per person
Afternoon
• Hot: 1 cup per person, same percentages
• Cold: 1.5 per person, on consumption

Rules of thumb
• Traditional wisdom says men generally favor heavier breakfasts with meat and eggs; women, yogurts and fresh fruit. With the low-carb craze, more women are consuming protein-heavy options.
• At receptions, men will consume more beer; women, more wine.
• Plan four to six hors d’oeuvres per person if dinner follows, seven to nine, if not.
• You’ll want one bartender for every 100 guests to avoid lines.
• Count on three to five vegetarian meals per 100.

Sources
Mandie Aadland, SmithBucklin, (312) 673-5766
Vicky Betzig, JRDaggett & Associates, (262) 641-9537
Cris Canning, Hospitality Ink, (619) 688-1030
Wendy Michalak, MGR Food Services, (404) 223-4500
Loren Perry, Aramark, (503) 736-5234