Sales Solutions

Catering is one of the fastest-growing segments of the foodservice industry, with caterers, banquet halls and hotels commanding the majority of the special-event market but not monopolizing it.

Indeed, restaurateurs increasingly are getting into the game, expanding their catering and private-dining services as a way to garner incremental sales and optimize overhead in the face of escalating operational costs and slimmer profit margins. “Without a doubt catering is one of the bright stars in terms of growth opportunities,” says Hudson Riehle, the National Restaurant Association’s senior vice president of research and information services.

At many restaurants catering sales represent an increasing proportion of the overall business. In a recent NRA survey of 234 operators from the casual-, family- and fine-dining segments, about half reported that catering sales now account for a larger proportion of overall sales than they did two years ago.

Beyond catering by restaurants, however, many specialized off-premises caterers and hotels reported double-digit sales growth. And social catering is expected to outpace substantially the overall growth rate of the restaurant industry, according to the NRA.

Summers Hospitality Group® can help you set-up and manage a successful catering extension of your business so that you can begin to realize more profit and growth from this increasingly in-demand area of the business.

Takeout sales are projected to grow at three times the rate of on-premise dining and at seven times the rate of the rest of the total food industry, according to the National Restaurant Association. To compete for a strong share of the takeout market, restaurants must understand how to adapt their current products and systems for successful takeout.

• The entire process should be easy for customers, from ordering to pickup to reheating, serving, and storing.
• Customers turn to restaurants for takeout because they like the menu items, but not all dishes are transportable. Be selective in the ones you offer for takeout, or develop dishes with takeout in mind that retain heat, moisture, and texture and/or can be reheated.
• Take into consideration the importance of food safety and extended shelf-life in finished form when developing takeout items.
• Invest in packaging that ensures food travels well. Packaging should be adaptable to reheating and storage of food. Packaging is also a branding opportunity- be sure it looks good and reflects well on the restaurant.
• Informed personnel are essential. Make sure staff is up to speed, from those who take orders to those who package them.
• Especially if you do delivery, gear up all the systems, including competent and courteous drivers/delivery people, and provide adequate insurance for them.
• Create marketing that sells your entire business.
• If Delivery & Takeout is 30% of your business, why do you only dedicate 10% of your total resources to it?

BEVERAGEWORX™ is the SHG® Beverage Program for operators who need a complete beverage program from recipes, systems and procedures, to operational planning and support.

The goal is to build a highly profitable beverage program, both alcoholic and/or non-alcoholic, that supports the business goals and objectives of the brand.

It includes everything that we determine needs to be in place in order to achieve your goals for the program. Things such as:

• recipes
• systems & procedures
• training & coaching
• concept creation
• marketing
• equipment and supplies management
• labor & cost controls
• inventory management
• much, much more…