Food businesses are always popular wherever you go – whether it is a food cart, coffee shop, café, fast-food, restaurant, fine dining, and even catering. Food is one of our basic needs; people will surely look for something to eat at certain times of day whether it is a snack or a main meal.
Food plays an important role in parties, meetings, or just any event. Mealtime is a great moment to share with other people in that gathering – whether they are family, friends, workmates, or simply co-attendees. With so many things to do, event organizers hire caterers to take over the responsibility of preparing the food and drinks for an event.
This makes catering business a popular choice for those who want to be in the food industry but doesn’t have a place to accommodate dine-in customers. If you’re planning to have this type of business, here’s a simple guide to help you start-up.
Do the Paperwork
After proper planning of your business, the first thing you have to do is to settle the papers needed before your business becomes operational. This refers to the business registration, tax identification, and a catering license for some states.
You should also meet certain criteria before you can operate your catering business. When you meet these requirements, you can have the essential certifications such as food safety certificate and permit to operate. Your business should also pass the health and safety inspection which will be conducted by the local health department.
Prepare the Cooking Facility
The type of cooking facility you’ll need to prepare is actually affected by the laws in your state. Some areas allow caterers to operate from a home kitchen as long as you have separate kitchen facilities for your catering business.
Other caterers who want a bigger space or seeking to expand their business can rent a warehouse in a commercial area and transform it into a commercial kitchen. As long as you meet the state safety and health standards, there will be no problem whether you have a home kitchen or commercial one.
Get the Right Equipment
Kitchen equipment for food businesses are really different from the ones that we use at home. This equipment can handle and produce more volume of cooked food to meet the demands. They are also more durable and are designed to withstand heavy usage.
You’ll need to prepare the basic equipment for refrigeration, storage, preparation, cooking, up to serving the food to the guests. Be sure to invest in high quality commercial kitchen equipment like these ones from Industry Kitchens to be assured of durability and efficiency in one.
Transportation
Aside from great kitchen equipment, you’ll also need an efficient means to transport the food from the kitchen to the event venue. Choose a vehicle that fits all of the food, equipment for serving, and also your servers to take them into the venue.
With this short guide, you can now plan out which next step you need to do when starting up your catering business.
