I received a query recently about banquet catering. The question that was posed was from someone who showed an interest in starting their own catering business. Banquet catering can be the most impressive form of catering but it can also the most expensive to start up. In banquet style catering you will need a place  big enough to store , prepare and serve food . Even in the smallest of facilities the equipment needs are enormous . Broilers , ovens , kettles , slicers , ranges , are all necessary  pieces of equipment . Not to mention fryers , steamers and mixers . Prep areas need to be big enough to allow enough room for all of the work that goes into throwing the kind of functions in which a catering business would specialize.

The kind of functions at a banquet facility tend to be more in the way of weddings , anniversaries , retirement parties , bar mitzvah’s and proms . So another item to consider is refrigeration . Most of the places I have worked at or visited as a guest have walk in refrigerators as big as some small homes , and some have multiple walk ins . Banquet facilities have as much need for cold prep areas as for hot foods . Cold food platters , ice carvings , salads and desserts all require there own areas . In most facilities raw foods are stored separately from cooked and prepared foods . Dishwashing and pot washing for a large or even a small facility alone can also be daunting.

Another thing to consider is the dining area . Most banquet facilities have at least one very large room that can be divided to hold several smaller parties or may even have a large room and several smaller rooms as well . These rooms have to be well decorated and appealing for banquets . All of the rooms have to be in close proximity to the kitchen to make serving the food as easy as possible. All of these rooms will have to have a dance floor and room for the entertainers .

Sure you could start small and grow over time or possibly buy an existing business that may be for sale , but  a banquet catering business is no small undertaking . There are other things to consider like licenses for food and alcohol . What I did recommend was off site catering . Off site catering can still be a huge undertaking but the requirements are a lot less as far as the facility goes . All that is needed is enough room to prepare store and cook the food . Dining areas aren’t needed and food is usually prepared in advance or can be an item that can be prepared on site and is usually an item that can be broiled or grilled .

So what I do recommend to you if you are interested is to consider becoming an affiliate of Just Corporate Catering. We have all the tools to help you get started and all that is needed is to click on the link to become an affiliate to find out more.

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Justin Cook stirs up his recipes concerning corporate catering, event planning and other dining related topics on his Just Corporate Catering blog. Please feel free to add comments to his posts and contact Justin with questions or other communication at justin.cook@justcorporatecatering.com