Warwick Conferences - Devising a Festive Feast
November 2009
The festive season might be a time to relax and indulge, but for the events and conferencing industry, the six weeks of celebrations in the run up to Christmas require hard work and dedication.
Logistically, Christmas can be a challenge for venues as they operate at maximum capacity, regularly providing catering for multiple events simultaneously. Guests have a wide range of requirements, from specific dietary needs to a desire for unusual ingredients. In addition, customers may request more to make the event as memorable as possible - but for a good price. As well as top quality service provision, guests expect the best ingredients, and may also request local produce for their Christmas dinner.
Graham Crump, group executive chef at Warwick Conferences - the events and conferencing arm of The University of Warwick - has five top tips for venues that want to make a great impression on guests, which will last beyond the festive season and into the New Year.
Graham has a wealth of experience in managing the catering requirements for large events, such as catering for 1,500 guests at the British Transplant Games this summer. He has overseen the food provision at events attended by US Presidents, members of the Royal Family and British Prime Ministers - Gordon Brown was recently a guest at Warwick Conferences.
To help manage your customers' different requirements, Graham's top tips for your Christmas catering are:
• Plan ahead: Try to spend some extra time organising your menus and also your staffing, to ensure you're not short of help during the holiday season. The last two weeks in the run up to Christmas are always incredibly busy, so make sure you have adequate staff levels
• Sterling service: It's incredibly important to impress your guests during the Christmas season. It's not just your food that is memorable - if people know that they've been looked after, they will book with you again
• Tradition with a twist: It's important to remember that the most popular menu at Christmas will always be roast turkey with trimmings - it's the simplicity and nostalgia of Christmas dinner that makes it so popular. But you can always liven this up - this year, Warwick Conferences has a starter with smoked salmon shaped as a bombe that contains liquid citrus dressing
• Go local: It's worth planning your menu around what local produce you can source - such as the turkey and vegetables for Christmas dinner. If you have a good relationship with local producers and suppliers, you'll be able to find out what they can supply for particular events. However, specialist and smaller companies might not be able to supply the volume of food needed for larger events, so retain a broad network of suppliers to ensure that you can buy a large quantity of good quality produce from elsewhere when required
• Provide value for money: Always purchase decent raw produce, as it is cost-effective due to its yield; working in conjunction with your suppliers, for example, ensures that you can maximise the use of produce at more cost-effective price. It's also important to price your food competitively, but also provide good quality dishes that you can recommend as great value for money.
