Plastic Cups for Special Events

Organizing an outside catering event can be stressful, especially when a client prefers the setup to be a picnic style event.  First, you would have to look for the perfect venue to hold the event, after which comes the logistics, booking tent rentals, and hauling and putting everything in place.  Aside from that, you would have to carefully plan the menu as the food to be served should also match the party theme.  Of course, you would also have to prepare all the necessary paraphernalia from the paper plates, plastic utensils, and cups to paper napkins and decorations.

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Finding the Best Supplier for Eco-Friendly Plastic Cups

Being in the restaurant business, you can relate to how stressful it is to find reliable suppliers that will stay true to their word.  Running a restaurant, even a small one, is not an easy task, as you need to be on top of everything, from maintaining the high standards of food quality to the supplies needed in the kitchen and the service given by the personnel and staff.  On top of that, you would have to be prepared to help keep everyone’s stress levels to a minimum level and manage to have it stay that way even if the house is full of demanding and picky customers.

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Eco-Friendly Plastic Cups for Your Restaurant Business

Plastic is now known to be one of the common products that you can see everywhere.  It has become so common to the point that you already see a lot of items being made out of it. Its physical properties make it versatile and easy to produce making it on the top of the list of manufacturers.  You may not give it some serious though but almost everything we deal with in our homes, offices and everywhere we go are made out of plastic.

A lot of industries have already utilized this versatile product.  The restaurant industry is one of the big industries that rely on plastic to further its business.  Can you imagine a restaurant not being able to serve take out food because it does not have a proper vessel for its offerings? A lot of customers and opportunities would be lost because of this. Fast food chains would not be able to serve its patrons well if not for plastic cups and utensils they have for those who prefer to have their food packed for take away.

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How to Know if Catering is the Perfect Business for You

Catering is not a business for everyone. Some will only do it for the money. But remember, there are so many things about catering that you might not like, especially because it’s a very diverse industry with lots of things to consider. So before you embark on starting a catering business, you need to be sure that you’re doing the right thing for yourself.

How do you know if catering is the right business for you?

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1. You have a love for cooking

This is where every business should start – passion. With passion, you can do almost everything. As long as you are happy with cooking, you’ll never run out of joy in cooking food for your customers. And therefore, you know that this catering business isn’t just part time or until you find another industry where you can focus all of your attention to. If you love cooking, then you should know just enough to survive many faults, flaws and possible situations that could arise from catering.

2. You are GOOD at cooking

Just because you love cooking doesn’t make you a good cook. But in order to start a catering business, you need to be GOOD at cooking. This means that the food you cook is actually delicious. The food you cook should be tasty, healthy and you don’t settle on something that doesn’t meet your taste. If your friends and family say that you’re a bad cook, then maybe you should get more experience first before embarking on a business.

3. You have experience in cooking

But besides your passion and the ability to cook, you also need to be experienced. Just because you know how to cook a beef patty doesn’t mean you can cook Fettuccini and Lasagna. Just because you know how to cook spaghetti doesn’t mean you can cook Lasagna either! In order to do good in your catering business, you need to know how to cook different things. You might even have to dabble in different cuisines before you can truly embark on a catering business.

4. You know how to cook quickly

While speed isn’t as necessary as the others, it definitely helps a lot. So what if you can cook a mean Spaghetti if it’ll take you three hours just to cook for three people? Now that’s not a sustainable idea if you’re going to be cooking for plenty of people.

5. You want to start a catering business

It’s not just about the cooking anymore when you have a catering business. You should also be passionate about this business. You need to WANT to cater to build a catering business.

6. You know how to market a catering business

Marketing a catering business can be easy if you know how to. You can provide your own custom beverage napkins, plates and cups, you can partner up with events planners and wedding planners, you can even partner up with companies to help you boost your business. But in order to make it a sustainable plan, you need to know your market too.

If you have all of these qualities, welcome to the world of catering! If not, experience is a great teacher too. 

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How to Set Up a Buffet Table

One of the best ways to set up food at a party is to create a buffet table where everyone can just come and take the food that they want. However, setting up a buffet table doesn’t just mean that you can place everything randomly on the tables. You can’t simply put the custom beverage napkins in the line of all the main courses and the desserts with the appetizers. It’ll only drive you and your guests crazy because they don’t know which table they should go first. And they won’t be able to find what they want easily. They’ll end up having to ask you or the waiters, disrupting the whole process.

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In order to keep an orderly fashion with your buffet table, you can set it up in two different ways.

By meal classification

First of all, classifying your buffet table by the type of meal you have is one way to be smart and organized throughout your party. Classifying by meals means that you keep the appetizers (first course) on one table, the main course (second course) on another and the utensils, desserts (third course) and drinks on another. Keeping your food arranged in this way helps your guests to know which table to go to for the food they want. They won’t get lost in the line and they won’t have to cut lines just to find what they want. If you arrange the tables in the right way (appetizers first, desserts and drinks last), you won’t have a problem keeping your guests in one long line. This is a good way to have an organized buffet.

If you have a controlled buffet, you can keep the waiters in line so they can easily set the food down on each plate. Always keep your utensils, beverage napkins and cups in one table. If you separate them, guests will have a hard time looking for it and you don’t want that to happen.

By type

On the other hand, you can also have your meals arranged by its type. You can set the meat in one table, the vegetables in another and finger foods in another. However, if you plan to do this type of buffet, you need to make the first table for the utensils, plates, napkins and cups. People usually need this first before they get any food and it is essential that they find them. Don’t forget to entitle each table too so that people won’t have a hard time finding what they want. Keep the desserts in one long table. You can either have a separate table for drinks or you can keep a drinking station by the desserts.

Arranging your buffet tables by the type of food allows you to keep your food in a bigger space. You don’t have to crowd your guests in one place, but you can keep them going back and forth from different tables. This way, no table gets too crowded and no lines are too long.

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Tips to Starting a Catering Business

The food industry nowadays has been increasing gradually, due to the fact that everyone seems to want to eat more and more. With various events upcoming, food is something that you know will never run out of business. And if you happen to be a good cook, then you might want to start your own restaurant. Unfortunately, starting a restaurant isn’t easy. You need a lot of money to buy your own place, set up the permits and prepare everything for the opening. On the other hand, if you start a catering business instead, you just might save yourself the trouble of all the restaurant expenses.

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So how do you start your own catering business?

1. First, you need to do some research first.

Before anything else, you need to know how the catering industry works. In order to do this, you have to do some research to make your business work. It might take a few months, even years. But if you’re truly acquainted with catering, you’ll know how your business should work too. If you really want to know how catering works, you should also do some catering of your own. Get a few catering jobs. See how everyone works. See what your business would need. The best way you’d know how to improve your catering business is to see what other people lack.

2. Second, find a licensed kitchen for cooking

Unfortunately, you can’t really cook at your own home, especially if you have a small kitchen. You’d need a lot of space and equipment to get the food going. Before you start making plans of licensing your own kitchen at home, you should try renting first. It’s going to take a lot of money to build and have a licensed kitchen so you might as well try and rent first. Look around the area for some kitchens and get their hourly rates. You’d need this for your packages.

3. Get catering equipment and supplies

Now, your catering business will not work without catering equipment. This includes the platters, the plates, custom beverage napkins if needed, utensils and more. If you cannot afford to buy your own catering equipment and supplies, you can also look into renting. Renting won’t be as sustainable, but you can always change that in the future.

4. Create your own packages

Once you have all the expenses sorted out, you need to create your own catering packages. Create a list of the things you could offer your customers. Make a wedding package, maybe a budget and luxury wedding package. Consider creating a package for other events too. Be flexible with your packages and give your customers a lot of things to choose from.

5. Attend socializing events

When you have everything in place, you need to do some socializing to get to your target market. Attend weddings; meet wedding planners and event planners. Get on their list so that they have someone to call when they need a caterer. Catering businesses usually thrive on word of mouth marketing. Make a lot of contacts and your business will benefit from it in the future. 

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5 Ways You Can Make Your Restaurant Different

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In order to stand out among the other restaurants in the area, you need to find a way to make your restaurant a little different.

1. Serve unique food – this is where every restaurant usually varies. The type of food they serve is a huge factor in deciding if a restaurant is definitely different than others in the area. If the food being served is only of mediocre quality, people won’t have enough reasons to come back to the place. But if the restaurant serves good food, people would want to go back to the restaurant no matter what. On the other hand, you can also serve a different cuisine. People like to taste various cuisines and if no other restaurant in the area offers that kind of food, you’ll have a separate market on your own.
2. Be creative with your supplies – one thing that differentiates restaurants from the others is the way they brand themselves. If you truly want your restaurant to stand out, you need to give your customers something to remember you by. Logos are very important when it comes to branding your restaurant. Every time a customer sees the logo, they should remember the good food they ate. If you want to instill the logo into the minds of your customers, you need to put the logo in places where customers will be likely to look at. This includes printing custom beverage napkins, plates, cups and even special uniforms with logos for the staff. The more they get to see the logo, the easier it will be for them to recognize it in the future. 
3. Set a theme for your restaurant – if you’re creative with the supplies you serve in the restaurant, you should also think of adding a theme for your restaurant. With a theme decided for the restaurant, it’ll be easier to determine how to decorate the place. You can get comfy seats, buy custom-made tables and chairs and decorate the place according to the theme. The unfortunate thing about setting a theme for your restaurant is that it will definitely cost a lot of money to customize it.
4. Offer something different – part of the reason why a customer will remember your restaurant is because you offer a different kind of eating experience to them. Some restaurants will offer you the chance to eat at the top of a building. Others will have you eating in a transparent tube above the cities. There’s even a restaurant that will allow you to eat in the middle of the sea! If you can give them a unique dining experience, they’ll never forget your restaurant. 
5. Choose a good location – location is always part of a restaurant’s dining experience. There’s really nothing compared to eating out at the top of the building or being in a restaurant with good atmosphere and a good view. In the same way, if your restaurant is located in a convenient place for customers, you’ll also find yourself an easy target market.

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Ideas to Make Your Restaurant Unique

There are so many restaurants nowadays that you don’t even know which one to choose to eat in. People will either choose the restaurant nearest their homes or they will pick out one that offers them a unique experience. The only way for you to stand out over the other restaurants is to make sure that you have a unique restaurant.

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1. Adopt a theme – this may be a corny concept, but remember, the more noticeable your restaurant is, the better for your restaurant. Adopting a theme doesn’t have to be corny, though. You can always choose to build a restaurant on an admirable or noticeable theme. You can bank on becoming a Navy restaurant, where your waiters and waitresses all wear Navy-themed uniforms and you focus on serving seafood. You can choose a Halloween theme where you sell gross, bloody cupcakes and design your restaurant with blood and gore. You can even choose a superhero theme where young kids can play around with superhero items. The more creative you can be with your theme, the more possibilities for your restaurant.
2. Brand your restaurant – every restaurant needs to be branded if they want to stay longer in the market. A brand is text, image, icon or all that people can associate with your food and services. In order to brand your restaurant, you should be open to expanding your marketing strategy. Create an interesting logo for your restaurant. Have some custom beverage napkins printed. Also consider branding the plates and cups so that every time your customers use it, they’ll see your logo. The more they get to see your logo in a span of a few seconds, the more they’ll remember your restaurant when they need to.  
3. Sell unique food – branding your restaurant is good for marketing strategies. But if you offer unique food, you take on marketing on a whole new level. Your food and services greatly define your restaurant so if you can offer your guests a unique experience, they’ll be more likely to remember your restaurant the next time they need to eat. Be creative with the food you sell. Create a good, complex menu with interesting pictures and descriptions of your food. Hire an experienced chef who can whip up exotic food. Being different in the restaurant business can be hard because that means you have to top everyone else’s ideas. But if you can pull off the unique factor with your ideas, you can easily establish a reputation with your customers.

Offer exquisite services – if you have unique food in your menu, offer unique services as well. People like to be pampered. If your waiters and waitresses can offer friendly and courteous services, your restaurant will most likely make an impression on your customers. You can always add additional services and entertainment like a singer on stage, maybe waiters singing the Birthday song for a customer. Some restaurants also get dancing waiters just for the entertainment of their customers. Maybe you can even provide free cake for celebrants dining in your restaurant.

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10 Characteristics of a Good Restaurant

Starting a new food business? How do you know if your restaurant is good enough to be sustainable?

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Here are 10 characteristics that every restaurant should have.

1. Cleanliness – every restaurant should bank on their cleanliness. It is important that a restaurant should be clean, because this can affect the health of their employees and customers. Without a clean restaurant, the restaurant shouldn’t be open at all. Make sure that your service and dining area is clean at all times.
2. High quality food – no restaurant can survive without high quality food. This is the best way to attract more customers to your restaurant. Always taste-test your food so that you know how it tastes and you know your customers will like it. If you serve food that may not be delicious for your customers, you’ll end up losing them.
3. Good service – even if you serve great food, a restaurant won’t last long if the people who serve them aren’t friendly or courteous. Sometimes, if a restaurant has good service but mediocre food they can easily bank on building relationships with customers.
4. Reasonable prices – a restaurant should always price their food right. If your food is overpriced for its taste, customers will definitely lose interest.
5. Uniqueness – because there are so many restaurants nowadays, it can be hard to stand out amongst them. The only way you can be remembered by your customers is by giving them some uniqueness in your restaurant. Whether it is by service, by the aesthetics of a restaurant or by the food you serve, you need to give your customers something they will remember.
6. Aesthetics – a good restaurant should be considerate of how the place looks. Every eatery business has to be interesting and comfortable. They should be designed well, look pretty with good tables and seats, comfortable lights and good entertainment if needed.
7. Branding – in order for a restaurant to remain sustainable for longer periods, they need to eventually start building their brand. They can start with a good logo. They can use custom beverage napkins or plates that are printed with their logos. The more people will remember their logo, the more they will associate your restaurant with good food or everything they remember when they ate at your restaurant.
8. Safe equipment – a good restaurant will not only think about their customers and guests, but they’ll also consider the safety of their employees. It is crucial that the restaurant only gets safe equipment to allow employees to provide good food without any hassle on their parts. Besides, any good company will always think about their employees’ safety too.
9. Complex menu – customers are more likely to return to a restaurant because they have a complex menu where they can choose different types of food. If the menu is only limited and the customer finds that they cannot eat anything there, they’ll have no choice but to find a different restaurant.
10. On time delivery of food – nobody likes to wait hours just for their food. If a restaurant can deliver food on time, they’ll be able to impress their customers. 

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Pros and Cons of Buying Used Restaurant Equipment

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The problem with starting a restaurant is that sometimes, you don’t have all the money to make it all work. There are so many things that you need when it comes to running a restaurant and even with a good, planned budget, sometimes, it doesn’t all work out. In fact, when you see the prices of used equipment, the desire to spend less might cloud your better judgment. If you spend less on equipment, you might be able to spend more on supplies like custom beverage napkins or personalized plates and cups.

Before you make a decision on buying brand new restaurant equipment or settling on secondhand stuff, use these pros and cons in buying used restaurant equipment to help you make your decision.

 Pros:

-          There’s nothing better than getting one of the major equipment for a cheaper price. If you’re buying secondhand restaurant equipment, there’s a possibility that you’ll be paying a fraction less than what it would usually cost at a hardware store. Now if you were to spend that much less for equipment, you can spend more on other important stuff for your restaurant.

-          The beauty of secondhand restaurant equipment is that most of the time, they will come from restaurant owners whose businesses didn’t last very long. If they are desperate to get rid of their equipment, you can haggle the price to your liking and they’ll probably agree to it just to get rid of the equipment and earn back some money.

-          Some owners will also be so desperate to sell the items that they’ll let you leave with lots of freebies. If you buy more than one equipment from them, they might end up throwing more into your purchases, free of charge.

Cons

-          The problem with buying used restaurant equipment is that the item sold to you may not be of good condition anymore. What if you buy equipment for an expensive price only to find it broken the week after? You’ll spend more just having it repaired and that’s not something a new restaurant can afford.

-          Speaking of repairing equipment, you’ll only spend more money. Used restaurant equipment may have some hidden defects and if you’re not careful, the seller will take advantage of your trust to sell the equipment to you at a much higher price. If the equipment happens to break down after a few uses, it might take more than the original price you paid for just to get it back to its good shape.

Before you consider buying secondhand equipment, make sure to check the item twice. Look for defects, any signs of weaknesses that can lead to future repairs. On the other hand, other restaurant equipment and supplies can be bought secondhand. After all, there’s really nothing wrong with using an old table cloth that doesn’t have obvious spills. Do be careful in choosing where to buy your supplies and equipment whether or not it’s brand new. This stuff is critical to the success of your business. 

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10 Characteristics of a Profitable Restaurant

In order to make sure that a restaurant will last for a long time in the market, you have to make sure that it has these 10 very important characteristics.

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1. Good marketing strategies – every restaurant needs to have its own way of promoting themselves to the public. Putting up a sign outside may be enough for you, but if you’re hoping to reach a time when your restaurant can finally branch out, then you may have to establish a strong marketing strategy to get the word out to people. The better your strategy, the bigger the opportunities for your restaurant.
2. Affordable supplier – a restaurant cannot last without its supplies. If you have to purchase supplies for your restaurant at sky-high prices, you’d end up having to offer expensive food. In turn, you’ll end up having a limited market. If you cannot find a cheap supplier offline, try making a search of online suppliers.
3. Good food – no restaurant can survive without good food. If you cannot provide delicious food for your customers, they won’t have any reason to go to your restaurant at all. Serving good food is one way to attract loyalty in your customers.
4. Welcoming ambiance – an important aspect of a restaurant. If your restaurant does not look welcoming or engaging for the customers, they won’t have any reasons to come back.
5. Brand awareness – if you want to make marketing your restaurant easier, building your brand is very important. Getting people to see your brand is a good way to get customers for future branches. If your restaurant can provide good food and service as part of its brand, they can expect to see this in future branches.
6. Custom made supplies – one of the best ways to promote your brand is to buy supplies that are specifically made for your restaurant. Use custom beverage napkins. Offer branded cups and have your plates printed with your logos. This way, every time a customer sees your logo, they’ll remember your food and services.
7. Caters to the likes of customers – even if you have a special type of food for your restaurant, you still need to consider your customers. What do they like? What will make them go to your restaurant more? If you cater to the requirements of your customers, you’ll attract more people.
8. Variety of menu – if you offer a limited set of menu to your customers, you’ll only end up turning them off, especially if you don’t serve a dish they like. Having some variety will allow your customers to choose which dish they want to taste for their meal. A good variety will allow them to come back for more.
9. Accepts feedback – restaurants need feedback from their customers so that they can improve in time. Set a box for suggestions and feedback by the cashier. Give your customers a chance to tell you what you should improve. This way, you know which aspect of your restaurant requires improvement.
10. Organization – your restaurant needs to be organized in order to be profitable. Keep supplies in one place. Have your sales and expenses recorded, just in case you might need them in the future. An organized business decreases the chances for mistakes and makes room for development in the future.

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