Food and Beverage Considerations
Planning
Food
and beverage functions are a major part of the conference program
and are usually the most expensive budget item. Therefore, thoughtful
decisions need to be made to balance the food costs with the total
cost for the event.
The
conference committee should consider:
-
How
many meals will be "on your own" and how many will
be included in the registration fee?
-
What will be the total cost of food and how much it will add
to the registration fee?
- How
much will coffee breaks add to the food cost per person?
-
How much will tax and gratuity add to the cost? It is usually
about 26%, but could be higher in specific locations.
-
Are there any other reasonably priced sources for meals? For
example there may be many reasonably priced restaurants in walking
distance vs. none at a resort!
-
What will be the time frame for meals/breaks?
-
How many meals were included last year and were they well attended?
-
Will this meal/break enhance the overall conference?
-
Meals at the end of a conference are often lightly attended.
This should be considered in the planning of the conference
and in ordering a lower number of meals.
Meal
Costs - Biggest budget breaker!
Hotel
Contract: When possible, our hotel contracts attempt
to set a limit on the costs of meals. PLEASE review your
contract before you begin to choose menus for the conference.
Conference
Budget: Determine the total amount you have per
person budgeted for meals AND coffee breaks. Keep this figure
firmly in mind when you are visiting with the hotel.
Hotels
have predetermined menus, but are usually willing to take your
budgeted amount and custom fit a menu for your group. Tip:
NEVER LOOK AT THE MENUS FIRST- just tell them:
"We have budgeted $17 (or $20) for lunch INCLUSIVE of TAX
and GRATUITY. What would two or three options be that would fit
into this price? Please work with us to achieve this goal."
Generally:
-
Sit
down meals generally cost less than buffets.
- If
you want a buffet, tell them you are willing to cut down the number
of choices to help contain the costs (i.e. 1 meat and 1 veg entree,
as opposed to 3 choices, same with salads. Let the
chef choose the dessert or choose not to have dessert.)
- Check
out the cost of the hotel's restaurant lunch buffet and ask for
that rate. They will usually charge a little more because it is
a catered event, but it gives you a good basis to indicate you
would be willing to take the same menu as the restaurant to help
cut costs.
- Plus-plus
costs. Most menus list a cost for the meal, but then
they add at the bottom in small type that tax and gratuity will
be added. Standard gratuity is around 20% and tax is often in
the 6-10% range, so this adds substantially to the cost of the
meal.
- Cost
of meal $20.00
- Gratuity
(%20) 4.00
- Tax
(%7)
1.68
- Total
$25.68
5. Refreshment Breaks add substantially to the total food
bill. Here are some ideas.
- Coffee & Iced Tea often
ranges from $30-$40 a gallon PLUS tax & gratuity.
- Soft drinks and juices and tea
bags for hot tea
- Order BY CONSUMPTION - this means
that the bottles, cans and bags are counted before and after
and you only pay for the ones you use. YOU may need to do
the counting!
- Iced Water
- Ask that there be a water
station or water on the tables in all the breakouts.
- At the break table - usually
they don't charge for iced water. They DO charge for
bottles of water so opt for the pitchers of iced water.
The
hotel will ask you to predict how many people you think will attend
the meal functions, generally, this number will be listed in the
contract. Consider these items:
-
The Hotel will usually set enough places and prepare enough
food for 5% more than you guarantee. (Check your contact).
-
If the 5% guarantee is protected
in your contract, you can ALWAYS subtract at least 5% from the
participants number.
-
Sample: 100 participants
minus 5% means a guarantee of 95.
-
If 97 people come, you pay for
97 meals (and the meals will be available.)
-
But if 93 people come, you pay
for 95 meals (but at least you are not paying for 100 meals).
-
Rarely
does everybody at the conference eat the meals. Therefore,
though you can always lower the guarantee by at least 5%,
you may want to lower it a little more, if you have reason
to believe that everyone won't show up.
-
It will also say in the contract that a final guarantee must
be given 72 hours in advance of the event. Check your contract
carefully! If you have had less enrollment than you thought
when you made the contract, you may lower the guarantee at this
time. After the 72 hours, you will have to pay at least for
the number you guarantee.
Don't estimate for late registrants. The hotel may let you raise
the guarantee within the 72 hours but not lower it.
Have
conference committee members serve as greeters to help people
find places when the seating gets tight. They can check nametags
if necessary to assure entrance only by registrants.
This
section last updated April 2006 - DM
Food
and Beverage Checklist
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