Hiring a Food Service Company, What You Need To Know
A food service company is any business or company that prepares meals outside of your home or business. This includes cafeterias in hospitals and schools, catering companies, and restaurants. Food service companies frequently offer delivery of food to your home or company.
There are thousands of options when considering who you want to hire for a food service company. With options locally and nation-wide, there are a few things you should be aware of prior to using a service. Consider a company’s strengths and weaknesses before selecting your choice:
Menu Fatigue
Food service companies frequently have limited menu options in order to be profitable and manageable. They may offer a select number of rotating menu options, which leads to menu fatigue.
Too much of a good thing isn’t good anymore. Even good food may become boring and monotonous if it’s served too much. If you’re supplying a corporate cafeteria, employees may become bored or even upset over limited menu options.
As less people begin to use corporate cafeterias for this reason, many companies take budget-saving measures.
In order to save your cafeteria from emptiness and despair, a good food service company provides a variety of foods. It may sound like an easy fix, but it can be difficult to find a food service company that offers a great variety.
Slow Changes
Although many fast food changes like KFC and Burger King are quick to adopt cultural trends such as meatless meals, many food service companies are slow to change. Some companies are just starting to bring around meatless options, but are far behind the trends of other providers of food.
With the limited number of options on their menu, it doesn’t always make sense for food service companies to quickly change their menu.
Many local restaurants are more likely to adjust to food trends and change their menus accordingly. They are quickly able to get the proper ingredients to change up their menu and begin serving meatless options.
However, food service companies remain slow to the draw.
Expensive Costs
Since each company has different needs, it’s often difficult to get a bottom line of how much you’re paying for a food service company. No matter the exact cost, it’s likely pricy and expensive.
These companies often make money off of distribution and management along with the food. As employees begin using cafeterias less and less, the food service companies find other ways to change for food-related needs. These may include services such as coffee, snacks and catering fees.
As time moves on, food service companies continue to offer less variety and services while charging a higher price tag. Shop around for the best deal possible.
Need for On-Site Facilities
Many food service companies require onsite facilities such as a kitchen and cafeteria. If you don’t have those facilities, you may either have to build them or work to find a catering company that doesn’t care which can be difficult.
This can be a timely and costly venture. Costs to open a small diner or cafe are estimated to be between $50,000 and $75,000 at a minimum.
In addition to these costs, you still need to consider the costs of the contract with the food service company. By the time you add the costs of the kitchen and cafeteria along with the price tag for the food service company, you’ll be looking at an enormous bill.
Benefits for Large Companies
Hiring a food service company typically only makes sense financially for large companies with hundreds or thousands of workers.
Food service companies want big contracts where they provide lots of meals in order to stay profitable. They also require fully functioning kitchens and service areas to meet the demand.
While large companies may be able to provide these things and still have the decision be economical, small companies may find that the cost is too large. They may be required to be in contracts for additional food services or forfeit volume discounts due to the small number of meals they require.
How to Find the Best Food Service Company for You
It’s important to choose the right food service company in order to provide your employees with good food while having it make financial sense for you.
Choosing the wrong one can lead to high financial costs and disgruntled employees. When choosing a food service company keep in mind the variety of food they offer as well as new, trendy foods that they’re willing to add to their menu. You should also consider the affordability of the company, looking at pricing and the ability to work with the facilities you have. Finally, consider whether it makes sense for your company’s size.