F&B Impressions at a Bargain

Meetings expert Marjorie Risinger shares tasty tips for low-cost cuisine components

By Tyler Davidson

Outside of accommodations, F&B is often the second-largest budget-chewer, and arguably is one of the things attendees will remember the most about your meeting—first impressions, in this case, are crucial to not leaving a bad taste in your clients’ mouths.

One veteran planner who has navigated many attendees around a buffet station or seated them in a banquet round is Marjorie Risinger, CMP, a meetings industry consultant who will deliver two F&B presentations during HSMAI’s MEET Mid-America, held April 3-4 at Chicago’ Navy Pier: “Tips and Trends in Food and Beverage” and “The Three C’s of Food and Beverage: Chef, Catering Manager and Client.”

According to Risinger, besides being one the larger items in a meeting budget, the F&B component is also a top-of-mind issue for attendees.

“The first thing is the temperature of the room and the second is the food and beverage,” she contends.

According to Risinger, one of the best ways to ensure quality and low cost is to leave the initial food and beverage planning in the hands of an expert: the facility’s F&B team.

“I really like the chef and catering manager to do the work,” she says. “I give them the budget and have them worry about filling it in.”   Read more...

Questions to ask when qualifying the caterer:

	Are you a full-time caterer? What type of experience, background and education do you have? How long have you been in business? Who owns the company? What is your specialty?
	Can you provide custom menus for my group?
	Do you have a liquor license? Is there a corkage fee if we provide some/all of the liquor?
	Can you provide certificates of workers compensation, liability insurance, health department and liquor licenses, food manager certificate?

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