Banqueting and Conferences in Universities

Universities have long been popular choices for organisations looking to hold conferences or banquets. And with great facilities and often within stunning locations they’re becoming a favourite for wedding planners too.

But there’s more to hosting a conference or formal function than a pretty location or a space that’s flexible enough to accommodate intimate groups or larger numbers. With competition high, one thing that’s very important is the standard of catering.

Delegates attending a conference or guests attending a banquet or wedding have high expectations, whether you’re providing a simple sandwich lunch, four-course formal dinner or a fabulous buffet – or even just snacks for breaks in a business meeting. Serving great quality food will mean repeat bookings and recommendations.

So how can Total Foodservice help?

Let’s start with feeding business-meeting delegates and remember, those mid-morning and mid-afternoon refuelling spots are quite often the highlight for many business meeting delegates!

They’ll be expecting more than a hot drink, so depending on the budget, why not offer a range of snacks to go with their beverages – all-day choices can be anything from plates of biscuits (loose or individually wrapped) to wrapped cakes and energy bars – whereas morning breaks can include delicious freshly baked items such as mini-croissants or Danish pastries. And what delegate wouldn’t be delighted to find a selection of mini bites from our dairy cream cake assortment on offer when they took their afternoon break?

Working lunches can be challenge – time specific and time limited – it’s important that food is served on time and quickly, whether it’s a buffet-style or a sit-down hot or cold meal, one course or two. You’ll probably need to offer a choice, so when you’re planning menus choose food that can be quickly prepared and which will be popular with most people. To make your life easier we’ve a great selection of entrees and desserts in our frozen food catalogue.

Moving onto evening meals, gala dinners and wedding receptions where the numbers attending are likely to be high – it can be quite a task to ensure that everyone’s food is served in a relatively short space of time. The function might be spread over several hours – with drinks and nibbles preceding the formal sit-down meal – but at that point everyone will need to be served quickly. We’ve all been to functions where some guests are already enjoying dessert whilst others are still waiting for their veg to be served, and it doesn’t make for a happy atmosphere!

So it makes sense to include certain high-quality frozen food items in the menu to allow chefs and kitchen staff more time to prepare and serve other meal elements.

In particular, canapés and petit fours, an essential element of any nibbles on offer, can be fiddly and time-consuming to make – and according to research by the BFFF (British Frozen Food Federation) are often more expensive to make from scratch than to buy in. Luckily our bite size nibbles offerings include delicious ready-to-bake selections of canapés and other mini savouries (our special favourite is the mini Yorkshire pudding with beef ‘n horseradish) and if you’re looking for even more convenience, we’ve a further range of mini savoury items that you can simply thaw and serve.

For more menu inspiration and to make sure your functions are enjoyed by all who attend, just browse our catalogues – or ask anyone in the Total Foodservice team for their recommendations. We’re here to help!