How do I make sure my catering business always has the right amounts of ingredients on hand?

Always having the right amounts of ingredients on hand starts with one thing: knowing what ingredients your orders actually need before you go shopping. Link your ingredients to your recipes, work out per event what you need, and make sure your suppliers know what's coming. With a fixed way of tracking stock and a backup plan ready, you never run short and you throw away less.

Why does stock planning go wrong so often at catering businesses?

Stock problems usually come from a request you don't see coming and purchasing without a plan. Seasonal rushes, orders that come in two days ahead, and portions that turn out bigger than expected all mean you either run short on ingredients or throw away half a fridge on Monday.

The biggest pitfall is that many catering businesses still work with an Excel list or a note stuck to the fridge. Then the kitchen doesn't know what's been bought, something gets forgotten, or the same thing gets ordered twice.

Timing plays a big role too. Fresh ingredients only stay good for a few days, but you also don't want to hear on Thursday that your supplier is out of stock on something. That balance is hard to get right without planning ahead, because otherwise you're only working it out at the moment you order.

And if several people are buying without clear agreements, your stock ends up all over the place. One person picks up another 20 kilos of potatoes that someone else already ordered that same morning.

How do you work out exactly how many ingredients you need per event?

Start with standard portion sizes per person and add 10 to 15% on top for unexpected guests and ordinary losses. Link each dish to its ingredients with exact quantities, and you calculate everything you need in one go as soon as you enter the number of guests.

Go through your standard dishes and work out, per ingredient, how much you count per person. For a salade niçoise, for example, you need 150 grams of lettuce, 2 eggs, 100 grams of tuna and 50 grams of olives per person.

Factor in the things that shift your calculation:

• Type of event (lunch has smaller portions than dinner)
• Time of day (people eat more at evening events)
• Audience (business lunch versus family celebration)
• Season (heavier dishes in winter)

Factor in trimming loss too. Cleaning vegetables typically loses 15 to 20% of their weight. And moisture evaporates during cooking, so you need more raw ingredients than what ends up on the plate.

Which stock management methods work best for catering businesses?

FIFO (First In, First Out) is the foundation for every catering business to avoid waste. Pair it with an ABC classification to keep a close eye on your most expensive ingredients, and have fresh produce delivered as late as possible.

FIFO means you always use the oldest stock first. Date everything you buy and make sure your team knows how it works. That way nothing spoils at the back while you're opening a new box at the front.

An ABC classification splits your ingredients into three groups:

• A products: expensive ingredients that eat up a big share of your budget (meat, fish, speciality cheeses)
• B products: mid-range ingredients (vegetables, herbs, basic dairy)
• C products: cheap staples (flour, salt, oil)

Order A products in exactly the amounts you need. Keep a small stock of B products. Buy C products in bigger quantities, since they keep well and get cheaper per kilo.

Daily-fresh delivery, also known as just-in-time, works well for bread, fish and certain vegetables. You don't keep stock of those at all. For that you need a supplier who comes by daily and who you can rely on.

How do you build strong relationships with suppliers for reliable delivery?

Say clearly what you need and pay on time. Give suppliers something to go on by sharing what you normally order, and agree what happens if something doesn't arrive. For your most important ingredients, it's best to have two suppliers.

Start by choosing suppliers who understand how catering works. They need to be able to shift delivery times and understand that sometimes you hear on Tuesday that 80 more people are coming on Saturday.

Make clear agreements about:

• Minimum order quantities
• Delivery times and days
• Quality requirements and return policy
• Payment terms
• The procedure for out-of-stock products

Share your planning as early as you can. If you know you've got a 200-guest wedding next month, pass that on right away. Then your supplier can set stock aside and you know for sure it'll be there.

Also build a relationship with your regular contact person. Someone who knows you will call when something goes wrong and tip you off about upcoming price changes or products that have just come in.

What do you do when your ingredients aren't available at the last minute?

Have a backup plan ready with substitute ingredients and recipes. Draw up a list of alternatives in advance and keep emergency suppliers' numbers to hand. Call your client as soon as you know something's changing.

Write down a few alternatives for every important ingredient. No salmon available, then it's tuna or cod. No fresh basil, then reach for pesto or another herb.

Write your recipes so you can switch them around fast. Don't lock in one type of meat, make dishes that work with several types of meat or fish. That gives you room to move if something doesn't get delivered.

Keep an emergency list of:

• Supermarkets that sell professional quantities
• Wholesalers that still deliver same day
• Other caterers willing to help out in a pinch
• Restaurants willing to sell ingredients

Be honest with your clients. If you need to substitute an ingredient, explain why and what's replacing it. Call them yourself before they find out, and almost everyone's fine with it.

Where you can start tomorrow

Take your ten most-used ingredients and write down per dish how much you count per person. That's an afternoon's work, and after that you can work out what each order needs in a few seconds.

Then write down your plan for the coming month and agree who tracks stock and which days orders go out. One person doing the buying, with a list everyone can check, already eliminates most double orders.

Catermonkey calculates your order from your recipes, so your purchasing list with the right amounts of ingredients is ready as soon as a quote is signed. Link your quotes to your purchasing, and you see per event what needs to go out the door, including the margin underneath it. Want to see how that works for your catering business, get in touch.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I check and update my stock?

Check your stock at least 2 to 3 times a week, and count everything thoroughly at the end of the week. Build that into your planning, or it falls by the wayside. For meat and fish, checking daily is wise. If you work with a system that logs usage straight away, you can see what's left at any moment without opening the fridge.

What's the best way to start with stock management if you're still working with Excel?

Start small: put your 10 most-used ingredients into the computer and link them to your most popular dishes. Introduce FIFO for those products and build it out from there afterwards. Pick something your team understands in half an hour, and put one person in charge of tracking stock and helping the others get going.

How much buffer should I keep for different types of ingredients?

For fresh products like meat and fish: 5 to 10% buffer. For vegetables and dairy: 10 to 15% buffer. For non-perishables: 15 to 20% buffer. For large events (100+ people), you can lower the buffer slightly to 5 to 10%, because the outliers tend to cancel each other out. Always factor in the type of event and what you're used to from that client.

How do I stop different team members placing duplicate orders?

Assign one person to do all the ordering and set fixed order days and times. Make sure everyone can check the same list to see what's already been ordered and what's still in stock. Agree that only that person orders, unless it's a genuine emergency.

What do I do with ingredients that are about to expire?

Keep a leftovers list and have a few standard recipes ready that can use them up, like soups, sauces and salads. Let staff take products home. See whether you can arrange something with a nearby food bank. And deliberately plan dishes in your weekly menu that use up those ingredients.

How do I calculate the real cost of food waste?

On top of the purchase price, count your hours too (buying, storing, throwing away), your storage costs and waste processing. Track what goes in the bin for a month and multiply by 12 for a yearly picture. The real cost is often 30 to 50% higher than just the product price.

Which ingredients are best bought in bulk to save money?

Non-perishable staples: olive oil, vinegar, dried herbs, rice, pasta and frozen goods. You get solid volume discounts on those and they keep for a long time. Don't buy fresh products in bulk unless you're sure you'll use them up before the use-by date. Always calculate your cost price per portion, including what you throw away.

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