Food Lovers

  After years of managing corporate launches and brand events, I have one slightly ruthless test for the food: when guests and influencers arrive, is what we’re serving actually worth posting? Because you can get the venue, lighting, product reveal, and guest list absolutely right, but serve average food, and suddenly that becomes the thing people remember. And honestly, who serves paneer tikka at a huge influencer event?  And suddenly a brand launch becomes a wedding buffet. This is exactly why food has to match the room. Start With the Brand My favourite launches are the ones where the food feels like it belongs there. Say you’re launching a lipstick range with ten different shades. Instead of putting out a generic dessert spread, why not create macarons in those exact shades? That was actually a slightly crazy idea we had for a recent launch. We got in touch with Pinnacle Foods , and they brought in Tapsi, their in-house dessert brand , to turn the idea into something we co...

  Planning a big networking event is a little like hosting a party where every handshake matters. You want potential clients talking to the right people, partners staying for one more conversation and guests leaving with a good impression of the company. The food should help that happen, not become another thing everyone has to manage. We recently had an event exactly like this, with people joining at different times after meetings, deadlines and a long day at work. So before the main programme began, we had beverages and small bites circulating around the room. Keep the First Bites Easy For corporate event catering , I always ask one simple question: Can someone comfortably eat this while having a conversation? If not, it probably doesn't belong in the opening spread. We went for easy-to-eat bites that left people's hands free for a handshake and their attention free for an actual conversation. These evenings shouldn't feel like another business meeting. Good food, comfort...

  A restaurant can make you wait for your food. A seminar can't. When 100 people get the same 20-minute tea break, the catering team has a very different problem to solve. Tea needs to be ready, snacks need to move quickly and everyone needs to be back in the room before the next session starts. That is what makes business catering different. The menu matters, but so does everything happening around it. Start With the Seminar Schedule Look at the agenda before looking at the menu. A short tea or coffee break needs food that can be picked up and eaten quickly. Mini sandwiches, savouries, cookies, small desserts, tea and coffee are easier to manage than a spread that requires guests to sit down or assemble a full plate. Lunch gives you more flexibility, but it still has a deadline. If a large group has 45 minutes to eat, service needs to keep moving. Multiple access points and quick replenishment can prevent the buffet from becoming a bottleneck. The Menu Has to Move With the Room T...

  I have sat through enough conferences to know exactly what happens when catering gets it wrong. A keynote runs late, lunch queues stretch past the break, and suddenly the whole afternoon is playing catch up. Figuring out how to plan catering for corporate conferences without disrupting the event schedule is one of the most underrated skills in this business, and it comes down to building food timing around the agenda, not the other way round. Here is what I have picked up from doing this for years. Build The Food Around The Agenda Start with session run times, not meal times. Map out transitions, room changes, walking paths, all of it  Pad the schedule; add a 10 to 15 minutes buffer for sessions running late, never squeeze a large lunch into a tight 60-minute window Set up early. Coffee and morning stations should be ready 45 minutes before attendees even leave their seats Control the exits. Place the snacks and drinks near entry and exit points so short 15 minute breaks act...