Are you planning a corporate event? Donât overlook the cateringâitâs one of the most essential elements of a successful and productive corporate event. Catering companies play a crucial role in organizing food services for various events, ensuring that catering is one of the most essential elements of a successful and productive corporate event.
Food helps fuel your team’s minds and bodies when they work hard, brainstorm, and expend a lot of energy. Great catering makes your employees feel appreciated and valued when presented with delicious and different corporate event catering options.
Having unique catering, a company that uses only the freshest produce and ingredients and creates a menu for your occasion stands out much more than ordering sandwiches. Food does make a difference to whatever event you are holding. There are many different choices of catering styles to order from. Below, weâve created a guide to different corporate catering styles.
Corporate catering styles
Finger foods & canapés
Canapés and finger foods are small, bite-sized meals that are easy to eat with your hands while walking around, making them a popular choice for any catering service. They can either be displayed buffet-style on a large table or served by our professional staff circling the event venue. Canapés and finger foods are great for shorter events, networking, office catering and pre-event socialising (such as a cocktail hour before a conference) when people walk around and mingle.
This option is perfect for an event after lunch and before dinner.
Check out CHEFIN Cocktail package.
Business High Tea
A business High Tea is one of the many event catering options, perfect for breakfasts, brunches, morning tea, and afternoon teas. Similar to canapés and finger foods, the focus here is smaller, bite-sized, easy-to-eat pieces. Unlike finger foods, though, High Tea is typically served at a dining table where everyone is seated. High teas are a chance to sit together, unwind, chat, and enjoy a relaxing snack.
High Tea is an experience that not many people partake in, so itâs a great idea for a corporate event. Perfect for morning tea, when you need to take a break and yet have lots on the agenda to discuss, you can sit down and uniquely discuss the agenda. High Tea usually consists of a cup of tea, sandwiches, savoury items, sweets, and scones. Sometimes, sparkling wine is substituted for tea. High Tea encourages a communal, sharing atmosphere that helps teams bond.
Check out CHEFIN High tea package.
Grazing tables & sharing platters
Another corporate catering style that encourages a sense of community, sharing, and fostering connections, grazing tables and sharing platters are perfect for a number of different events. They consist of a series of deconstructed canapes and finger foods displayed on self-serve platters.
The idea with grazing tables is to offer a plethora of taste sensations. Fill your grazing table with cheese, nuts, dried fruits, crackers and breadsticks, relishes, pickles, and more. Grazing tables are suited at pre-event functions and served during workshops, training days, and brainstorming sessions.
Grazing tables are as beautiful as they are delicious and make a fantastic centrepiece for your venue. There will always be something for everyone on a grazing table, offering various delicious food options.
Corporate catering with a private chef.
Corporate catering services & buffets
You canât go past a corporate buffet as a comprehensive catering solution for lunches and dinners. This is a sit-down style dinner where guests can get up from their seats and serve themselves various dishes created by our private chef for your event. Depending on your request, these can range from appetisers to mains and desserts. You can also hire waitstaff if required for your corporate event. The waitstaff is always recommended for formal corporate events, while the self-service style is perfect for casual events.
Buffets are perfect for awards nights, Christmas parties, conferences, and more. They are the icing on top of a long day of doing business.
Check out CHEFIN Buffet package.
Sit-down meals
Like a corporate buffet, sit-down meals are designed for events where people will be seated at a table most of the time, making them a popular corporate catering service. Unlike buffets, however, people wonât have to stand up to get their food â instead, it will be served at the table by waitstaff (or a chef!) Sit-down meals are the same as eating at a restaurant, except your caterer does all the work for you. Perfect for awards nights, conferences, Christmas parties, and more.
Check out CHEFIN Sit-down fine dining packages.
Best event catering style for different events
Now that weâve covered the different corporate catering styles available letâs review some popular corporate events and the best styles to meet various corporate catering needs.
Corporate catering with a private chef.
Business lunch
Business lunches are best catered with sit-down meals or buffets, both popular corporate catering services. The style you choose will depend on the venue, context, and purpose of your business lunch, but generally, these two styles are best. For client or investor meetings, sit-down meals served by waitstaff are best, while large business lunches for the whole office go down well with a buffet. To truly impress, hire a personal chef to cook, prepare, and serve your business lunch.
Boardroom meeting
Long days spent inside a boardroom need proper food service to keep everyone energized and focused. Boardroom meetings are best catered with finger foods, canapes, grazing tables or sharing platters. These can be placed on the table in the middle of the group, and people can help themselves. Since these foods are easy to eat, people can grab a bite and stay nourished while still being able to interact and talk freely. The foods donât demand attention and can easily be slipped into the mouth during a discussion.
Conference
Depending on the time of day, venue, and group numbers, several corporate event catering styles are suitable for a conference. When people mix and mingle with a cocktail for pre-conference events, canapes and finger foods are a great option. A grazing table or sharing platter set up in a corner of the venue can last the entire day for smaller conferences. Larger conferences that run for multiple days or until nighttime will demand more complex catering styles like sit-down meals or buffets.
Cocktail parties
Cocktail parties are the ideal setting for serving canapes and finger foods, making them a popular choice for event catering. They’re easy to eat while people mix and mingle and walk around the place, and theyâll also help offset the alcohol intake. You can also cater to a corporate cocktail party with a grazing table or shared platter set up in a corner of the venue, encouraging people to assemble in a certain area and serve themselves.
Christmas party
Christmas parties are about showing your employees that theyâre appreciated, and thereâs no better way to do that than with a professional service that offers a good old buffet or sit-down meal. Buffets are great because people are given plenty of options to help themselves, and sit-down meals can be a winner depending on the food served. To truly wow your team, hire a private chef and have them cook something impressive to make your Christmas party memorable.
Check out our article, Ideas for the Work Christmas Party for Small and Medium Businesses.
Client meeting
Client meetings can range from short, casual affairs to longer, more formal affairs, making it important to choose the right corporate catering event style. Depending on the nature of your meeting, you could choose from a range of different corporate catering styles. Short, casual client meetings go well with canapes, finger foods, grazing tables, sharing platters, or even a business high tea for mid-morning or afternoon meetings. Formal and longer meetings can do well with a sit-down meal during intermission.
Training or workshop
Workshop or training days need constant fuel to help people stay focused, alert, and energetic throughout the day, making choosing the right catering services essential. Youâll probably want to incorporate a range of catering styles here, from grazing tables and sharing platters (for during the event) to sit-down lunches or buffets (for after or in the middle of the event). Ask your caterer if they can provide your meals in an on-the-go box with individual portions for each team member. This way, youâll spend less time having lunch with everything all pre-packed and ready to go.
Product launches
The catering for product launches should reflect the innovation and excitement of the event. Opt for contemporary and creative food options that can become a talking point among guests, such as miniature gourmet burgers, sushi cones, or bespoke cocktails named after your product.
Consider interactive food stations where guests can customise their dishes, adding an engaging element to your launch. It’s also crucial to cater to various dietary preferences to ensure all attendees can enjoy the culinary experience. Collaborate with your caterer to design a menu that complements your brand’s image and the unique atmosphere of a product launch.
Awards night
Awards nights are complex affairs that can also demand several different corporate catering in Sydney styles. Youâll always want a sit-down meal (or corporate buffet) at your awards night, but for pre-show receptions, intermissions, and cocktail parties after the event, you might want to go for canapes, finger foods, or grazing tables.
Make your event a memorable success with a Private Chef
Planning for a corporate event is no easy task, especially for busy PAs and EAs, but hiring a private chef for catering in Sydney can help put your mind at ease.
Whether we are catering for your C-suite boardroom meeting or your long-awaited end-of-year party, our focus is on serving boldly delicious food that’s made ethically and served up to look stunning!
Fine Dining with A Private Chef
Do you have a good idea of the corporate catering style you want? Let us do the work for you. CHEFIN connects you with a private chef to deliver exceptional corporate catering thatâs fresh, gourmet, and unique. Get in touch now!