 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with Western culture and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(November 2014) |
Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio.
The earliest account of major services being catered in the United States was an event for William Howe of Philadelphia in 1778. The event served local foods that were a hit with the attendees, who eventually popularized catering as a career. The official industry began to be recognized around the 1820’s, with the caterers being disproportionately African-American. [1] The catering business began to form around 1820, centered in Philadelphia. [1] [2]
The industry began to professionalize under the reigns of Robert Bogle who is recognized as "the originator of catering." [2] Catering was originally done by servants of wealthy elites. Butlers and house slaves, which were often black, were in a good position to become caterers. Essentially, caterers in the 1860s were "public butlers" as they organized and executed the food aspect of a social gathering. A public butler was a butler working for several households. Bogle took on the role of public butler and took advantage of the food service market in the hospitality field. [3]
Caterers like Bogle were involved with events likely to be catered today, such as weddings and funerals. [3] Bogle also is credited with creating the Guild of Caterers and helping train other black caterers. [3] This is important because catering provided not only jobs to black people but also opportunities to connect with elite members of Philadelphia society. Over time, the clientele of caterers became the middle class, who could not afford lavish gatherings and increasing competition from white caterers led to a decline in black catering businesses. [3]
By the 1840s many restaurant owners began to combine catering services with their shops. Second-generation caterers grew the industry on the East Coast, becoming more widespread. [2] Common usage of the word "caterer" came about in the 1880s at which point local directories began to use these term to describe the industry. [1] White businessmen took over the industry by the 1900’s, with the Black Catering population disappearing. [1]
In the 1930s, the Soviet Union, creating more simple menus, began developing state public catering establishments as part of its collectivization policies. [4] A rationing system was implemented during World War II, and people became used to public catering. After the Second World War, many businessmen embraced catering as an alternative way of staying in business after the war. [5] By the 1960s, the home-made food was overtaken by eating in public catering establishments. [4]
By the 2000s, personal chef services started gaining popularity, with more women entering the workforce.[ citation needed ] People between 15 and 24 years of age spent as little as 11–17 minutes daily on food preparation and clean-up activities in 2006-2016, according to figures revealed by the American Time Use Survey conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. [6] There are many types of catering, including Event catering, Wedding Catering and Corporate Catering.
An event caterer serves food at indoor and outdoor events, including corporate and workplace events and parties at home and venues.
A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle, cart or truck which is designed for the purpose. [7] Mobile catering is common at outdoor events such as concerts, workplaces, and downtown business districts. Mobile catering services require less maintenance costs when compared with other catering services. Mobile caterers may also be known as food trucks in some areas. Mobile catering is popular throughout New York City, though sometimes can be unprofitable. [8] Ice cream vans are a familiar example of a catering truck in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. [9]
Seat-back catering was a service offered by some charter airlines in the United Kingdom (e.g., Court Line, which introduced the idea in the early 1970s, and Dan-Air [10] ) that involved embedding two meals in a single seat-back tray. "One helping was intended for each leg of a charter flight, but Alan Murray, of Viking Aviation, had earlier revealed that 'with the ingenious use of a nail file or coin, one could open the inbound meal and have seconds'. The intention of participating airlines was to "save money, reduce congestion in the cabin and give punters the chance to decide when to eat their meal". [11] By requiring less galley space on board, the planes could offer more passenger seats. [12]
According to TravelUpdate's columnist, "The Flight Detective", "Salads and sandwiches were the usual staples," and "a small pellet of dry ice was put into the compartment for the return meal to try to keep it fresh." [12] However, in addition to the fact that passengers on one leg were able to consume the food intended for other passengers on the following leg, there was a "food hygiene" problem, [11] and the concept was discontinued by 1975. [12]
A canapé caterer serves canapés at events. They have become a popular type of food at events, Christmas parties and weddings. A canapé is a type of hors d'oeuvre, a small, prepared, and often decorative food, consisting of a small piece of bread or pastry. They should be easier to pick up and not be bigger than one or two bites. The bite-sized food is usually served before the starter or main course or alone with drinks at a drinks party.
A wedding caterer provides food for a wedding reception and party, traditionally called a wedding breakfast. [13] A wedding caterer can be hired independently or can be part of a package designed by the venue. [14] Catering service providers are often skilled and experienced in preparing and serving high-quality cuisine. [15] [16] They offer a diverse and rich selection of food, creating a great experience for their customers. There are many different types of wedding caterers, each with their approach to food.
Merchant ships – especially ferries, cruise liners, and large cargo ships – often carry Catering Officers. In fact, the term "catering" was in use in the world of the merchant marine long before it became established as a land-bound business.[ citation needed ]
A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearance and offerings, including a wide variety of cuisines and service models ranging from inexpensive fast-food restaurants and cafeterias to mid-priced family restaurants, to high-priced luxury establishments.
A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicities, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by a couple; a presentation of a gift ; and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or celebrant. Special wedding garments are often worn, and the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayers, or readings from religious texts or literature are also commonly incorporated into the ceremony, as well as superstitious customs.
Vietnam Airlines is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a state-owned enterprise in April 1989. Vietnam Airlines is headquartered in Long Biên district, Hanoi, with hubs at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. The airline flies 117 routes across 19 countries, excluding codeshared services.
Recipe Unlimited Corporation is a Canadian company that operates several restaurant chains such as Swiss Chalet, Harvey's and The Keg, and food distribution for large operations.
SATS Ltd. (SATS) is a Singapore-headquartered aviation solutions company that is one of the world’s largest providers of air cargo handling services and Asia’s leading airline caterer.
A food truck is a large motorized vehicle or trailer equipped to store, transport, cook, prepare, serve and/or sell food.
Business class is a travel class available on many commercial airlines and rail lines, known by brand names that vary by airline or rail company. In the airline industry, it was originally intended as an intermediate level of service between economy class and first class, but many airlines now offer business class as the highest level of service, having eliminated first class seating. Business class is distinguished from other travel classes by the quality of seating, food, drinks, ground service and other amenities. In commercial aviation, full business class is usually denoted 'J' or 'C' with schedule flexibility, but can be many other letters depending on circumstances.
The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, food and beverage services, event planning, theme parks, travel agency, tourism, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars.
An airline meal, airline food, or in-flight meal is a meal served to passengers on board a commercial airliner. These meals are prepared by specialist airline catering services and are normally served to passengers using an airline service trolley.
Servair is a French airline catering company. It is subsidiary of Air France (50.01%) and Swiss catering company Gategroup (49.99%). Servair has its head office in the Continental Square complex in Roissypôle, Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport and in Tremblay-en-France.
Finger foods are small, individual portions of food that are eaten out of hand. They are often served at social events. The ideal finger food usually does not create any mess, but this criterion is often overlooked in order to include foods like tacos. One origin for finger foods is the French canapé.
Ground support equipment (GSE) is the support equipment found at an airport, usually on the apron, the servicing area by the terminal. This equipment is used to service the aircraft between flights. As the name suggests, ground support equipment is there to support the operations of aircraft whilst on the ground. The role of this equipment generally involves ground power operations, aircraft mobility, and cargo/passenger loading operations.
The Emirates Group is a state-owned Dubai-based international aviation holding company headquartered in Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, near Dubai International Airport. The Emirates Group comprises dnata, an aviation services company providing ground handling services at 126 airports, and Emirates Airline, the largest airline in the Middle East. Emirates Airlines flies to over 150 destinations across 6 continents, operating a fleet of over 250 wide-bodied aircraft. The airline has 170 aircraft on order worth US$58 billion. The Emirates Group has a turnover of approximately US$28.3 billion and employs over 105,000 employees across all its business units and associated firms, making it one of the biggest employers in the Middle East. The company is wholly owned by the Government of Dubai directly under the Investment Corporation of Dubai and as part of Dubai Inc.
Dubai National Air Travel Agency is an Emirati airport services provider which provides aircraft ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services across five continents.
Royal Brunei Catering is a company whose main business is in the catering and restaurant business. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Brunei Airlines.
Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC) is an in-flight catering service based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which provides catering and support services for Emirates Airline and all other airlines based at Dubai International Airport. It is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group.
Gategroup is a Swiss company providing services to the travel industry, including catering, onboard retail, food service provisioning, and food logistics. It serves as the parent company for four core brands, and is a supplier to many major airlines. Its head office is in Glattbrugg, Switzerland, near Zurich Airport.
ZeroCater is a food service company headquartered in San Francisco, California, specializing in providing companies with catered meals from local restaurants, caterers, and food trucks. The company expanded its offerings in 2017 to include a fully customizable solution for office snacking called ZeroCater Snacks and Kitchens and, in 2018, to deliver alcohol with Zerocater Pours. The company launched Enterprise Catering for companies with 500 or more employees in 2019. Zerocater currently feeds thousands of employees of companies including Slack, PagerDuty, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Salesforce, JUUL, Datadog, and Cisco Meraki. As of November 2017, ZeroCater operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
On 3 February 1975, 144 people fell ill aboard a Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 en route from Anchorage, Alaska, to Copenhagen, Denmark, after consuming an in-flight meal contaminated with Staphylococci.
LSG Group is an aviation services company that manages multiple brands, including LSG Sky Chefs and Retail inMotion. The company's world headquarters is located in Neu-Isenburg, near Frankfurt, Germany. Its North American headquarters is located in Irving, Texas, United States. It is a subsidiary of the Aurelius Group after being sold by former owner Lufthansa in 2023.
