What is a catering establishment

An organization providing Food and Beverage is called a catering establishment. Catering

establishments are broadly classified into primary catering establishment and secondary catering
establishment.

Primary Catering Establishment

Hotel, Restaurants and fast-food outlets, which are primarily concerned with the provision of food
and beverage as a main source of revenue, are called primary catering establishment.

Secondary Catering Establishment

In this case the provision of food and beverage is a part of another business such as welfare
catering and industrial catering.
Primary Catering Establishment

Hotels: – The main purpose of hotels is to provide accommodation, which may or may not include
the service of food and beverage. A hotel may be a small family run unit providing a limited
service in one restaurant, or a large luxury hotel providing service through a number of outlets
such as the coffee shop, room service, banquets, specialty restaurant, grill room, and cocktail bars.
The service in these types of hotels is usually personalized and the tariff is very high, as they
generally cater to persons of a high social standing. Medium class hotels are similar to luxury
hotels, though there surrounding are less luxurious and the facilities are not of the same standard
as those available in the luxury category.

Restaurant: – They are of various standards. A specialty or an A graded restaurant; objective is the
provision of food and beverage of a particular region. The food service and prices are often
comparable to those similar restaurants in luxury hotels. They offer a wide choice from an
elaborate menu and a very high quality of service.
Bars & Pubs: – The idea is fairly new in India and borrowed from the concept of public houses in
England. The are geared to provide service of all types of alcohol with an emphasis on draught
beer and good music. Foods may also be served from a limited menu.

Popular Catering RESTAURANT: – The objective of popular catering restaurant is to provide a quick
and economic meal, in a clean and standardized dining room and is very popular among urban
population of India. They are of various styles and categories. Some restaurants serve only
vegetarian food while some specialize in the food of a particular region such as the Punjab or
Andhra Pradesh etc.

Fast Food Restaurant: – This is basically an American concept .The service of food & beverage is at
a faster pace, than an “a la cart Restaurant” as the menu is compiled with a special emphasis on
the speed of preparation and service, and to make this type of service financially viable, a large
turnover of customers is necessary .The investments is rather large due to the specialized and
expensive equipment needed and high labour costs involved.

Outdoor Catering: – This means catering to a large number of people at a venue of their choice.
Hotels, restaurants and catering contractors meet this growing demand. The types of food and set
up depends entirely on the price agreed upon outdoor catering includes catering for functions
such as marriages parties and convention.

Departmental Store Catering: – Some departmental stores apart from carrying on their primary
activity of retailing their own wares provide catering as an additional facility. This type of catering
evolved when large departmental stores wished to provide food and beverages to their customers
as a part of their retailing concept. It is in convenient and time consuming for customer to take a
break from shopping and have some refreshments at a different location. Thus arose the need of
some sort of a dining facility in the departmental location. This style of catering is becoming more
popular and varied nowadays.

Club Catering: – This refers to the provision of food and beverage to a restricted clientele. The
origin of this service can be trace back to England where membership of a club was considered
prestigious. Today, in India there is a proliferation of clubs to suit different needs. Clubs for people
with similar interests such as golf clubs and cricket clubs, to name a few, have sprung up. The
service and food in these clubs tend to be of a fairly good standard and are economically priced.

Nightclubs: – are usually situated in large cities that have an affluent urban population. They offer
entertainment with good food and expensive drinks.

Transport CATERING: – The provision of food and beverages to passengers, before, during and
after a journey on trains, aircraft, ships and in buses or private vehicles is termed as transport
catering.

The major forms of modern-day transport catering are airline catering, railway catering, ship
catering and surface catering in coaches or buses, which operate on long distance routes.

Airlines Catering: – Catering to airline passenger on flight as well as at restaurants situated at

airport is termed as airlines catering and catering to passengers en route is normally contracted
out to a flight catering unit of a reputed hotel as to a catering contractor.

Civil aviation progressed rapidly after 2nd World War when large number of surpluses, D.C.-III, C-47
aircraft were available for disposal. From 1946 private commercial Airlines began with subsequent
food requirement. Initially food was provided in boxes pre-packed as the majority of aircraft
where without facilities of in-flight catering services. The international carriers operating through
India had no flight kitchen so they were largely dependent on the Airport Restaurants or hotels
situated in nearby cities to cater to their requirements.

It was necessary to improve and to expand the kitchen service inside the airport to provide
passengers with a comfortable service along with the food within the cost of the Airline ticket.

Several flight kitchens have been established in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata to cope with the needs
of the International Carriers. Air India floated a subsidiary company with a view to operate flight
kitchen known as “CHEF -AIR” and also accommodate travellers in five-star category hotels at
major airports (The Centaur Group of Hotels).
Now a days several flight kitchens are being established near the major airports of India such as,
Taj Sats Airlines Catering, Oberoi’s Flight Kitchen, Ambassador Sky Chef, Sky Gourmet, Chef Air
which are catering to the various domestic and International Airlines.

Railway Catering: – Catering to railway passengers both during the journey as well as during halts
at different railway station is called railway catering. Traveling by train for long distances can be
very tiring; hence a constant supply of a verity of refreshment choice helps to make the journey
less tedious.

In the mid-19th century, the railway network began in India with an operation the way to grow the
length and breadth of the vast sub-continent with travel made easier, people were transported
from one part to another part of country.
At most of the larger stations of the big city’s refreshment rooms were established. The trains
would halt to an appropriate length of time so that the passengers could have a light and simple
meal.

Third class passengers were unable to afford the luxury food eating in the refreshment room
would avail themselves from the numerous venders on the station platforms.
Railway companies even went to extent of the city hotels attached to the stations so that the
passengers who are changing from one region to another region could spend the night before and
after in relative comfort. The luxury of sleeping cars and restaurant cars were a much later
development.

The present railway catering service is managed both departmentally and through the licensed
contractors. Catering facilities are available 2995 stations in India and the licensed contractors
cater the most numbers. Recently the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has
appointed consultant for the improvement of railway catering. In this new type of service, the
meals are served in a disposable aluminium foil casserole. The foods are cooked in base kitchen (in
major stations) and kept in hot cases in pantry cars.

Indian railway also owns several railway city hotels at Ranchi, Puri, Howrah, Tata Nagar, Kochi and
Thiruvananthapuram.

Ship Catering: – Voyages by sea were once a very popular mode of traveling, but with the onset of
air travel, sea voyages have declined sharply. However, recently it has again become popular with
a large number of people opting for pleasure cruises. Cargo and passenger ships have kitchens and
restaurants on board. The equality of food, service and facilities offered depends on the class of
the ship and the price, and the passengers are willing to pay.

These are cruises to suit every pocket. There are cruises of two to five days duration which offer
budget accommodation comparable to a limited-service hotel, while luxury cruises of seven days
to three months duration offer luxuries state rooms and various other facilities that are
comparable to first class resort. Luxury cruises prepare travellers with deluxe accommodation and
attentive and specialized service at a very high provision.

All these ships provide a verity of food and beverage service outlets, to cater to the individual
needs of the passengers. They range from room service and cocktail bars to specialty dining
restaurants. The ships to specialty that caters to the cruise sectors today, are virtually floating
palaces with every conceivable guest service available aboard them. This sector has been growing
in popularity in recent times, and has become affordable to a large cross section of people.

Surface Catering: – Catering to passenger traveling by surface such as buses and private vehicles is
called surface catering. These catering establishments are normally located around a bus terminus
or on a highway. They may be either government run restaurants, or privately owned
establishments of late there has been a growing popularity of Punjabi style catteries called
Dhaba’s on the highways.
Welfare Catering: – The provision of food and beverage to people to fulfil a social need,
determined by a recognized authority, is known as welfare catering. This grew out of the welfare
state concept, prevalent in western countries. It includes catering in hospitals, schools, colleges,
the armed forces and prisons.
Industrial Catering: – The provision of food and beverage to people at work, in industries and
factories at highly subsidized rates is called industrial catering. It is based on the assumption that
better fed employees are happy and more productive.

Catering for a large work force may be undertaken by the management itself, or may be
contracted out to professional caters. Depending on the choice of menu suggested by the
management, catering contractors undertaken to face the workforce for a fixed period of time at a
predetermined price.
Leisure –Linked Catering: -These types of catering refer to the provision of food and beverage to
people engaged in leisure. This includes the provision of food and beverage includes stalls and
Kiosks at exhibition, theme parks, galleries and theatres.