Carols can be heard all over and just about every hot beverage has peppermint in it - Christmas season has finally arrived. Much like how we have a ritual in place to prepare our homes to welcome friends and family members during the holidays, catering businesses, restaurants and butcher shops make special effort to engage their customers. Consumers expect the ultimate in quality service and products from the food-related businesses they patronize.

These are 5 Guaranteed ways to ensure your business will exceed your customers’ highest expectations this Christmas season:

1) A Stitch In Time: Much like we recommend to our customers ordering catering equipment in Ireland, experienced entrepreneurs recommend catering, restaurant and other meat-processing businesses plan ahead and get stock ordered ahead of time. Whether your business is a butcher shop that offers custom-cuts of organic-only, farm-raised meats or a gourmet desserts-only traveling catering service, the managers in charge should put in orders for the most highly requested rumps of meat or decorative baking ingredients with suppliers at least two weeks in advance.

2) Ready for Action: A chef’s skill in the kitchen depends on the quality and maintenance of their equipment, especially the condition of their set of knives. It is vital the kitchen staff routinely checks and sharpens their knives before the holiday rush sets in. In the case that your team chooses not to employ the services of a professional knife sharpener, there are number of knife sharpening devices available in the market. If your kitchen staff is also looking to update or alter their current assortment of knives, Brennan Group offers the widest range of butcher supplies in Ireland.

3) Full to the Brim: Whether a new customer wanders in the butcher shop looking for a couple pounds of sausage or a regular customer calls in for a batch of holiday cupcakes for the office party, your business’s shelves must be fully stacked with all possible supplies. The manager should put in the order for baking or catering supplies at least a couple of weeks prior to the winter season.

4) Maximizing Kitchen Efficiency: All preparations will go to waste if the kitchen itself is not optimised for maximum efficiency. As an entrepreneur for a catering business, your efforts should be directed towards communicating to the staff the importance of creating and delivering orders in batches. A successful restaurant or catering kitchen staff will pair a ‘batch-manufacturing’ approach with the flexibility to work with last-minute changes without compromising on the quality of the final product. 

5) All Hands on Deck: Most food-processing and delivery concerns find their regular staff falling ill due to the changing weather and increased workload during the Christmas season. Plan ahead to hire enough seasonal workers to share the work so your business maintains its superior quality of service and the staff gains adequate support in the kitchen. 

From ordering supplies in advance to hiring a few extra hands for the months of November and December, these are some practical ways to make your business truly Christmas-ready. On the lookout for professional standard butcher and catering equipment & supplies? Bookmark Brennan Group’s e-store as it contains the premium range of catering and butcher shop-related equipment in all of Ireland.