Tabletop Trends: Banqueting special: portion control

Banqueting special: portion control

Banqueting involves carefully balancing a series of factors. Obviously providing diners with great food is the goal, but to do that you need to balance your costs while taking steps to limit the amount of food being wasted, either during production or through not being eaten. Portion control is a key part of any caterer’s toolkit, but especially for banqueting. Ensuring consistent meal sizes also significantly streamlines the planning and preparation of at-scale catering. If your portions aren’t being accurately measured any inconsistencies can quickly add up to significant extra costs.

Controlling portions needs to become fundamental to the cooking processes at the preparation stage, and using the right equipment plays a large part in successfully introducing this into the working life of a kitchen. Choosing equipment and tools that help to make portioning efficient and consistent is one of the foundations of this approach to catering, and helps to make the required behaviours natural and automatic for staff. Equipment like measuring jugs, scoops, ladles and portioners help both with measuring ingredients during the cooking process and preparing standardised portions prior to service. Using differently colour coded utensils can also help to promote safety by preventing cross contamination between different dietary or allergenic options. There are also storage options with multiple compartments ideal for pre-prepared portion sizes, as well as containers with measurement labelling that make dispensing correct amounts easier.

Premeasured spoons and ladles help staff to serve the right amount every time without having to guess. Gastronorm pans are incredibly useful for controlling the amount of food being prepared, and can be paired with inserts to reduce volume for preparing smaller portions, for example if reduced quantities are needed for guests with different dietary requirements.

The other positive impacts of portion control include reducing waste and improving management of costs. Beyond this, the importance of creating a consistent experience for diners cannot be overstated . Each meal served to guests should be identical as far as possible, and just as with meal preparation the right tableware can help to create this consistent dining experience.  For example, ramekins are ideal for dips, sauces and individual portions of desserts or sides, while retaining a sense of individuality for each diner.

With sustainability an increasingly important factor driving foodservice and catering, and with the cost pressures, portion control is also rising in importance. Reducing the amount of food wasted in banqueting will be one of the big challenges for caterers looking to reduce their environmental impact, particularly in regard to scope three emissions. Portion control is, of course, already a huge part of catering and most of the equipment will already be present in commercial kitchens, but it may not be being used efficiently. Taking stock of what is already available and whether it’s being used to its fullest extent is a good first step, as it will help identify other equipment required.

Thanks to Dalebrook, FEM, Mitchell & Cooper, Signature, TableCraft, Thunder Group and Zodiac. for help with this article. Here are a selection of these company’s star products (you’ll find pictures of some of them in the carousel above)

• Dalebrook: The Mini Bowl collection is a selection of small bowls ideal for precise portioning and stylish presentations of canapés, desserts, tasting menus and others.
• FEM: Colour coded portion control utensils from Vollrath make consistent portioning simple, as well as improving efficiency and helping to ensure food safety.
• Mitchell & Cooper: Bonzer portioners are made from stainless steel and are designed to deliver consistent servings every time. Perfect for high-volume catering, they save money, control calories, and minimise waste.
• Signature: The De Buyer piston funnel is designed to make dispensing precise amounts of both hot and cold liquids easy. Simple push-button operation allows chefs to ensure consistent results when adding sauces to meals.
• TableCraft: Spoonout colour coded spoons make portioning simple.
• Thunder Group: we offer a range of ramekins in a variety of ounce sizes, in both stainless steel and melamine, in a selection of eye catching colours ideal for serving lots of different foods.
• Zodiac: Gastronorm pan dividers reduce the usable volume of hot-hold pans without altering the service layout, making it easier to control serving sizes and keeping presentation neat.

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This article is part of Tabletop Trends - FEA's quarterly light equipment and tableware sector newsletter.

Tabletop Trends is produced and distributed by the Foodservice Equipment Association, the UK's largest independent foodservice equipment trade association. All suppliers listed in this article are FEA members. A full list of Light Equipment and Table suppliers can be found on our Meet Our Members section - simply select Light Equipment / Food Prep from the Product Type drop down menu

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