Our goal is to find a way to have meaningful F&B costs on an early-stage budget even though we are a long way from selecting a menu.
We have used a little math to get our hot and cold hors d’oeuvres pricing into an average price that we will use to generate both meaningful cost estimates early on and the ability to select menu items at a later date. And we have reviewed a number of factors to determine a good estimate for expected attendance at each of our F&B events.
This is as good a place as any to figure out how many bites per person we should anticipate.
To answer the question of how many bites per person, we must first understand the type of reception we are hosting. A pre-dinner reception, poster reception, networking reception all differ in the amount of food expected. Of course time is also a factor when determining quantity – the longer the reception, the more food will be served.
In the world of entertaining and conference/event planning there is a sort of hourly bites per person baseline of six bites per person at events without a dinner to follow and four bites per person at events with a dinner to follow.
Now whether that baseline estimate applies to your event or not depends on a number of factors.
The composition of your conference audience will alter the bites-per-person average. While it is not politically correct to stereotype groups of people, F&B professionals often have an opinion on professional groups that have formed from years of actual experience. In addition, the more familiar attendees are with each other, the more food is consumed (perhaps they are more comfortable piling food on their plates among friends).
Type of event plays a role in the amount of food consumed. Networking events that require a free hand for introductions and business cards will consume less food while gatherings involving more intense conversations tend to delve deeper into the food tables. Events that have programming also consume less food as the programming assumes center stage (instead of the food).
Time of day and alternate options can drive food consumption up or down. If the event is later in the day in a venue that lacks other food options, you can expect a higher bites-per-person consumption. If the event is early and additional food opportunities exist, you will notice a lower bites-per-person consumption.
Thus in determining the right number of bites-per-person one should begin at the baseline of 4 to 6 bites per person per hour and adjust based on their audience, type of event and event schedule.
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