Essential Items for a New Business

At Select Catering, we want to make life as easy as possible when it comes to ordering and using foodservice products. To help you do so we stock over 3000 lines, as we are firm believers that having one supplier is best practice. With over 40 years of experience under our belts, we want to pass on insightful information to help you identify different products for each area of your business. Below is a rough guide that will hopefully assist you during the setup and opening of your business so that you can find everything you need beforehand.

Kitchen

Often the heart of a catering and hospitality business, a successful kitchen runs like a well-oiled machine. So, what products do you need to do so?

Prep Tools:

Keep stocked up on items that will help you to create delightful food to impress the punters.

Clingfilm, Foil, and Parchment - why not choose a Wrapmaster? They are easy-to-load and much more hygenic than usual cutter boxes as they are dishwashable. What's more is that the concealed blade reduces accidents!

• Piping Bags and Vacumm Packs - whether your adding the finishing touches to mini yorkshire pudding canapés or preparing meat ready for sous vide cooking, these are great to have. 
  
  
• PPE - this goes without saying. Keep stock of gloves, hair nets, aprons, and cloths to protect employees and maintain hygiene standards. Without these, food hygiene inspectors will not be pleased.
  
  
• Food Labels - to achieve the coverted 5* Food Hygiene Rating; date, allergen and stock labels are a must. 

Cleaning:

A clean kitchen is a happy kitchen and regularly doing so with the right equipment is what will get you there.

• Chemicals - we have seperated our chemicals as per the task they are intended for. Be it glass and dishwasing for your detergents and washing up liquid, descale to clear drains, soaps, bleach, degreaser, and much more. Ask us about our e:dose range of concentrated chemicals for its free on-loan dosing and cost saving initiatives.
  
  
• Centrefeed Roll - arguably a chefs best friend... Have you ever tried wetting a piece and placing it under your chopping board to stop it slipping?
  
  
• Bin Bags - from heavy-duty XL black sacks, to compostable food bags, we have what you need to dispose of the rubbish within your kitchen.
  
  
• Equipment - with floors to mop, pots to scrub, walls to wash, and ovens to clean you are going to need sponges, j-cloths, brooms and scourers.

Takeaway:

Food-to-go is not only for fish and chip shops and curry houses. Nowadays, most food serving establishments offer their products to takeaway and if you are included in this category, you will need the packaging and disposables to do so.

• Hot Food - does your food need to retain its heat, or be easily reheated by the customer? If so, you may be looking for foil trays, chinese tubs, or well-insulated board containers. But, if your customers are digging straight into their order, an Open Tray will suffice. With this form of packaging, a great perk is that there is no need to have to spend extra on lids.
  
  
• Cold Food - from salads to sauces to sandwiches to baked delicacies, here is a range of items that will help customers safely transport, eat from and store your fresh food in.
  
  
• Disposable Cutlery, Napkins and Bags - in a busy lunchtime rush with city corporates swarming to your deli for a bite to eat in the sunshine, providing cutlery, napkins and bags to go alongside is a must.

To cut-costs, it is an idea to take a look at your menu and see if packaging and disposables can be used for multiple menu items. Considerations must also be made for whether you would like to promote and use eco-friendly packaging.

Front of House

Creating an atmosphere that your customers can enjoy is all part and parcel of the hospitality game. Do you intend on lighting candles and laying high quality napkins for evening dinner, or are you making the customer experience as easy as possible with takeaway cups and a help yourself to straws and water section.

• Napkins and Candles - one of the first things to consider. If you host sit down dinners, consider what ply serviette and atmospheric candle you would like to compliment the food with. What will your colour scheme be? If you offer grab and go, a cheaper more casual napkin will do.
  
  
• Straws - we have small, medium, and large straws. For thicker drinks, go for an 8mm hole, for cocktail lounges, a 5mm small straw adds a sense of class and swarve.
  
  
• Takeaway Cups - licensed to serve alcohol or perhaps you intend of making shakes, smoothies and frappes? Check out our range of shot glasses, 1/2 and full pints, tumblers, as well as flutes and 2 pints.
  
  
• Coffee - another staple of many a cafe and deli is the coffee. Select Catering gives you access to equipment with lease and purchase options available. We are also the sole distributor of Carrara Coffee.
  
  
• Table Cleaning - supply your staff with sanitising spray and cloths to ensure hygiene is maintained within your premises and customers arrive and leave happy.
  
  
• Ingredients - drinks are often the first thing that customers order and having a mouth-watering menu consisting of indulgent drinks will excite customers no end. Try frappes, milkshakes, smoothies, and exotic loose leaf tea's.

Catering and Street Food

A market on an exciting and sharp incline is catering and street food vans. Usually found at events, the enjoyable casual dining element has breathed new life into the industry. With imaginiative, innovative, and extravagant culinary creations, its become a popular choice for new businesses.

So, what products are useful for this type of business?

• Packaging - with space at a premium, having stackable, throwaway containers to serve food and drinks within is a must. Think burger, leakproof, and pizza boxes and open trays. Consideration must also be made for the eco-credentials of your packaging, as organisers mayrequest no single-use plastic on site. With the food soiling the packaging, post-event clean up of biodegradable and compostable packaging is much easier to dispose of in a way that benefits the planet.
• Cutlery - if your delights cannot be eaten by hand then customers will expect cutlery to go alongside. Why not go for compostable wooden or plant-based over single-use plastic. We even have chopsticks!
  
  
• Napkins - the great thing about casual dining is that the expectation for high quality napkins isn't there. A standard 33cm serviette thats in keeping with your colour scheme does the trick. Can't find a colour suitable for you? Give us a call and we can order in!

Toilets and Washrooms

By no means the most glamorous part of your new business, but a crucial one none the less. It is important that the impression your establishment gives off is consistent throughout the venue, and toilets and washrooms are no exception.

• Start with cleaning products - ensure your area smells fresh, looks the part, and is pleasing to enter. Our range includes bleaches, perfumed cleaner, descaler, urinal guards, and mirror spray.
  
  
• Stock up on toilet roll and hand towels - what is a toilet without paper consumables? We also have free on-loan Tork dispensers to help you cut costs.
  
  
• Soaps, body wash and shampoo - Evans range is comprehensive from bacteria killing soaps to elegant silky shampoo.
  
  
• Don't forget your mops and squeegees - great for floor and wall cleaning in changing rooms, bathrooms, and toilets. Regulary doing so maintains hygiene within the environment.

How to Order?

If you are ready to order for the first time there are a number of options available to you. Firstly, you must decide which account you would like to open. The choices are either pay as you go, or to apply for credit terms. For pay as you go, an account can be opened instantly by REGISTERING HERE. After your details have been entered, an automatic 20% trade discount is applied to your personalised account. Discounted pricing is applied once items are added to your basket.

If it is credit terms you are seeking, you can APPLY HERE. Our team will then process your application and perform the necessary credit checks. If approved we will open your account and send you login details. Again, an automatic 20% trade discount is applied to your account.

Following the opening of your account, you are able to order 24/7 - 7 days a week via our website. Our standard delivery is Next Day Courier which is free for orders over £75.00. If you are within a catchment area covered by our own fleet, our team will be in touch to discuss this with you. In this case, free delivery is offered on orders over £30.00. Catchment areas include: Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, and Coventry.

By having an account with Select Catering Solutions you benefit from flexible discounts across the entire range which can increase the more you spend. We also have streamlined website, phone and email ordering options, personalised shopping baskets (click Save For Later on a product), dedicated account manager and customer service support, recurring orders for essentials (contact us to discuss), access to bespoke packaging (contact us to discuss), and real warehouse stock feeds.

Ultimately, we are here to help your business flourish by assisting you with the daily operation of your business. So please, if you need support we are only a phone call or email away. We look forward to preparing your first order!