It’s a dilemma facing everyone sitting down to write catering tenders. Should your catering tenders tell everyone about the high quality catering that you can offer? Or should your catering tenders focus on the low cost of your services?
The answer really lies in what your selling points were when you initially set up your business. Your inital business model should map the future for the way your catering tenders are written.
If you offer cheap and cheerful services then trying to sell the high quality of your food isn’t the way to go. On the flip side, if you pride yourself on the quality of your food and use expensive ingredients, then trying to compete on price is not the way forward.
And yet it isn’t necessarily that easy to decide when you’re writing the catering tenders. The decision should be based on exactly who you write your catering tenders for.
There have been many changes in the way Catering tenders for schools are written, 3 years ago you would have only been successful if your tender was competative on cost. Schools are now more aware that school dinners should be of a higher quality, largely thanks to TV Chef, Jamie Olivers Campaign.
That said, it is not as simple as that. Schools have a responsibility to their pupils to offer good quality, healthy food. But they also have budgets to stick to and cant be seen to be squandering money.
How should you write your Catering Tenders? What would be the best way for your your catering business?
Take a look at competing on cost for catering tenders. Obviously if you’ve priced yourself out of the market this isn’t going to mean you will win the contract. Make sure your catering tenders acknowledge that they may not be the cheapest if your know thats not your angle.
Perhaps all your produce is sourced locally. Maybe your napkins are all recyclable. It could be that all your hot drinks are Fairtrade. Make sure your higher prices are justified.
You may find it helps to back up your claims in your catering tenders. Are you registered as a distributor of Fairtrade products? Do you only use Soil Association certified ingredients? Then it needs to be in all your catering tenders.
So How would you write your catering tenders if you were offering low cost catering services? The answer lies in the jobs you are pitching for. Focus you efforts on companies that are wanting lower cost catering tenders.
Writing catering tenders is a difficult balancing act. The potnetial client either way is going to be looking for value in the service when reading through the catering tenders submitted for consideration.
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