As I continue to attend events both locally and in other parts of the country, I’ve begun to notice there are many aspects of event planning where unsustainable choices still seem to be the default way of doing things.
One unsustainable but commonplace choice I want to talk about today is pre-setting food on tables for plated meals.
Pre-setting a course can have some logistical benefits. If your meal has to fit in a short window of time, it allows guests to begin eating as soon as they are seated. It also limits the amount of plates servers need to bring out during the meal, which can help cut down on distractions during mealtime programming.
However, pre-setting food almost always leads to a significant amount of the pre-set food being wasted.
Why is this the case? Here are five factors that contribute to pre-set food being wasted:
1. Empty seats
If there are more seats in the room than the planned number of attendees, it’s human nature for guests to spread out and leave some empty buffer seats. However, since every seat is typically pre-set, that means the plates at these empty seats will go to waste.
2. No-shows
There will inevitably be at least a handful of no-shows for most meal functions. When guests RSVP but don’t show up, this increases the number of empty seats and wastes the associated pre-set plates.
3. Loss of quality
While most caterers plan service appropriately to make sure pre-set food is as fresh as possible, you’ve likely encountered an event where the salad sat out just a little too long. Guests are less likely to eat pre-set food that has visibly wilted, melted, or otherwise lost quality, causing more of the food to go to waste.
4. Dietary restrictions & preferences
Depending on the ingredients in your pre-set dishes, dietary restrictions may prevent guests from eating them. I’ve also attended many events with people who simply don’t like salad or choose not to eat desserts. If these plates are served by staff rather than pre-set, when a guest declines, their plate can be diverted to another guest rather than sitting out and going to waste.
5. Loss of opportunity to reuse & donate
When food is kept in the back of house at the appropriate temperature, it can potentially be reused in other dishes or donated to a food rescue organization. However, once food has been set out in the front of house, it is no longer suitable for reuse or donation. To maximize your ability to reuse or donate food, keep as much food in the back of house as possible and only serve what is needed.
If you can’t change your client’s mind about pre-setting a course, here are some tips to make the practice less wasteful:
1. Keep the number of seats as close to the planned number of attendees as possible. When guests are seated more densely with fewer empty seats between them, fewer plates go to waste.
2. Only pre-set 80% of the tables instead of all of them. Depending on the number of no-shows, this may be sufficient to serve all of the guests, or you can bring out the remaining plates as needed after the pre-set tables fill up.
3. If there’s assigned seating, check with whoever is managing attendance to find out about last-minute cancellations so you don’t waste a plate on them.
4. Plan for your pre-set plates to be set as close to the meal’s start time as possible so they remain fresh and appetizing.
5. Design your pre-set dishes to accommodate all of the dietary restrictions reported by your guests.
If pre-setting tables is your default practice, consider having staff serve those plates at your next event instead. You’ll avoid serving empty seats, ensure food is fresh and appealing, and have the potential to reuse or donate surplus food—all important techniques for reducing food waste.
Feeling guilty about food waste? Let’s set up a time to talk. I’ll help you identify and implement simple operational changes to keep food out of the trash can.