Food & Beverage

Meals are an important part of your event where attendees can make connections, refuel, and unwind, Here are some tips to help you with meal planning, contracting, and selecting your menu.

Jump to a Topic:

Contracting

Understanding Your Food & Beverage Minimum:

  • Your F&B minimum indicates the minimum amount of money that you are contractually required to spend on food and beverage. This does not include sales tax and service charge.

Discounts:

  • Hotels will sometimes offer a 10% F&B discount when Banquet Event Orders (BEOs) are submitted 1 month in advance

Key Clauses to Look for in a Food & Beverage Contract:

  • Banquet Server/Bartender per guest minimum
  • Alcohol/bartender policy
  • Outside vendor clause (Can you utilize outside catering vendors? If so, is there a fee associated?)
  • Deadline for submitting final guarantees and final menu selections

Best Practice:

  • Check to see who the in-house catering company is. IEEE may have an active Master Services Agreement with them and a Statement of Work will only be required.

Choosing Your Menu

  • Incorporate locally sourced food options
  • Ask for Chef Selections to explore customizable menus (Consider seasonal specials for further savings)
  • Try to incorporate produce that is in season to bring costs down
  • Ask the hotel to label all food items to further accommodate attendee dietary restrictions
  • Thoroughly review BEOs to ensure that all event needs have been captured.

Timeline

Set timeline and make sure the organizing team respects deadlines.

  • 1 month in advance: Meeting Specifications are generally requested
  • 1 week in advance: Banquet Event Orders (BEOs) are typically reviewed
  • 48 hours in advance: Final guarantees are typically due

We Are Here to Help

If you have questions about food & beverage, please contact the CEE team.