Catering Schools in the U.S.

Most catering happens away from the kitchen where the food was prepared, and some caterers simply prepare food for pick-up or drop-off. Catering is wonderfully diverse. You may find yourself traveling to a different locale for every event, preparing completely unique menus, and meeting a lot of interesting people.

Essential Catering Career Skills

Aside from culinary skills, to become a caterer you must have both good business and people skills. You need to meet with prospective clients, win their trust, and create bids that they'll accept. Catering can be very stressful with its high-pressure deadlines so it's essential to remain calm, think on your feet, and stay efficient. Good health is also vital due to the physically demanding nature of catering.

What's Covered in Catering School

Catering school is a specific concentration within culinary arts schools or restaurant hospitality programs that offer core classes in food preparation, nutrition, and food safety and sanitation. Catering programs also include specialized classes, such as:

• Planning menus and functions
• Creating bids and pricing meals
• Hiring and managing staff including chefs, wait staff, clean-up crews, and bartenders
• Ordering rental equipment including tents, tables, dance floors, linens, and table settings
• Creating decorative themes
• Overseeing banquets and table service
• Ordering and taking inventory of the food, alcohol, and supplies
• Pairing wine with food
• Understanding business, finances, and marketing practices
• Food origins and food trends

What Catering Degrees Are Available?

Catering programs are offered at independent cooking schools, culinary institutions, technical schools, community and junior colleges, and universities. There are 6- to 12- month certificates and diplomas, 2-year associate's degrees, and 4-year bachelor's degrees. Your studies can be online, part-time, or full-time. Generally, longer programs offer more involved curriculum, although there are short-term, intensive options as well.

Is Catering School Necessary?

Ranging from $2,000 to $45,000 a year, the cost of catering school can be offset by financial aid such as federal and private loans, grants, and scholarships, by, for example, The National Association of Catering Executives. So you may be asking: is it worth it?

Not everyone who caters has been to school. For some, avoiding the cost and getting right to work is appealing. You can learn to become a caterer simply from doing it, but it may cost you in late meals and burned entrees. Perhaps the learning curve is better saved for school instead of at the expense of your clients. What a degree from catering school offers is confidence to the client that their special event will be handled professionally, without any doubt.

Where Is the Culinary Place to Be?

To maximize your success, you might consider relocating to a culinary hub, where there are larger concentrations of good food and paying customers, such as Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, and Chicago. These tourist-friendly cities may also attract more destination weddings, retirement parties, and conferences--all events that often hire caterers.

What Is a Typical Caterer Salary?

People are always going to throw parties, get married, and have board meetings. If you become a caterer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you'll have excellent job prospects through 2018, as more customers choose to save time by having others prepare their meals from scratch. While the average salary for caterers was just under $23,000 nationwide, top caterers can earn a 6-figure income as their business grows. The majority of caterers are self-employed, meaning your salary rises with your success.

Caterers who run their own business earn more than those who work for someone else, and those who have degrees may be more likely to attract elite customers and high-profile events.

The joy you feel when serving a beautiful plate of delicious food to an appreciative group can be turned into your career. Explore the possibility of catering school to see if it's the right path to get you to your goal.