Posted by Karen Bruner Upright on December 27, 1997 at 20:26:58 :
In Reply to: Illegal Caterers posted by Carl Jones, Premier Catering on December 11, 1997 at 00:19:09 :
: i know this may step on some toes, but i agree
: wholeheartedly with the state laws that make it
: difficult for people to cater out of their homes...
: a home based caterer has no real overhead, most cant get
: liability insurance, nor a health permit... they have the
: ability to underprice the market, making it hard on us.
: many times they dont underprice because they have lower
: costs, they do because they are ignorant.. and they lose
: money and eventually go out of business, but in the
: meantime, they have taken some business from me
: and have created doubt in the mind of the consumer as to
: the proper pricing of catered meal....
: I say, make it impossible for someone to cater without
: proper license and have tough standards for issuing
: licenses.......
: what do you think??/?
I will agree with you on the issue of public safety and the need for liability insurance. I'm shocked that Florida does not require food service companies to carry liability insurance. Do other states?
Once in a while when confronted with the fact that Queenie so-and-so only charges such-and-such, I remind my client (gently of course) that using a legitimate caterer not only looks better to their guests, since the food is not prepared in a kitchen alongside three small children, a dog and two cats, but offers them the added protection of my insurance policy. If something gets broken or damaged it is covered. I worked with a woman who set an antique mahogany dining room table on fire with denatured alcohol. Insurance paid for the repairs. Also, in the state of Florida, if a subcontractor (read: bartender or server) is injured in your home and is not covered by workmen's compensation insurance, the worker can sue the homeowner. It's worth a few extra pennies for professionalism and peace of mind. And my customers are welcome to set an appointment to come by the restaurant and see where we work and look at the kitchen, meet the staff and let us answer any question