Anyone looking to write Catering Tenders face the same taxing question. 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?

It’s a question you should have answered when you first set up your catering services company. 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.

Although when you are writting catering tenders, it not the easiest decision to make. A lot of this will dependant of the catering tender you are bidding for.

previously Catering tenders for schools were based on cost and your tender would only have been succesful if you were amongst the cheapest.. Since a high profile campaign by Jamie Oliver to raise catering standards in schools you might want to emphasise your quality.

Yet even in this example the answer isn’t clear cut. Schools can’t afford to look like they provide substandard, low quality food. However in most cases they can’t afford to pay the high cost of genuinely high quality catering services.

So what‘s the solution for your catering services company? How should you pitch your catering tenders?

look at both options, take low caost Cateting tenders for example. If your catering tender is over priced, you won’t stand a chance. 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. Justify your slightly higher prices in your catering tenders while explaining why that matters.

Make sure any claims you make within your catering tender are backed up. 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.

And what if you are the cheap and cheerful catering services provider? How then do you pitch your catering tenders? The trick is to pick the right jobs to tender for. Not everyone will be looking for the best quality ingredients. So if you only write catering tenders for those companies, you’ll have a greater chance of success.

Getting the balance right for writing catering tenders is not the easiest. The potnetial client either way is going to be looking for value in the service when reading through the catering tenders submitted for consideration.