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Transporting plates for catering is a huge concern when a caterer or party rental company is delivering for a special event setup. The transportation method that the plates are stored in needs to ensure that the plates are stable, don’t knock up against each other and also are contained from dust and/or bugs. They need to also be able to easily handle and stack. Here are some of the ways that plates are transported for catering or party rental:

Wire Plate Racks

Picture Source: Webstaurant Store

Wire plate racks are generally coated in plastic and designed to safely store and transport dinner plates. The wire racks hold the plates apart similar to a dishwasher’s rack so they can be run through the dishwasher for easy cleanup. Afterwards, caterers or party rental companies can wrap the wire racks with saran wrap to keep them sanitary.

Plastic Milk Crates

Photo Source: Drader Manufacturing

Plastic milk crates are used by catering and party rental companies as a way of transporting plates to and from event sites. Generally they are taken out of the crate, washed in a commercial dishwasher and then placed back in the crate clean. The milk crate is then saran wrapped to keep the plates sanitary and free of dust / bugs.

Plastic Plate Racks

Picture Source: Webstaurant Store

Plastic plate racks are designed to hold plates during a washing cycle. The durable racks have pegs that allow the separating of plates so they can quickly air dry after washing. The plate is made secure in the rack during washing cycles & transportation to reduce chipping and breakage while the rack is stackable to save space.

Wood Crossback Chairs have been a hot event chair for a couple of years now. They are such an elegant addition to a restaurant or wedding and are ramping up in demand in Canada still. Because they’re often made of wood though, party rental companies are looking for a way to protect their finish when they are being stored. Resin Chiavari Chairs often have an accompanying storage cover so why shouldn’t the cross back chair? Makes perfect sense. Here are three companies that sell a cross back chair storage cover:

Vision Furniture

Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Vision Furniture is a family owned / operated business that specializes in special event chairs. They are a designer, manufacturer, distributor and they also rent their products throughout the Philadelphia area. They have neutral coloured protective chair covers for cross back chairs designed to ensure dust doesn’t get on the chair when stored, are easily put on and taken off, and make sure additional wear and tear doesn’t occur during storage or transport.

StackChairs4Less

Based in Canton, Georgia, StackChairs4Less offers over 5000 products from around the globe. They focus on bringing the most up-to-date trends in the stacking chair industry. They offer a black, tarpaulin material crossback chair cover that is waterproof. It allows the chairs to be stacked with the cover on it and features a 1 year limited warranty.

EventStable

Based in Paso Robles, California, EventStable / Event Furniture Source is a distributor of professional-grade event equipment. They own their own party rental company that use their products every day. Their cross back chair protective cover is made of the same material as chiavari chair covers and available in black.

Photo Source: Décor n More – 2015 BizBash Event Style Award Finalist for Category: Best Floral Design for an Event / Meeting

Award recognition is one way to not only gain industry notoriety but also to gain valuable proof of your company’s awesomeness – without having to toot your own horn. Before I got into marketing I thought judges chose companies for awards by scouring the internet. But it turns out, that you need to create your own buzz – and part of that starts with entering your company for as many awards programs as possible.

The BizBash Event Style Awards is an annual event that allows venues, caterers, conference organizers, marketing companies, AV companies, event décor companies, floral companies, etc to showcase their most braggable finished product. With the amount of time, energy and money that goes into creating these experiences, why not submit a special event to be recognized for its creativity, innovation and excellence. The award submission deadline has been extended until August 28th with the winners announced on November 15th at the BizBash Live: The Expo event in New York.

To see the awards categories, rules, past winners and to submit your application, head on over to the BizBash Event Style Awards home page.

Candle wax is something that party rental companies that rent out event tablecloths have to deal with on an ongoing basis. Candles and tea/votive lights are an event staple that adds great ambiance to the event – but can be a huge pain to remove – and can potentially stain. We had a customer let us know our spandex cocktail tablecovers had been stained by candle wax so I thought I would test to see whether I could remove the candle wax from spandex tablecovers without staining. Here are the steps I took below:

Before Picture of Candle Wax on Spandex Cocktail Tablecover

Here are the items you will need to remove the candle wax:

• A–Paper Towel
• B–Cardboard
• C–Iron with multiple temperature settings
• D–WD-40
• E–Baking Soda
• F–Dawn
• G–Toothbrush

Place the cardboard and a piece of paper towel under the stain between the table and the fabric

Place a piece of paper towel on top of the fabric

Heat iron on low-medium setting and then press the iron on top of the paper towel. The wax will reheat and melt into the paper towel.

Here’s what it will look like after the wax has been melted into the paper towel – like you have an oil stain now.

Squirt WD-40 onto the oil stain. If it is a small amount of candle wax, you may prefer to put a little WD-40 into a bowl and use a q-tip to put WD-40 onto the stain.

Sprinkle a liberal amount of baking soda onto the WD-40.

Use the toothbrush to brush the baking soda into the stain. You will notice it clumping as it pulls up the WD-40 into the baking soda. Once it has clumped, discard the used baking soda.

Keep sprinkling on baking soda and brushing it until there are no more clumps.

Put Dawn on the baking soda and use the toothbrush to rub it in. Then let it sit for a bit to pre-treat.

Throw the spandex tablecover with baking soda and dawn into the washing machine with lukewarm water and regular liquid detergent. Tumble dry on low.

Voila! Good as new!

If you haven’t heard of Foodservice Facts, it is a 25 year old market review and forecast that Restaurants Canada publishes yearly on trends shaping the restaurant industry. The leading restaurant owners across the country use this report to determine potential impacts on their business as well as potential sources of revenue that can be used in the future. Restaurants Canada recently published this report, free to its members, where restaurant operators can use the important economic data found in the report to help stay on top of the latest trends and business conditions and use the information to stay ahead of their competition.

Some of the information to discover includes:

• “Overall, foodservice sales in Canada advanced by $3.0 billion in 2015, representing a 4.1% increase over 2014.” (Page 11, Foodservice Facts 2016)
• “60% of full-service restaurant revenues are generated by independent restaurants.” (Page 19, Foodservice Facts 2016)
• The top reasons diners choose a quick-service restaurant and the top reasons people choose a full service restaurant. (Page 19, Foodservice Facts 2016)
• “Disposable income is one of the economic indicators most closely tied to foodservice spending. Between 2000 and 2015, disposable income in Canada grew at a healthy rate of 4.6% per year…” (Page 26, Foodservice Facts 2016)
• The split of traffic by on and off premise restaurant visits. (Page 38, Foodservice Facts 2016)
• The top 10 foods and drinks. (Page 41, Foodservice Facts 2016)
• The hot trends and up-and-coming trends. (Page 42, Foodservice Facts 2016)

If you’re already a member of Restaurants Canada look for this report in your mail. If you’re not already a member, you can purchase the report online here for $50.00 CDN. It’s worth every penny!