Blog posts tagged with 'caterers'

How has everyone’s March been? It looks like we’re finally getting into Spring weather in Toronto after what feels like a very long winter. Here at National Event Supply we’ve been kicking it into high gear bringing in a wider range of wood folding tables, new amuse bouche spoons and forks, launched a new website that added smartphone capabilities, French translations, and easier access for event and party rental planners on the go, celebrated 100 blog posts, and exhibited at 3 tradeshows including the CRFA Show, the 2013 CRA Prairie Regional Trade Show and the 2013 Quebexpo. We’re not the only ones getting ready for summer—it looks like the blogosphere and event publications are also gearing up for the summer months. So let’s check some of the best posts out.

Special Events Magazine polled some of the top furniture rental companies across the United States to learn more about the types of furniture styles that seem to be flying out of rental warehouses today. To learn more, check out the article Top Trends in Event Furniture Rental.

The CRFA polled 350 professional chefs to identify what’s hot in the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association’s fourth annual Canadian Chef Survey. The full survey results detail the top 10 up and comer menu items for 2013, and the top 10 menu trends consumers will see in restaurants this year. To see the entire results document and view the top 10s, read CFRA’s 2013 Chef Survey Shows Variety is the Trend in Canada’s Restaurants.

Getting more Facebook likes is definitely something you should be striving for, but getting Facebook shares is even better—because a share means your content is being passed around social networks and creating buzz for your business. Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith, along with Shortstack created an infographic on the 14 ways to boost your content’s visibility and viral sharing on Facebook. Get all the tips by viewing the infographic.

RestaurantCentral.ca published a wonderful article on how even the best corporate strategy can and will fall short of its objectives if management poorly implements operational activities. To learn more about how the battle for competitive advantage can be won in the trenches, not the boardroom, check out the article Achieving a Competitive Edge Through Outstanding Operations.

With hiring new staff members on one of the many responsibilities business owners have, Inc Magazine reminds us of the 3 common red flags on resumes that we should be looking for when reviewing a potential hire. Check out the article to learn what those red flags are—3 Common Red Flags on Resumes.

Revamped website adds smartphone capabilities, French translations and easier access for event and party rental planners on the go.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Mississauga, ON) March 26 -National Event Supply, one of Canada’s leading suppliers to the party and event rental industry, today announced the re-launch of their website, with improved usability for mobile users, and complete French translations for their Francophone customers. The revamped site offers visitors from the hospitality, food service, party rental, and event rental sectors a fresh look that is more focused on users’ needs.

The redesigned website has a new user-friendly layout for touch-screen based devices like smartphones and tablets, enhanced product information and regularly updated content in the blog, and improved product pictures, in addition to a complete translation to French allowing for better service for their Francophone customers.

"Our goal is to keep our customers as up-to-date as possible, as well as to provide more efficient service to our clients,” said Dennis Heathcote, President of National Event Supply. “Our latest website improvements are significant because we have made the website fully accessible to Francophones across Canada, allowing those who are more comfortable dealing with commercial activities in French to more effectively utilize our online offerings."

Also added to National Event Supply’s technological snapshot are capabilities for smartphone apps allowing for enhanced website compatibility through easy-to-maneuver smart devices. This comes as great news for planners and event rental professionals who are always on the go.

“In this day and age, it’s important to place technology at the forefront of your strategic planning, and with the inclusion of a smartphone app and enhanced website, I think we’ve set a benchmark within our industry,” added Heathcote.

For more information and to view the new website, please visit: www.nationaleventsupply.com

About National Event Supply:

National Event Supply began as a home business retailing porcelain figurines in 1992. After expanding to provide commercial-quality products to the hospitality and food service sector, National Event Supply quickly became a one-stop shop for the party and event rental industry.

Today, National Event Supply is a leading factory-direct wholesaler to the party and event rental, food service, and hospitality industry, focused on growth through delivering quality products at great value with excellent customer service, technology, and beneficial relationships with our customers.

Canadian locations for National Event Supply include their main showroom and warehouse in Mississauga, as well as their warehouse facility in Vancouver. National Event Supply has also tapped into the American market with a location in Indianapolis.

Contact:

Chris Dabrowski, High Impact PR
Toll Free: (888) 864-7912

The snow is quickly receding here in Toronto, as sunny days, rain, and temperatures in the high single digits are all doing their part to eliminate snow piles. Any day now, I expect the trees out front of our building will start budding, and the heaters will be turned off. Sure, we haven't even had Easter yet, but the evidence is out there—winter is ending!

Tradeshows

Winter is not the only thing ending, the NES trade show season is coming to a close, with the Prairie Regional Trade Show and Quebexpo the only shows remaining. We've been to BC for a couple of trade shows, Las Vegas for The Rental Show, and exhibited at The CRFA Show in Toronto again this year. The trade show team had a great time seeing everyone at all of the shows. The trade shows that we do are always an opportunity to go out and see people that we wouldn't be able to see in our offices, and to let them examine and touch our myriad of products. Plus, the trade show team often takes sample products out on the road to get feedback from our customers. If we saw you at any of the shows we exhibited at, we'd just like to thank you for stopping by and if you didn't manage to see us, we hope we'll see you next year!

It's almost Patio Time

Today has been a grey day, and with the time change, things have been a little subdued. But that hasn't stopped me from closing my eyes and imaging that I'm sitting on a patio, drinking a beer, and catching some sun. And as it just so happens, we have three things that can make patio time great.

National Event Supply has stocked our NES Reliable Bistro Chairs in black and white for over 5 years now. These chairs are similar to the Grosfillex Miami Bistro Chair, but feature a more elegant back and different colour choices. It's a comfortable chair, suitable for lazy afternoons on a patio, or around a table at an outdoor wedding. The NES Reliable Bistro Chair is incredibly strong and features legs that won't do the splits regardless of the surface the chair is on. They're easy to keep clean and a favourite for outdoor weddings and on patios from Victoria to St John's. We've currently got a large supply of the chairs in both black and white in our Toronto Warehouse, and they are ready to ship from coast to coast.

Now that you've got seating for your customers, it's time to look at glassware. National Event Supply has our inexpensive Eclisse glass stemware that would perfect for any patio parties. Our Eclisse line includes everything from 5oz Champagne Flutes to 14oz Beer Glasses. If your customers are more interested in wine, there's three sizes of wine glass to meet your needs. So whether you're serving a nice Chablis or a fine microbrew, National Event Supply has the glassware that you need to slake your customers' thirst.

Finally, National Event Supply has a new product that we're proud to announce for 2013, Sol. Sol is a G2V spectral class star, with a diameter of 1,392,684 km. It's an almost perfect sphere of hot plasma and magnetic fields, and is the perfect companion to a cold beer on the patio. Due to the cloud cover and drizzle, Sol is not available in the lower mainland of Vancouver.

New Product Spring 2013 continues here at National Event Supply. So far this spring, we've introduced our New Folding Pedestal Table, our new wood Serpentine Tables, our new Wood 60inch Half-Moon tables, our new Wood Harvest Tables, and our new Polar White Dinnerware. The products just keep coming as containers arrive at our facilities in Vancouver and Toronto. And we're still not done. We have new colours of Plastic Folding Chairs coming including Wedding White on White, Royal Blue on Grey and Black on Grey. Finally, we have some new Natural Wood Folding Chairs on order.

Recently we took delivery of some cutlery that we had eagerly been awaiting: a Small Amuse Bouche Fork and a Small Amuse Bouche Spoon. Amuse Bouch Spoons and Forks are meant for single bite hors, d'ouevres. Unlike appetizers which customers order, Amuse Bouch or "mouth amusers" tend to be the chef's choice and provide a glimpse into the chef's technique and style. We've had a large Amuse Bouche Spoon in inventory since last spring. It's 5.25 inches long by 1.625 inches wide by 1.625 inches tall with a bowl roughly the same size as a tablespoon. It has been popular with several of our customers, and has been a nice alternative to our Porcelain Wonton Spoon. However, several of our customers asked if we had a smaller version of the spoon, and whether we had a smaller amuse bouch fork. We didn't at the time, but we do now.

The Small Amuse Bouche Spoon is 3.625 inches by 1.125 inches by 1.25 inches and has a bowl that is somewhere in size between a Mocca Spoon and a Teaspoon. It's ideal for that perfect little morsel that highlight your chef's ability to pack flavour and texture into a little bundle of joy. The Small Amuse Bouche Fork is 4.375 inches by 1 inch by 1.25 inches with tines that are 1.25 inches long. They are somewhere in size between a cake fork and a salad/dessert fork. If your chef wants to show off his ability to prepare small, savoury pieces of meat to awaken your customer's tastebuds, this is the utensil to serve them on. All of our amuse bouche spoons and forks are made of 18/10 Stainless Steel meaning they will keep their shine through use, washing, drying and storage. They are available by the dozen and are attractively priced.

February was a busy month for National Event Supply – with multiple containers arriving at our Vancouver and Toronto warehouses containing many products including our NES Wood Cruiser Tables as well as having our largest presence ever at the 2013 Rental Show in Las Vegas. It's also been a big month in the hospitality, party rental and food service industries so check out the articles below for a round up of some of the biggest articles of the month.

In an age of convenience, it comes as no surprise that wanting a little bit of everything has bled into the event and catering industries. Special Events Magazine wrote a fantastic article showcasing the response a number of caterers have shown to the new 'a la carte' wedding menu trend. It seems today's bridal couples are upping the requirements of caterers wanting numerous different ethnicities and foods instead of one common food heritage. Check out the article to hear more about the different responses to the rise in 'a la carte' requests with creativity, service and presentation.

Today's human resources requirements are upping the ante for many businesses making it hard for the solely owned, or independently operated businesses such as event rental companies, caterers, and restaurants to compete in finding top talent. Rental Management Magazine wrote a wonderful article to address this challenge by including practical tips including evaluating an applicant against four general levels of motivation in finding a job. To read the rest of the tips, check out the article to learn how to not only find top talent but attract them as well.

It seems that new and beneficial technology tools are being invented every day. Canadian Rental Service wrote an article on new online tools that could help those in the rental service industry improve their website. Not only does the article showcase some cool new tools that could significantly improve customer service on your website, it also offers tips for improving web experience, leading to greater customer retention and competitive differentiation. Check out the article to learn more tips and tricks to engage your website as a powerful tool to exploit new and unfound business.

Ask any marketer out there and you'll get notoriously mixed reviews on buying email lists to gain new subscribers. But if you can't buy a list to help garner additional followers, what can you do? Check out this article from MarketingProfs on how to gain subscribers without buying email lists.

Ensuring your operating costs are sound is becoming more and more of a challenge due to increasing costs, bargain seeking and socially connected customers. Restaurant Central wrote a blog post on how to reduce inventory control losses at your restaurant which stated the average bar or restaurant is losing 10% of its beverages and 15% of its food to variance and shrinkage—crippling and unsustainable losses. Read the rest of the blog post to learn more about what to do to reduce inventory control losses.

To round off our post, I thought a little social media humour would lighten everyone's day a little bit. Marketo created an infographic on the buzzwords the social media marketer seems to encounter which is sure to provide some amusement and laughs to your day – I present to you the social marketer’s urban twictionary. "What can I say? I'm attwicted."

Have a great week and be sure to check back next month for our monthly round up of articles!