Starting a Catering Business
Have you ever thought of starting a catering business. Starting a catering business may appear to be an easy thing to do, but a great number of people have come unstuck, and mostly because of a lack of knowledge. If you want to start a catering business you first have to learn all about the industry, and to do that you need to attend a catering college. The best catering college south of the Limpopo is the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine, and that is located in Centurion halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The Prue Leith College is set in the picturesque ground of the old Lyttleton Manor House in the suburb of Hennopspark. The college consists of a fully equipped demonstration kitchen and a large teaching kitchen, a lecture room, a 60-seat restaurant, a tea garden, a boma, a venue for weddings and receptions, a herb garden and a swimming pool. There is plenty of parking and limited accommodation for students close to the college. The Prue Leith Diploma course (the Diploma is recognized the world over) lasts for eighteen months and is divided into three semesters. For starting a catering business the subjects covered are extremely comprehensive, covering all aspects of the catering trade. At this college you will not only learn how to prepare and cook meals, but will learn all of the theoretical aspects of the industry, from Professional Ethics to Finance and Management.
The College is staffed by highly qualified teachers who have wide experience of the catering industry. They are led by the College Principal and Head Chef, backed up by a team of qualified chefs. Students operate under close supervision at all times, and the college trustees lecture to students on the various aspects of the catering industry. In addition, recognized leaders of the catering industry are invited at regular intervals to lecture and give demonstrations to students on subjects of their forte. This forms an excellent background for those starting a catering business. The subjects include Pan African cooking, Thai and Indian cooking, Icing, Breads and Pastries, Health, Nutrition, Hygiene and so on. During these talks students also learn how to prepare a Curriculum Vitae and how best to plan for a job interview.
During the Diploma course students including those thinking of starting a catering business, must attend the Cape Wine Academy Certificate course – this must be completed in order to graduate from the college. Students learn about the marriage between food and wine, in particular there is an accent placed on South African wines. There is no point in starting a catering business unless you know something about wine, and in addition to this course there is an optional tour to the wine lands of the Western Cape that includes Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and Paarl.
