FOR CATERERS ONLY
SPRING GATE'S ETHOS
We are organized to provide hospitality to our guests, they are not customers, they are guest at our family business which is also our homestead. Almost no one comes here alone, they come with someone that they have decided to invest their time with, their spouse, their adult child, their favored aunt, a cousin, their best friend, etc. They come here for that person, not for us. We are the facilitators of a pleasant time with that special person. Yes, our "cocktail" of good wine, beer, cider, live music, an aesthetic, and (hopefully) good food is important, but that is not the principle purpose of coming here. We are a destination to be with people. This is different than "classical" wineries, restaurants, especially those with a major corporate/business trade.
CATERING: THE THREE FOLD STRATEGY
At this moment in time we have three food strategies: Day of Week, Feast, Festival.
COMMUNICATING MENUS AND PRICING
Communicating the menus and the pricing is key to satisfying guest interest, and participation. Since many events are food-centric, this becomes imperative. At this moment in time, we have three food communication strategies for: Day of Week, Feast, Festival.
At this writing, SG differentiates a festival from a feast in this manner. Feasts are 95% food-centric on Saturdays and Sundays, late Fall to early Spring inside. Festivals are thematic around standard holidays (like St. Patties, or the 4th of July) but mostly around themes/memes that we have created such as "Winestock", "Blues, Brews, BBQ", etc) and they are outside, multi-day and late Spring through early Fall.
At this writing, SG differentiates a festival from a feast in this manner. Feasts are 95% food-centric on Saturdays and Sundays, late Fall to early Spring inside. Festivals are thematic around standard holidays (like St. Patties, or the 4th of July) but mostly around themes/memes that we have created such as "Winestock", "Blues, Brews, BBQ", etc) and they are outside, multi-day and late Spring through early Fall.
FOOD FOR A FESTIVAL
Festival food is always non-exclusive, it will include multiple savory vendors, multiple sweet vendors, vendors that do both, etc.
Festivals are scheduled 9-12 months in advance, for 2016 80% of the festivals are being repeated from the previous years. There
should be no reason for not having a preliminary menu, preliminary pricing, and basic pictures of food for these events. Like the feasts, you should be posting periodic pictures that include the glassware and product exclusively of SG. We recommend posting once a week until exhausted, and then once a week before the event. So, if you have five items, plan on the five previous weeks, to the event, to post pictures and descriptions of your menu items. This is how you increase your exposure and ours online.
Festivals are scheduled 9-12 months in advance, for 2016 80% of the festivals are being repeated from the previous years. There
should be no reason for not having a preliminary menu, preliminary pricing, and basic pictures of food for these events. Like the feasts, you should be posting periodic pictures that include the glassware and product exclusively of SG. We recommend posting once a week until exhausted, and then once a week before the event. So, if you have five items, plan on the five previous weeks, to the event, to post pictures and descriptions of your menu items. This is how you increase your exposure and ours online.
FOOD FOR A FEAST
Feast events show up in two places, first on Facebook, where they are instantly communicated to 600+ event subscribers, they are also instantly communicated to thousands of non event subscribers. A lack of an evocative picture and label for the event means this initial opportunity is squandered. SG's position is to post Facebook/Events up to 12 months in advance for holiday centered events (such as St. Patty's, New Years, etc.) which we have "married" to a feast marketing meme. Normally, Feasts are schedule on a 4-6 week cycle with only one Feast publicly posted/announced on the requisite Saturday or Sunday. They normally repeat foods for the previous like feast and they should have both relevant pictures and comparable pricing.
In the case of a posted feast, a caterer will be told when it is posted via email, within 48 hours they should be posting the menu and the pricing directly to the Facebook/events page as they have the technical permission to do this themselves. Guests will also be posting in this area, and they should respond to the requests about their menu offerings. When the menu is posted, at least ONE picture of the food should accompany it. This picture (like all pictures by the caterer) should integrated Spring Gate branded glassware and product on an exclusive basis. We highly recommend for your success and ours that you post a single picture with the menu, and then a picture and description every other day until exhausted to maximize your and our exposure.
Our standard contract is the basis for your participation in Feasts. SG, from time to time, will provide input on the menu in quantity, timing, quality, and pricing. One key attribute to engender a non-invitation in the future, is to be late, or not to appear at all.
In the case of a posted feast, a caterer will be told when it is posted via email, within 48 hours they should be posting the menu and the pricing directly to the Facebook/events page as they have the technical permission to do this themselves. Guests will also be posting in this area, and they should respond to the requests about their menu offerings. When the menu is posted, at least ONE picture of the food should accompany it. This picture (like all pictures by the caterer) should integrated Spring Gate branded glassware and product on an exclusive basis. We highly recommend for your success and ours that you post a single picture with the menu, and then a picture and description every other day until exhausted to maximize your and our exposure.
Our standard contract is the basis for your participation in Feasts. SG, from time to time, will provide input on the menu in quantity, timing, quality, and pricing. One key attribute to engender a non-invitation in the future, is to be late, or not to appear at all.
