Tips for Organizing and Storing Catering Boxes in Bulk

Whenever your catering business prepares food for an event, you need enough food containers to meet their needs. In addition, it is essential to keep them organized and easily accessible. If your catering business is struggling to meet these goals, this guide can help. Review these helpful tips for organizing and storing catering boxes in bulk.

Position the Most-Used Boxes in Front

There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction you feel when you have all your supplies organized. It makes you more professional as a catering business owner and guarantees you’re ready to jump into action when a client needs your services on short notice.

One tip that can help you prepare for those rush orders is to position your most frequently used boxes at the front of your storage shelves. For example, if your customers often call upon you for coffee during their events, place your coffee carrier boxes in front of the others in your storage room.

That will allow your employees to be more efficient when they grab and fill the boxes with your delicious hot java! Instead of having to scour and search, your team can immediately snatch the box they need and get the customer’s order ready.

Place Your Boxes in Storage Bins

Another good tip for organizing and storing catering boxes in bulk is to place them into storage bins in your storeroom. You can give each box its own unique container, which will also make it easier for your workers to find them when they are in a rush. In addition, you can assign labels to each container, which will allow your workers to quickly find the box they need and reduce their search time.

Using clear plastic bins to organize your boxes can also bring your business an added advantage; they will give you and your workers fair warning when you are running low on a specific box. Once you see that you are running short, you can immediately order more from your supplier.

Store Your Boxes in Clean, Dry Areas

When your client receives cardboard catering boxes containing hot roasted chicken or freshly baked bagels, they appreciate it when the containers themselves have a clean, pristine appearance. However, if they arrive looking dirty or damaged, you’ll make the wrong impression on your customer and potentially lose them altogether!

You can avoid these issues by keeping your boxes in clean locations. Don’t allow the exteriors of your boxes to feature grease stains that will have clients wondering about the cleanliness of your operations. Instead, keep these boxes in sanitary spaces so they look just as they did when they left the manufacturer.

Protect your catering boxes from water damage during their time in storage. Even if the box is dry, your customer will second-guess your work if their food arrives in a warped container. Avoid putting these boxes in areas where they may come into contact with moisture or where a leak can damage them.

Invest in Pest Control

After verifying the cleanliness of your storage spaces, consider investing in professional pest control to further protect your catering boxes. If there is anything that pests love, it’s cardboard! This substance can provide pests with a good meal and others with material for building nests.

Although the location of your catering business may not have pests now, you may someday find yourself dealing with creepy crawlers. If they get into your storeroom and chew up your catering boxes, you cannot use them to serve your clients. Invest in protection from pests today so you can keep your catering business in a strong supply of safe, sanitary containers and protect your food products.

Teach Your Employees About Box Organization

Another good tip for keeping your catering boxes organized is to train your employees on how to store them. Although you may place a high value on these practices, your workers may still make mistakes that cause your storeroom to become a chaotic mess, hindering their ability to serve customers efficiently.

Take the time to teach your team organizational strategies, so they can assist with keeping your storage area tidy and organized. You should also impress on them why these practices are so important. They will feel more motivated to turn the storeroom into a tidy space when they understand the value of organizing the space.

Stock Extras for Emergencies

Despite your best efforts to improve your organization and storage of catering boxes, mistakes can still happen. For example, counting errors can result in your shop being a few boxes too short when you’re getting ready to serve food at a corporate event or a wedding. Fortunately, you can avoid this situation by stocking more boxes than you usually need. By having additional catering boxes on hand, you can prevent stress and professional embarrassment.

You can skip situations where you would have to rush to find additional boxes in time for the event, or find yourself unable to transport the food to the customer appropriately. Although this move may cost you a little extra, you’ll be glad that you prepared ahead for such an emergency rather than dealing with an unhappy client.

Review and Refine Your Organization Strategies

After reviewing and implementing all these tips in your catering business, you may feel that you have done everything necessary to better organize and store your boxes. That is not the case. Even after you experience success following these suggestions, it’s essential to look back at your practices and see if there are any improvements you can make.

By looking for ways to refine your operations, no one can accuse you of resting on your laurels. Instead, your business can truthfully say that it constantly looks for new ways to please the customer, which will put you on the path to further profitability.

Applying these suggestions to your catering business will earn you a reputation for efficiency and dependability among your clientele. Try out a few of these tips today so you can enhance your longevity in your market while gaining customer loyalty.