What most catering businesses want to achieve is a catering contract, the higher the profile of the company that offers the contract the better. To be the caterer of a huge well known company would be a massive achievement. Your catering company would be viewed as the food service that the big named company trusted and that would be an incredible boost to any catering company’s profile. Contracts can be offered to smaller companies or sole traders as well. An individual working alone providing a catering service could engage in a contract to supply sandwiches daily to a local store. Contracts ensure constant work (for the duration of the contract) and also provide an opportunity to further enhance a good reputation. If the service provided by the caterer has been to a very satisfactory standard there is always the possibility that the client will renew the contract. For the duration of the contract the caterer will usually be expected to provide breakfast, sandwiches at lunchtime and something along the lines of afternoon tea. Although on a day to day basis the specification from the client will usually be the same the caterer should be aware that there will times when variety will be required. If, for instance there was special guests visiting the clients offices the caterer may well be expected to supply a sit down lunch or buffet. Extras that may also be expected are Christmas lunches and farewell parties/lunches for departing members of staff. For the sole trader supplying sandwiches to a local store they should expect to have to supply seasonally flavored food. Perhaps a sole trader would be expected to provide differently filled sandwiches around Christmas time. So if a caterer does manage to obtain a contract they may have to supply the same food the vast majority of the time but they need to expect variation at some points and need to be prepared for this. This type of catering is known as corporate catering. In corporate catering the caterer should always think of the setting in which the food is being served. Food being eaten in an office probably should not be too smelly or messy. If a caterer was providing to a history museum it could be a good idea to have children’s biscuits in the shape of dinosaurs? The food should always be appropriate to the setting.