Food & Beverage Best Practices

 

Break drinks – How much should you order?WineGlass

  • How to use the drink charts
    • Locate the percentage associated with the makeup of your group and multiply that percentage by your overall attendance. Then divide the resulting number by 20 (6-oz cups per gallon) to determine the number of gallons needed. Round each partial gallon up to the next highest half-gallon.
      • Note: Make sure you find out from your caterer what size coffee cups they will be using and adjust the formula appropriately based on the size of the cup.
  • For example, for a morning break at a conference that has an audience of 500 predominantly male attendees, the formula should be as follows:
    • Regular coffee = 500 x 60% = 300 cups/20 = 15 gallons
    • Decaf coffee = 500 x 20% = 100 cups/20 = 5 gallons
    • Tea = 500 x 10% = 50 cups/20 = 2.5 gallons
    • Soda = 500 x 25% = 125 sodas
Drinks for a morning break
Drinks All Male All Female 50/50
Regular Coffee Attendance x 60% Attendance x 50% Attendance x 55%
Decaf Coffee Attendance x 20% Attendance x 25% Attendance x 25%
Tea Attendance x 10% Attendance x 15% Attendance x 10%
Soda Attendance x 25% Attendance x 25% Attendance x 25%

 

Drinks for an afternoon break
Drinks All Male All Female 50/50
Regular Coffee Attendance x 35% Attendance x 30% Attendance x 35%
Decaf Coffee Attendance x 20% Attendance x 20% Attendance x 20%
Tea Attendance x 10% Attendance x 15% Attendance x 10%
Soda Attendance x 70% Attendance x 70% Attendance x 70%

 

Servings per gallon

  •  128 ounces = 1 gallon
  • Find out what the cup size at the venue is (6oz., 8oz., or 10oz.)
  • Divide 128 ounces by the appropriate mug size and the results will give the number of cups used by the facility per gallon.

Number of drinks per bottle

1 oz. 1 1/4 oz. 1 1/2 oz.
Liter 33.8 ozs. 33 27 22
750 milliliters 25.4 ozs. 25 20 16

 

Metric conversions

  •  8 fluid oz. = 1 cup
  • 1 pint = 2 cups
  • 1 qt. = 2 pints
  • 4 cups = 1 qt.
  • 1 gallon = 4 qt.
  • 16 oz. = 1 lb.
  • 1 liter = 33.8 oz.
  • 1 gallon = 128 oz.

Matching Food and Wine

  • Delicate, less-flavorful foods should be served with white wines.
  • Red meats, pastas with meat and tomato sauce, and other strong-flavored foods should be served with red wines.

Beverage Service Requirements

  • Wine Steward
    • One wine steward for every five tables where wine service accompanies dinner.
  • Cocktail Server
    • Once cocktail server is recommended for every 50 attendees.
  • Bartender
    • One bartender will usually suffice for every 75-100 people.
    • If guest are arriving in one group, one bartender for every 50 guests is more appropriate.