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Tafadzwa Zimoyo Senior Lifestyle Writer
In life it is always impossible to do everything by oneself. In organising functions massive preparatory work needs delegation of duties and many parties have to be involved.

A party, wedding, funeral, anniversary, get-together or even a church function requires different care of many aspects involved. There are things that you need to outsource so that you remove the stress that comes with putting up such events. And one of the things that always limit capacity is food.

In the Bible, when Jesus fed the 5 000 men it was because the gathering had been done without considering food. Because of the supernatural power that Jesus had, five loaves and two fish saved the day and many thousands were fed.

This is basically it, for one to be able to provide food at any gathering they need to know the number of people attending the event and what sort of food to provide.

Saturday Herald Lifestyle this week traces the life of catering at functions as it is no longer for the nouveau. Gone are the days when one could see chafing dishes, trays, silver plates, white linen table clothing, not forgetting the themed deco at the rich and famous functions.

Well, imagine, there is a funeral and there is not enough food simply because the burial society which was supposed to organise food fell short from their daily collections.

And sadder still, a funeral which was supposed to take a day or two stretches to a week because the body has not yet arrived from overseas.

Such cases only worsen the burden on the bereaved family and the whole funeral becomes costly. That said, there are times when people want to celebrate with their families in the rural areas in the middle of nowhere and they do not know how they will feed the guests.

There have been a lot of changes in the way catering at public gatherings is done and people appreciate the current trends. “Food is an important component of any event be it formal or social. People need to eat and food unites people.

“Unlike yesteryear when it was expensive to do catering at a function. Now you can do it anywhere set a tent and your utensils and it’s good to go. One advantage is you can even buy only food and a caterer can provide his or her equipment then all is set,” said Prudence Katora of Westgate

Then another worst case scenario is when food runs out at a wedding, who do you run to and what do you next? A lot of gatherings for instance a strategic workshop for a blue chip company knows the number of guests but the venue is outside town.

The company does not deal with food and beverage but how do they intend to feed the participants? These and other cases illustrate how much outside catering comes handy. Nowadays food is available on the go and you might say catering services have gone mobile.

All the stresses that come with putting up an event or feeding guests are now a thing of the past. Supply of fast food or a full course meal is now readily available with so many catering service providers dotted around the country.

While some need booking well in advance, there are those who serve fast food and are just a phone call away. One local fast food outlet has joked about this in a commercial where a would-be son-in-law orders food which was served at the lobola ceremony.

Well this is now reality?

The chafing dishes, dining chairs and tables can now be seen everywhere whether in the middle of a bush or at some remote function. More often than not, chafing dishes, desert bowls, serviette and three course meals are no longer associated with the well-heeled or the elite class events.

It has become the new normal to see people dinning and wining in the village.

This type of fine dining is no longer restricted to the elite but to almost everyone who wants to lessen the burden of feeding guests. Things have changed and more and more people are opting for outside catering that offer food according to tastes and budgets.

There are those caterers that provide food for masses and then there are those that offer ‘ala carte’ menu and others simply do finger licking treats. But it now depends on what sort of function it is, is it a funeral, anniversary, memorial, rally, wedding, party, or lobola ceremony?

Distance is no longer a factor since most catering services come with the whole package including the lavatories. While everything will be served outside there is that element of decency that comes with it. Food is not just served on anything but there are proper plates, kaylites or plastic plates.

For some they would prefer using kaylites while others using side plates or dinner plates. Again the service providers would know the quantities of everything that they will supply.

That problem of trying to get people to wash the dishes afterwards is left to the caterers for they are the owners of the dishes.

All that the guests need to do is feast and feast and everything else is done by the caterer. One local catering firm Denny’s Kitchen confirmed that outside catering is now affordable now than ever before.

Rutendo Baiwa, who is the managing director of the company, said there was a great deal of saving that comes hiring a catering service provider. “These days’ people are now aware of caterers and they would prefer professional caterers to feed their guests rather than prepare food for themselves.

“This is because there are options a caterer knows the quantity of food for each gathering and they know where to find the products at cheaper prices. “Usually there are no wastages because the food is counted per head. We go as far as Chipinge as long as we have what the client needs,” she said.