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If your organisation is interested in going "green," one of the major ways in which you can reduce waste is by improving upon your corporate events. Not only can you work with a caterer that prioritizes sustainability, but there are many small changes you can make throughout your event planning.

Here's everything you need to know about "zero waste" catering and sustainable corporate events.

Organising a Zero Waste Corporate Event in Sydney

Your zero waste event can become a selling point in and of itself, but you'll need support. If your catering service isn't dedicated to sustainability, you can't actually guarantee that food and supplies aren't going to be wasted. Planning is also incredibly important: the better you plan the event, the less likely you are to have unnecessary waste.

Thus, the first step is to find your "zero waste" partner. From there, you can work together to make sure the event is sustainable from the ground up.

Creating a Zero Waste Corporate Event in Sydney with Laissez-faire

"Laissez-Faire Catering is committed to taking the sustainable path in a largely environmentally-unfriendly industry. We consistently implement new methods of reducing waste, attend workshops highlighting eco-friendly practices, and form partnerships with like-minded businesses to decrease our carbon footprint."

- Laissez-Faire

Laissez-faire works hard to ensure that each corporate event is sustainable. There are a few things that Laissez-Faire catering is able to do to promote this type of event:

• Use local, seasonal produce, which produces little to no waste. Local, seasonal produce is far more sustainable, as it costs less in energy to both grow and to ship. Further, accessibility makes it possible for the caterer to get exactly the amount of seasonal produce they need. 
• Use recyclable packaged products and recyclable glasses, dinnerware, and other similar items. When possible, only reusable items should be used. If disposable items need to be used, they should be the type that can be easily recycled. 
• Work with environmentally-friendly, local suppliers. It isn't just enough to focus on sustainability yourself: you need to align yourself with other businesses that share these goals. By doing this, you can encourage the community to become greener as well. 
• Source wines from sustainable, eco-conscious local farms, rather than shipping them internationally. Additionally, spirits, beer, and other beverages can be purchased locally. Eco-friendly wines and spirits are produced in a way that protects and conserves the environment. 
• Use expert measures of food storing, measuring, and predicting, to reduce the amount of food waste. Expertise is the easiest way for a corporate event planner to purchase exactly what they need. Corporate planners need to be able to predict exactly what resources you need. 

Of course, your caterer isn't solely responsible for creating your zero waste event: there are also some ways your company can promote reduced waste, as well. While your caterer will take care of the food and the supplies, you will usually be taking care of decor, travel arrangements, and the venue. 

Creating a More Sustainable Sydney Event

Your caterer only controls your food and associated products; there are other ways you can improve your event. Here are a few tips to improve the sustainability goals of your next corporate function:

• Create a compost for any unused ingredients and uneaten food. 
• Avoid using bottled water; use refill stations and biodegradable cups instead.
• Take a look at all the sources of your products, to make sure they're sustainable and free trade. 
• Try to use digital documents rather than printing tickets and other essential paperwork.
• Add recycle bins around the property so employees are more likely to recycle.
• Consider environmentally-friendly transportation for guests, such as encouraging carpooling.
• Think about environmentally-friendly, biodegradable decorations, such as sustainable cut flowers.

These are only a few of the methods that you can use to improve your sustainability. Once you start your company's green initiatives, you'll be able to find new and interesting ways to contribute to the environment. You can also ask your employees for suggestions.  

If you can reduce the amount that your company is growing away for each event, you can both help the environment and potentially reduce the costs for your business. To get started, you can contact the experts at Laissez-Faire.

Have you ever been to a huge event and wondered how caterers and organisers are able to manage such an organisational feat? Or how do they do it while being sustainable?

Large events can range from personal celebrations to corporate parties to promotional events. Overall, there are 10 million meetings and events held annually all over the world. 

Big events need to cover factors like the venue, catering, entertainment, theming and audiovisual. Each of these aspects will have a budget allocation and the priorities will be determined by the focus or the aim of the event.

With the start of the year is always a busy time for events, countless parties have been booked, corporate events discussed and catering menus planned out to the smallest ingredient.

Managing a Sustainable Corporate Event in Sydney

Managing big events requires lots of staff and manpower. For everything to be successful, the groundwork must be laid out during planning stages. Caterers and suppliers must be sourced and briefed about the event well ahead of time.

All events are different and the way they are managed depends largely on the type of event and the purpose. For example, some events may not require entertainment while others rely on live music or a showcase of some kind.

Venues should be taken into consideration as soon as you know how many guests to expect. For our list of venues suitable for large events, check this out - Laissez Faire venues.

 Sustainable Catering Menu

For large events, a great deal of pressure lies on us, the catering service. But long guest lists shouldn’t scare caterers into sacrificing the quality and taste of the food they plan to serve.

Here are a few tips to make catering for a large party of guests a little easier:

• Use seasonal produce
• Serve foods that can be easily replenished and easily accessed by guests
• Ask your caterer to map everything out in the floorplan. Carefully consider kitchen locations and guest flow
• When dealing with large events Laissez-faire's strategy is to divide the space into different areas with separate kitchens, bars and staff. This allows us to create small events within a large event and will enhance the guest experience by improving service enormously

Weddings and other lavish parties are all about the right food and the right cocktails. Extra-large corporate events (with thousands of guests) are not usually seated since guests are interested in mingling and networking. This type of event will need a different strategy to cater and would require foods that can be eaten easily anywhere while guests socialise.

Catering and Staffing

Another trick to the success of large venue catering is how organisers staff the party. To ensure smooth sailing, the ratio of service personnel to the number of guests should be observed. As a standard, here’s our guideline ratio for various staff to guests:

• 1 bartender for every 50-75 guests
• 1 wait staff for every 10 guests at sit-down lunches and dinners 
• 1 wait staff for every 30 guests at cocktail events
• 1 wait staff for every 40 guests at conference events
• 1 security guard for every 75-100 guests
• 1 function coordinator for every 200 guests

This of course all depends on the type of event you are holding. Change the ratios to suit your event.

Sustainable Catering in Sydney for Large Events

Big events should be aware of sustainable catering. Countries all over the world, including Australia, are trying to build and establish sustainability as a way for life. Big industries like catering should lead by example as a frontrunner in the sustainability practice.

At Laissez, our Foodified policy aims to “take actions to prevent degradations of our natural systems, while supporting the repair and recovery of those systems.” Catering policies such as this can help to change the way large and sustainable events are organised. By making use of composting strategies, minimising use of plastics and use of seasonal and local ingredients in the menu, the catering industry can turn over a new leaf in sustainable practice.

Featured Sydney Venues for Your Next Corporate Event

The Venue Alexandria

Urban Winery Sydney