Despite venue limitations, catering cos reveling in revenue
"Sometimes all you need is a little imagination." said Katarzyna Gontarczyk, a public relations manager for Sheraton Warsaw Hotel & Towers, which catered such a party last year for an international, fast-moving consumer goods company.
Caterers like the Sheraton have learned to adapt to the severe constraints on space in the city. But if space is limited, opportunity isn't.
Business is so good in this expanding market that whether they are dishing up lunch to corporate employees or laying out a lavish Christmas party, most caterers said they have seen business jump at least 30% in the last year alone. (See also The List, page 18.)
Gontarczyk said that over the last several years, the Sheraton found it has had to take a creative tack when approaching the catering business. The burden of finding locations for parties in the site-starved city usually is handed over to caterers.
As many as 80% of the parties it sets up are located in places the Sheraton has scouted out, from castles to the race track to airplane hangars, she said. The Sheraton recognized it had to take on the task usually left to professional party planners to be successful, she said, but does not charge an extra fee for the service, she said.
The LIM J.V. Hotel Marriott, the second largest caterer here, found it too needed to hunt down locations for its clients' parties. But space is no longer a problem, said director of food and beverages Katrin Hentszel, because the Marriott now has enough connections to swoop in and throw a party. As part of this, the Marriott has contracts with Politechnika Warszawska and the Palace of Culture and Science.
In the summer, most Marriott parties are held outside under tents, she said. Those outside parties are the biggest source of revenue for the catering arm of the Marriott, she said. Last summer, it catered about 12 to 15 parties a month.
But the holiday season, with Christmas in December and New Year's Eve and Carnival in January, is where caterers head for the crunch.
"Business is growing in leaps and bounds," Gontarczyk said. So far catering for the Sheraton has increased three-fold over last year, with reported revenue of zl. 15 million ($4.3 million) last year. The Sheraton is almost completely booked for the season, and some companies began making reservations as early as one year ago, she said.
However, some smaller companies, with little money to spend, were getting pushed out, Gontarczyk said. So for the second year in a row, the Sheraton reserved three days in December when these companies could rent tables as part of a Christmas party package. The cost of a regular party starts from $20 per plate, she said. But this Christmas, special companies can rent a 10-seat table for zl. 2,300 plus VAT, which includes an open bar, hot buffet and live band. Although these companies have to share a room with other parties, many have snapped up the deal, Gontarczyk added.
The Marriott, Hentzsel said, is booked until March, even though the typical cost of Christmas parties hovers around $50 per plate. Revenue from catering is already 25% higher than last year, at zl. 19.5 million ($5.6 million), she said.
Even newer, smaller caterers are seeing steep increases in business. Kamil Niwinski, a catering manager at Blue Cactus, said revenue jumped 40-45% over the last two years. Demand is "definitely increasing" for its Tex-Mex cuisine, he said, which is especially popular with the ex-pat community.
"We don't do weddings yet because most are traditional Polish weddings," he said. "They don't want our kind of food there."
But summers are booked for garden parties and Blue Cactus' Christmas calendar is packed. Some customers first booked as early as September, he said.
But perhaps the biggest growth area for caterers is serving lunches in corporate cafeterias. Each of the 10 modern office complexes going up in the next two years will have at least one cafeteria or canteen. But only two caterers - Sodexho Polska and Eurest Poland - are serious contenders to contract the spaces.
Landlords have little choice but to offer canteens in these office spaces, said Adam Rejczak, an office space leasing agent at Healey & Baker, who has steered projects such as Warsaw Towers, Sienna Center and Ochota Office Park. Depending on a complex's proximity to delicatessens or restaurants, a canteen could possibly add to or detract from a building's worth, he said.
An on-site cafeteria is also attractive to employers, said Magda Fratczak, a senior negotiator at Jones Lang Wootton. "People do not have the opportunity to go out for lunch anymore," she said. "There's not enough time." But employers can relax knowing their employees are not struggling, taking up precious work time, to find something to eat, she said.
Sodexho, an international caterer with a large U.S. base, holds most of the contracts in the new complexes popping up around Warsaw including GD Poland Distribution Center, Ochota Office Park and the Pulawska Financial Center. That canteen is huge with the capacity to serve 1,500 meals per day, said Gilles Poirieux, general director of Sodexho. However, he would not disclose the size of the contract.
By comparison, Joker Food Co. runs the employee cafeteria in Natpoll, Rejczak said. It went for $5 per square meter at 108 square meters. Sodexho also is a contender for the 500 square meter canteen with Eurest in the Warsaw Trade Center, Fratczak said. A caterer will be chosen next year, just before the center opens early in the summer, she said.
Poirieux, whose company is the third largest caterer in the country, said revenue has more than doubled in the last year, up from zl. 17 million ($4.8 million). Sodexho not only serves employee cafeterias, but it also caters corporate parties and runs the office's vending machines.
"It used to be employees went at home at 3 p.m. for a sandwich," he said. "They are tired of pizza and sandwiches. Now they can eat real food," he said, and employers can expect them back at the office sooner. Sodexho specializes in serving quick, quality food for cheap, he said. An employee lunch can cost zl. 5-zl. 10.
Sodexho, Poirieux said, also orchestrates the newest catering trend in Poland. As a bonus or benefit, employers can issue workers vouchers that can be used at any Sodexho location. Other restaurants are slowly signing on, he said. "The market is new and Poland is just discovering this," he said. "It already is in the Czech Republic and Hungary."
Caterers like the Sheraton have learned to adapt to the severe constraints on space in the city. But if space is limited, opportunity isn't.
Business is so good in this expanding market that whether they are dishing up lunch to corporate employees or laying out a lavish Christmas party, most caterers said they have seen business jump at least 30% in the last year alone. (See also The List, page 18.)
Gontarczyk said that over the last several years, the Sheraton found it has had to take a creative tack when approaching the catering business. The burden of finding locations for parties in the site-starved city usually is handed over to caterers.
As many as 80% of the parties it sets up are located in places the Sheraton has scouted out, from castles to the race track to airplane hangars, she said. The Sheraton recognized it had to take on the task usually left to professional party planners to be successful, she said, but does not charge an extra fee for the service, she said.
The LIM J.V. Hotel Marriott, the second largest caterer here, found it too needed to hunt down locations for its clients' parties. But space is no longer a problem, said director of food and beverages Katrin Hentszel, because the Marriott now has enough connections to swoop in and throw a party. As part of this, the Marriott has contracts with Politechnika Warszawska and the Palace of Culture and Science.
In the summer, most Marriott parties are held outside under tents, she said. Those outside parties are the biggest source of revenue for the catering arm of the Marriott, she said. Last summer, it catered about 12 to 15 parties a month.
But the holiday season, with Christmas in December and New Year's Eve and Carnival in January, is where caterers head for the crunch.
"Business is growing in leaps and bounds," Gontarczyk said. So far catering for the Sheraton has increased three-fold over last year, with reported revenue of zl. 15 million ($4.3 million) last year. The Sheraton is almost completely booked for the season, and some companies began making reservations as early as one year ago, she said.
However, some smaller companies, with little money to spend, were getting pushed out, Gontarczyk said. So for the second year in a row, the Sheraton reserved three days in December when these companies could rent tables as part of a Christmas party package. The cost of a regular party starts from $20 per plate, she said. But this Christmas, special companies can rent a 10-seat table for zl. 2,300 plus VAT, which includes an open bar, hot buffet and live band. Although these companies have to share a room with other parties, many have snapped up the deal, Gontarczyk added.
The Marriott, Hentzsel said, is booked until March, even though the typical cost of Christmas parties hovers around $50 per plate. Revenue from catering is already 25% higher than last year, at zl. 19.5 million ($5.6 million), she said.
Even newer, smaller caterers are seeing steep increases in business. Kamil Niwinski, a catering manager at Blue Cactus, said revenue jumped 40-45% over the last two years. Demand is "definitely increasing" for its Tex-Mex cuisine, he said, which is especially popular with the ex-pat community.
"We don't do weddings yet because most are traditional Polish weddings," he said. "They don't want our kind of food there."
But summers are booked for garden parties and Blue Cactus' Christmas calendar is packed. Some customers first booked as early as September, he said.
But perhaps the biggest growth area for caterers is serving lunches in corporate cafeterias. Each of the 10 modern office complexes going up in the next two years will have at least one cafeteria or canteen. But only two caterers - Sodexho Polska and Eurest Poland - are serious contenders to contract the spaces.
Landlords have little choice but to offer canteens in these office spaces, said Adam Rejczak, an office space leasing agent at Healey & Baker, who has steered projects such as Warsaw Towers, Sienna Center and Ochota Office Park. Depending on a complex's proximity to delicatessens or restaurants, a canteen could possibly add to or detract from a building's worth, he said.
An on-site cafeteria is also attractive to employers, said Magda Fratczak, a senior negotiator at Jones Lang Wootton. "People do not have the opportunity to go out for lunch anymore," she said. "There's not enough time." But employers can relax knowing their employees are not struggling, taking up precious work time, to find something to eat, she said.
Sodexho, an international caterer with a large U.S. base, holds most of the contracts in the new complexes popping up around Warsaw including GD Poland Distribution Center, Ochota Office Park and the Pulawska Financial Center. That canteen is huge with the capacity to serve 1,500 meals per day, said Gilles Poirieux, general director of Sodexho. However, he would not disclose the size of the contract.
By comparison, Joker Food Co. runs the employee cafeteria in Natpoll, Rejczak said. It went for $5 per square meter at 108 square meters. Sodexho also is a contender for the 500 square meter canteen with Eurest in the Warsaw Trade Center, Fratczak said. A caterer will be chosen next year, just before the center opens early in the summer, she said.
Poirieux, whose company is the third largest caterer in the country, said revenue has more than doubled in the last year, up from zl. 17 million ($4.8 million). Sodexho not only serves employee cafeterias, but it also caters corporate parties and runs the office's vending machines.
"It used to be employees went at home at 3 p.m. for a sandwich," he said. "They are tired of pizza and sandwiches. Now they can eat real food," he said, and employers can expect them back at the office sooner. Sodexho specializes in serving quick, quality food for cheap, he said. An employee lunch can cost zl. 5-zl. 10.
Sodexho, Poirieux said, also orchestrates the newest catering trend in Poland. As a bonus or benefit, employers can issue workers vouchers that can be used at any Sodexho location. Other restaurants are slowly signing on, he said. "The market is new and Poland is just discovering this," he said. "It already is in the Czech Republic and Hungary."
