Choosing a Name for Your Food and Catering Business

Name Your Food & Catering Business

Do you serve up bland, boring buffets and mediocre meals? No, of course not. But if your name is bland, boring or mediocre, potential customers may well draw the conclusion that your food is too. The words Fresh, Tasty, Gourmet, Supreme, Bon Appetit and Upper Crust are all overused in business and have become meaningless. They tell people nothing about your business; after all, wouldn't you expect a catering company to offer tasty, fresh food?

A catchy, original name can help your business stand out from the crowd and distinguish you from the hundreds of competitors. A name that indicates what you specialize in will ensure that you don't waste your time dealing with vague enquiries, that may or may not lead on to a sale. No-one who doesn't like Chinese food would think of contacting Oriental Express and someone looking for a caterer for their wedding is not going to phone Working Lunch. Those companies' names are acting as advertisements, attracting the right sort of customer.

So, before you decide on a name you must identify your unique selling point. Perhaps you offer a particular country's cuisine. Your name can indicate this. You don't have to use a real Italian word if you specialize in pasta and pizza; you can tag a suffix like -issimo or -eria to an English word, or a made-up word, to come up with a name such as Delissimo (which will make people think both of 'delicious' and the Italian 'bellissimo') or Feasteria (on the lines of pizzeria). Think about common suffixes or letter combinations in the language of the country concerned. Anything ending in -ski or -sky has to be Russian or Eastern European, -ito is a typical Spanish ending, and -aki suggests something Japanese.

When we hear or see particular words and phrases they conjure up images in our mind. Aunt Jessie's Kitchen suggests that this is a business offering traditional home cooking; a name based on slang, abbreviations or informal language, such as Big Bite, Tuck In or Buffets2Go, suggests that you cater for informal events, not society weddings. Don't expect any calls from Muslims or Jews if you call yourself Piglets Catering (an actual name that is in my local phone directory) or The Flying Hog.

Catchy names are often based on alliteration, assonance or rhyme. Pesto Parties and Kids' Cuisine are alliterative names because both words begin with the same sound (note that it is the sound that is important, not the spelling). The names Top Nosh, and Nice and Spicy have assonance, in other words the same vowel sounds appear throughout. Snappy Snacks combines alliteration and assonance. Posh Nosh, and Menus and Venues are examples of rhyming names.

The letter M is often associated with delicious food, as it's what we say when something is tasty -- mmmmmm! It also features prominently in related words such as yummy, scrummy and nummy. That is why M is a popular letter to begin chocolate brands: Maltesers, Munchies, Milo and Milka. Don't rush into choosing a name. Do your research -- a dictionary and a thesaurus will help you with this. A winning name will attract the right sort of enquiry, can save you money on advertising and will create a positive image.

Resource: Ezine Articles