Globalization’s Impact on the Food Industry: The Case of Chinese Cuisine in Britain

• Globalization’s Impact on the Food Industry: The Case of Chinese Cuisine in Britain

   

  The Chinese culture is considered as one of the strongest and most spread out culture in the world, with Chinatowns all over the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Oceania. It’s rare to meet a person who is not acquainted to basic Chinese cultural practices such as fengshui, Chinese New Year, dim sum, wontons, kung fu, dragons, and many others. It has indeed infiltrated most of the world’s nations, so much so that globalization is argued to morph into “China-nisation”.

  Britain is no exception. Waves of immigration startingin the early 19th century started the British Chinese history, forever changing the landscape of the national economy. Increasing Chinese migrant labour force spilled into industry sectors such as seafaring, hairdressing, laundry, and catering.

  Looking back

  One of the most apparent footholds of the Chinese culture in Britain is its booming catering industry. Every British town has at least one Chinese restaurant offering takeaways and the recently becoming popular traditional Chinese foods.

  In 1884, Sir Robert Hart held a grand display of Chinese Food in an exhibition entitled “The Chinese Restaurant”. This display showcased “olea-scented lotus nuts” and "small treasure chest in the style of the Qing dynasty" prepared by top chefs from Beijing and Guangzhou. This sparked the interest of the British press in Chinese food. Two decades after, the first recorded Chinese restaurant named The Chinese Restaurant opened in London’s Piccadilly.

  The growth of Chinese restaurants was hampered during the war years. Post World War II, the British Chinese industry slowly picked up pace again and continued to grow over the years. From the “chop suey houses” in the 1950’s, Chinese catering developed into authentic Chinese food takeaways and restaurants in the 1970’s; specialist restaurants such as banquets and wontons in the 1980’s; and the fine dining sector in recent years. Chinese wedding caterers London particularly grew alongside the growth of Chinese couples opting to marry in British soil.

  Driving forces of the British Chinese catering growth

  Currently, there are an estimated 17, 500 Chinese catering outlets in the UK. The industry generates an annual turnover of about £5 billion. It directly employs about 100,000 workers and approximately 50% of the British Chinese population. It is therefore safe to say that the Chinese catering industry is the pillar of the Chinese community in Britain and thus needs to be supported by all means.

  The continuous immigration and increase of Chinese population, plus the increasing interests of Brits on conventional and traditional Cantonese foods,are the main factors that push the Chinese catering industry to grow. Chinese caterers are currently one of the most in demand Asian wedding caterers London. Labour force for this industry primarily comes from overseas workerssince there are no comprehensive and established education and training opportunities for Chinese cookery.

  The advent of Internet also impacted the industry in a huge way. A catering agency in London, for example, does not have to publicise their services through traditional means with staggering costs. A well-functioning website and competent marketing team are all it takes to get new customers.

  As national borders continue to blur, we are expecting to see more changes in the Chinese catering industry in UK and therefore the overall political and economic backdrop of Britain.

  
  
  
  
  

   

• How to Find the Best Indian Caterers

   

  Catering companies are the modern-day heroes of event planners. Imagine if you have to cook all the foods to be served and prepare the venue yourself too! To save time and effort, planners opt to hire the best caterers around. This is especially true for Indian weddings here in the UK. Indians have unique tastes when it comes to foods and decorations, so it’s absolutely a must to choose the Indian wedding catering London that knows the Indian culture well.

  So how do you tell which one is the best? Here are a few tips:

  1.       Make a list of the qualities you’re looking for in a catering company. Before you set out to search the best Indian caterers, first settle what characteristics the best catering company should have. Here are some typical parameters: food quality and safety, hospitality and professionalism of service crew, design, reputation, years of experience, credentials, proximity to your venue, price, discounts, and others.

  2.       Ask your Indian friends. Once you’re done with your list, think of any Indian friends who recently threw a party or anybody who might know of somebody who did. Got that? Ask them important questions about the list of qualities you wrote beforehand and make sure to take careful note of them.

  3.       Research online. You can now turn to the powers of the Internet to find out what other customers are saying about the company your friends recommended. There are many restaurant review sites that give honest ratings and comments on restaurant services. One of the most reputed sites is TripAdvisor.com. You can search for the nearest catering companies to your venue and from there choose which companies possess the qualities you’re looking for. This will narrow down your list of choices.

  You can also go to forums and search for related threads such as “best halal caterers London”. Usually customers give more detailed reviews of various products and services on forums than on quick review sites.

  4.       Finalise your choices and visit each one personally. The common mistake some event planners do is to close the deal without meeting the catering staff personally. You have to make sure that they are what they seem to be on the Internet so grab your quality checklist and head over each one of your options. Observe the manners, attitude, and hygiene of the workers; cleanliness and design of the place; and the menu they offer. Also see if you can negotiate a discount; it never hurts to save a pound or two.

  5.       Finalise your decision. Now that you’ve personally visited each of your top choices, it’s time to sit down and go over your notes. Finalize which of the choices possess the most number of qualities you’re looking for in a catering company, and do so quickly. If you decided that the Indian food catering London restaurant is the best fit, book a schedule with them quickly or you may lose the spot to other planners.

  There you have it! Always stay proactive and alert in searching for the best Indian catering company and you’ll surely do just fine.

   

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