'Tis the season for tailgating, catered office parties, and at-home holiday meal kits. When the menu moves from your dining room to off-premises; however, it's a great opportunity to showcase your attention to detail and creativity, from the container to the cutlery.

By focusing on elements like presentation, dining experience, and even temperature, you can dial into these details to ensure every meal that's unwrapped this season retains maximum quality that’s fit for a grand celebration.

Get Big on Bite-Sized

One way to save on labor while providing an easy — and cute! — grab-n-go option for consumers is to get big on bite-sized readymade items. Entice® Stuffed Bites, for example, packed with savory and sweet flavors, go directly from freezer to oven and are ready in only 15 minutes.

The Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Stuffed Bite is wrapped in flaky jalapeno biscuit dough, perfect for families hosting holidays with a full house to feed in the morning or for groups seeking easy, snackable options during cocktail hour. Meanwhile, the Apple Pie Bites are a great way to offer a fun dessert without the hassle of baking full pies, just drizzle on caramel sauce for an extra touch of holiday sweetness. Both could be offered as affordable add-ons to a full family meal order, making them a crowd-pleasing, low-effort way to enhance your holiday specials.

Entice Egg Rolls come in a variety of flavors — including spinach and cheese — great for the fourth daypart when everyone's hanging after hours, or even to plate up as an elegant appetizer at a catered party. For another low-labor touch of elegance during catered events, consider serving "mini-meals" by stacking up individual bites of meat, veg, and starch on tiny plates. The full scope of the food pyramid in one mouthful pumps up the value, while cost and labor stay low.

Pack It Up, Pack It In

When transporting such precious cargo, you need to make sure the vessels you choose can maintain the quality of your food. By choosing brands like First Mark® to-go packaging, you'll be assured your food will arrive at diners' doors in perfect condition — not soggy with off-flavors from plastic chemical compounds.

• Disposable Cutlery: Consider heavyweight, black polypropylene cutlery. Black brings a bit more elegance to holiday functions, and its heaviness can withstand holiday roasts and meats.
• CPLA Cutlery Kits: Crystallized polylactic acid is a compostable bioplastic material made from cornstarch or sugarcane, modified to improve heat resistance and fully compostable, allowing people at home to skip the dishes guilt-free.
• Hinged Containers: Available in black polypropylene with clear lids that act as a window for the more colorful entrées you want to visually show off. They come in various substrates depending on the type of food you want to carry. Select containers with multiple compartments to transport an entrée with a side sauce or garnish. These hinged containers are microwave safe for easy reheating off-premise!
• Natural Fiber Containers: Made without the man-made PFA chemicals that make packaging resistant to heat, water, and oil, these containers are an environmentally-friendly way to carry dry — and moist — dishes, and they’re compostable and biodegradable.

Wrap It Up

Skip the plastic bag and jazz your delivery up to be pretty enough to place under the tree. With a twisted paper handle that’s available in various weights and sizes, the First Mark Shopper Style Bags in kraft paper are the perfect choice for the holidays.

Pop your stickered logo on the front, or get a stamp made with your logo for an extra rustic holiday touch. Bags are made with a minimum of 60% post-consumer recycled content and are 100% recyclable and certified compostable. Extra goodies in your stocking if you wrap it with a bow.

As you prepare for the bustling season, it's important to think beyond the menu to ensure that your to-go dining options meet the same high standards as your in-house offerings. From bite-sized delights to premium packaging, the right products and presentation can keep your food looking, tasting, and feeling fresh. By focusing on labor-saving solutions and eco-friendly packaging, you can streamline your operations just in time to party.