Director of food and beverage vs director of catering

The differences between directors of food and beverage and directors of catering can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a director of food and beverage and a director of catering. Additionally, a director of food and beverage has an average salary of $88,654, which is higher than the $65,732 average annual salary of a director of catering.

The top three skills for a director of food and beverage include wine, customer service and culinary. The most important skills for a director of catering are booking, customer service, and culinary.

Director of food and beverage vs director of catering overview

	Director Of Food And Beverage	Director Of Catering
Yearly salary	$88,654	$65,732
Hourly rate	$42.62	$31.60
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	130,685	54,263
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	4	4

What does a director of food and beverage do?

A director of food and beverage is responsible for ensuring the quality of foods and services to maintain the guests' overall satisfaction on their dining experience. Food and beverage directors manage menu selections, analyzing current food trends to meet guests' demands. They also handle budget allocation, negotiating with reliable suppliers for high-quality materials and ingredients for minimal costs. A director of food and beverage must have excellent leadership and communication skills, observe strict sanitary standards and hygienic regulations for adherence of all personnel during operations.

What does a director of catering do?

A director of catering spearheads and oversees catering services and programs, from planning to execution. They usually lead the hiring and training procedures, establishing goals and timelines, managing budgets and controlling costs, setting protocols and guidelines, coordinating managers and teams, and negotiating with suppliers, building positive relationships in the process. They may also participate in developing marketing plans, meeting with clients to identify their needs and preferences, monitoring inventories, solving issues and concerns, and supervising catering services to ensure operations run smoothly and efficiently.

Director of food and beverage vs director of catering salary

Directors of food and beverage and directors of catering have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director Of Food And Beverage	Director Of Catering
Average salary	$88,654	$65,732
Salary range	Between $63,000 And $124,000	Between $43,000 And $98,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Nevada	California
Best paying company	MUFG EMEA	J.F. Shea Co
Best paying industry	Real Estate	Hospitality

Differences between director of food and beverage and director of catering education

There are a few differences between a director of food and beverage and a director of catering in terms of educational background:

	Director Of Food And Beverage	Director Of Catering
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Director of food and beverage vs director of catering demographics

Here are the differences between directors of food and beverage' and directors of catering' demographics:

	Director Of Food And Beverage	Director Of Catering
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 80.9% Female, 19.1%	Male, 35.3% Female, 64.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 8.5% White, 57.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 8.4% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between director of food and beverage and director of catering duties and responsibilities

Director of food and beverage example responsibilities.

Achieve established individual catering sales goals and assist team in achieving departmental booking goals.
Lead the implementation of a POS system that integrate mission-critical corporate data to achieve improve planning and management.
Lead development of catering programs for Marriott's full service brands.
Create reports, budgets and revenue forecast in Delphi in order to maintain and manage an efficient department.
Used Marriott computer applications to manage and administer events.
Manage and monitor daily operational duties of full service dining room for patients including creating and maintaining department budget.

Director of catering example responsibilities.

Manage and execute every aspect of the planning process, creating BEOs and managing banquet staff.
Prepare and manage BEOs to client specifications including auto-visual requirements.
Revamp BEO writing process with training.
Direct the catering, conference service and banquet departments for two five star, five diamond resorts and two country clubs.
Monitor daily activities to ensure quality food and cleanliness standards.
Foster a positive work/customer atmosphere by ensuring facility cleanliness and compliance with health department regulations.

Director of food and beverage vs director of catering skills

Common director of food and beverage skills

Wine, 10%
Customer Service, 7%
Culinary, 5%
BARS, 5%
Beverage Operations, 5%
Guest Service, 4%

Common director of catering skills

Booking, 10%
Customer Service, 10%
Culinary, 10%
Event Planning, 8%
Food Preparation, 6%
Menu Planning, 5%

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Director Of Food And Beverage
Director Of Food And Beverage vs Director Of Catering

Updated January 8, 2025

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