What is a key benefit of using staff to serve higher-cost buffet items?

Using staff to serve higher-cost buffet items ensures proper portion control, which is crucial for managing both food cost and guest satisfaction. When guests serve themselves, it can lead to disproportionate servings, with some guests taking more of a popular or expensive item than others. By having staff serve these items, it helps to maintain consistency in portion sizes, preventing significant overuse of costly ingredients and minimizing waste. This controlled serving method also allows the catering manager to better track consumption rates, which can aid in future planning and budgeting for similar events.

While enhancing visual appeal, increasing costs, and allowing for casual serving styles could be beneficial in certain contexts, they do not directly address the financial and operational efficiency that having staff serve higher-cost items provides, making proper portion control a critical advantage in catering scenarios.