When purchasing dinnerware for the home the emphasis is on durability as well as beauty, this sets the stage for most homes to have two complete sets, one set which is quite durable and suitable for everyday use and another set, quite often bone china which is used for special occasions. This may not be the same criteria when purchasing hotel ware crockery.
Although dinnerware for both home and hotels and restaurants all serve the same purpose, there is a major difference in the way they are used. Crockery in the home, even the every day dinnerware is treated with some degree of respect, this is not so with hotel ware crockery. In commercial use, dinnerware is not treated gingerly; it is used by the guest, returned to the kitchen on a bus tray and sent to the washing station. Here the crockery is scraped clean of food scraps and either hand washed in the case of a small restaurant or more often sent into a commercial dish washer.
Hotel crockery by design must be more rugged but that does not necessarily mean that it has to appear so. Even the most rugged dinnerware can still be beautifully designed for presentation.
The one thing about dinnerware that is used in a hotel is the volume in which it is purchased. Home crockery is normally bought by the place setting, perhaps six or eight sets consisting of dinner plates, desert plates, bowls, cups and saucers plus the odd serving platters and dishes. In the hotel industry crockery is bought in bulk quantities, hundreds of pieces are usually purchased at the same time. This volume is not purchased with the intention of it all being used at the same time, it is purchased so that the crockery can be rotated.
Even dishware at home, as well as it is treated and the care it gets while washing can eventually begin to look worn and tacky. This happens much quicker to hotel ware crockery as it is cycled quicker. Even though the hotel restaurant serves three meals a day, the same plate or bowl can be used more than three times, the result is premature wear and tear. To combat this, the hotel kitchen rotates its inventory of crockery regularly, thus keeping it presentable longer.
