What is demand forecasting and which data sources should you use to predict kitchen demand for a 200-seat banquet?

• A. Forecasting uses historical sales, event calendars, seasonality, lead times, and market trends; for a 200-seat banquet use past banquet data, advance bookings, menu choices, seasonality, and lead-time patterns.
• B. Forecasting relies only on past banquet data; other data are irrelevant.
• C. Forecasting ignores seasonality.
• D. Forecasting only considers current week's demand.

Answer: (A)