Summary:
Saying קידוש is a תורה obligation; saying it over wine, may be only מדרבנן (since remembrance is associated with wine), or it can also be מה"ת, however the requirement to drink the wine is only מדרבנן.
Summary:
Initially תוספות differentiated between ברה"נ, where the assemblage must wait for the מברך, and קידוש, where they do not have to wait. However, from the ירושלמי it seems that it is dependent on whether they have the wine/bread of their own, where they do not have to wait, or whether they have nothing before them, where they have to wait, even if he is dishing out to them their portion.