Oct 29, 2024

In a webinar sponsored by Checkmate, three experts look at how catering is increasing sales, trending upwards in its category and building its own business. Photo: Adobe Stock Catering has become a significant revenue stream for many restaurants, offering a way to expand their reach and increase profitability. By providing off-site dining services for events like weddings, corporate meetings and parties, restaurants can showcase their culinary expertise to a wider audience. Catering allows businesses to generate additional income, especially during slower periods, and can help build brand recognition and customer loyalty. However, it also presents unique challenges, such as managing logistics, staffing and food safety in off-site locations. Successful catering operations require careful planning, efficient execution and a focus on delivering exceptional quality and service. In a webinar titled "The $70 Billion Opportunity: Actionable Strategies for Catering Growth" sponsored by Checkmate, three restaurant experts examined catering to increase sales and build brand recognition. Speakers included Jared Castronova, head of marketing communications for Checkmate, Michelle Smart, chief customer care officer for ezCater and Chris Mickey, director of sales for Checkmate. Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb.com and Pizzamarketplace.com, served as host for the event. The U.S. market for catering will increase from $70 billion in 2024 to $124 billion by 2032, 50% faster growth than the rest of the industry. What's driving this? Return-to-work mandates, a desire to drive sales and increasing labor and supply costs. A total of 56% of consumers are likely to order catering now versus pre-pandemic, also driven by return-to-work mandates with more large gatherings being hosted and check sizes larger than regular to-go orders. Brands are investing in higher ROI channels. Some 47% of people who have tried food at work order from that restaurant again in the future, according to ezCater. Smart said the pandemic changed everything — prior to the pandemic, ezCater's busiest time was lunch. Lunch continues to top the busiest daypart, but ezCater is seeing growth in breakfast catering and different times of the day to get customers back. "We actually saw that those that are ordering food are doing so 30% more this year than they did last year," Smart said. "Not only is (catering) growing, but it's growing in multiple day parts on multiple occasions so it's not just lunch, its afternoon parties (and) its celebrations. … We've seen significant change in why employers are ordering food at work, and its continuing to grow and continuing to evolve." Food is a great way to entice employees back into the office, Mickey said. "The landscape of kind of where we are in business now and trying to figure out ways to drive sales on the restaurant side and also drive employee behavior back to work and other family events" is increasing sales. To learn more about catering and how it's changing the restaurant landscape, click here to watch the webinar in its entirety.