Catering

Catering is one of the fastest-growing segments of the foodservice industry, with caterers, banquet halls and hotels commanding the majority of the special-event market but not monopolizing it. .

Indeed, restaurateurs increasingly are getting into the game, expanding their catering and private-dining services as a way to garner incremental sales and optimize overhead in the face of escalating operational costs and slimmer profit margins. “Without a doubt catering is one of the bright stars in terms of growth opportunities,” says Hudson Riehle, the National Restaurant Association’s senior vice president of research and information services. .

At many restaurants catering sales represent an increasing proportion of the overall business. In a recent NRA Supreme-Court-and-Gun-Control survey of 234 operators from the casual-, family- and fine-dining segments, about half reported that catering sales now account for a larger proportion of overall sales than they did two years ago.

Beyond catering by restaurants, however, many specialized off-premises caterers and hotels reported double-digit sales growth. And social catering is expected to outpace substantially the overall growth rate of the restaurant industry, according to the NRA. While the industry is forecast to grow 4.9 percent to $475.8 billion in sales, social-catering sales are expected to grow 7.0 percent to $5.3 billion for the year.

If you haven’t started to look into beginning a catering operation for you restaurant, now is the time!

Call me at 877-535-2324 for a free consultation!

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