Keeping Up with Wedding Catering Trends

Posted by Karen Erdelac on Sep 22, 2014

Wedding Catering TrendsSay you've been a wedding caterer for years, you feel that you offer a service that is in demand, but you have noticed that lately your bookings have been dropping in addition to being continuously asked to drop your price to earn business. The problem is not the quality of your food or service; it might be that your approach is outdated. 



Wedding caterers generally market themselves to a younger crowd and younger crowds are affected by the latest trends. If you want your wedding catering business to grow, then you need to get up-to-date with the latest wedding catering trends and start using them to your advantage.

The Food Is Changing

A popular alternative to preparing traditional chicken or beef meals bought from a food supply company, many caterers are reaching out to local farmers and offering fresh and/or organic foods. According to CBS News, fresh fruits and local ingredients are in higher demand now than ever before. As a food expert, you know that buying local and buying fresh costs more money; that is why you need the right business funding to grow your business.

Personal Service is Eclipsing the Buffet Line

The Huffington Post reveals several wedding catering trends that are looking to offer much more than just a roast beef cutting station and some heated serving trays. Fresh foods are in and chefs with strolling cutting stations and hiring cheese experts are starting to become very popular. Chefs that shuck oysters at the guests' tables and prepare fresh sushi while the guests look on are currently in high demand.

The Old Styles Are Starting To Fade

Wedding Catering TrendsHistorically, when wedding caterers invited potential clients came to sample food, they were treated to pre-made samples that offered guests a sense of what they would get. Those ways of doing business are fading quickly and being replaced by much more expensive alternatives.

When couples come to sample your food, they want to see how it is made and they want to meet the chefs who will be preparing it. If you are going to offer popular items such as oysters and sushi, you will need to maintain a fresh supply of samples.

Building new sampling stations and making sure you have the personnel on hand to handle the sampling work can get expensive. It is causing many wedding caterers to reconsider their business funding needs.

Your Costs Will Go up and So Will Your Revenue

According to entrepreneur.com, it costs anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 to start a wedding catering business. Your operating costs will significantly increase when making the investment to hire a full time chef and develop tasting stations with fresh food.

Industry leaders reccommend focusing on a catering theme to help keep costs down, but in the wedding catering industry roaming chef stations and fresh cuisines are the winning theme you should go for. You may need to secure ongoing business funding to add personnel, equipment and fresh food to your purchasing needs.

When you keep up with the latest wedding catering trends, clientele will seek out your services, and then you will find success even after increasing your rates, Taking care of your business’s funding needs is the first step in getting your wedding catering company revamped and in line with the latest wedding food trends, then watching your profits sky rocket.

For more ideas on how to stay competitive in the catering industry, download our Catering Investment Guide by clicking the cover below.

Catering Investment Guide

 

Topics: Growing Your Business, Catering