Event catering is a highlight of the event experience. Therefore, paying special attention to the latest event catering trends is a must.
Attendees need more than just an ordinary meal to keep them involved. They crave food that looks and taste amazing, as a part of an overall experience.
Quality catering is an essential component of a successful event, but, on the other hand, a poor catering performance is the main reason for dissatisfaction or frustration with an event.
To ensure success, event catering requires a lot of skills, but four of them are the most important:
- Good understanding of catering
- Understanding of current catering pricing
- Choosing the best caterer you can get
- Accurate briefing of and negotiations with him/her
If you manage to accomplish these skills and if you follow event catering trends we described in the text below, you can be sure next year is a grand slam!
Domestic food & drinks
It’s more than usual attendees will travel to get to your event. They might do some sightseeing to know your country better, visit museums or local pubs. However, be sure they are eventually going to ask for a destination-specific cuisine. It’s going to be huge event catering trend in 2020. Nowadays, menus that have cultural impact and ingredients are continuing to be popular.
Involve culture experts and influencers to create culinary happenings.
Hire native restaurateur to serve up meals.
Wine and beer from local wineries and breweries are also a truly local experience for your attendees.
When planning a cocktail party, remember that the balance of alcoholic and nonalcoholic domestic drinks make events more unique.
Healthy menus
Modern times mean health-conscious people. They want to feel and look the best. Therefore, if you want to keep up with food trends, you need to offer your attendees healthy food options.
Smoothies, vegan foods, herbs for flavor instead of salt or oil are always the smart choice.
Also, healthy menus imply high-protein, low-fat meats such as turkey, chicken, fish; not processed whole snacks like edamame, popcorn, fruit (avocados!) and vegetables; whole grains.
Participants need to feel light and energized throughout the entire event!
Grab’n’go vibe
At events, you have a hard-working man and woman. To prevent their nervousness because of the grumbling stomachs, allow them to grab a bite to eat and head back to work. Small portions can be transported easily so that makes them pretty convenient.
Try to pair small portions with its drink, and display each combination on its table. Place the tables in different locations to encourage people to mix.
Make chia/bircher jars for breakfast, or bring in a food truck to give your attendees a taste of the local flavors.
Food Waste Soldiers
According to the site WorldFoodClock, every minute is produced about 7,605 tones of food, and 2,472 tones of that food are wasted. That means that global food waste is a major problem, and sustainability is a top priority in the years to come.
An idea of closing the circle is increasingly spreading. Companies and brands need to put an effort to be more resource – smart in their event catering. Two main goals for cutting down food waste at events are lower costs and greener planet.
So, as an event organizer, how can you reduce food waste?
You can try to choose in-season food from local vendors to minimize the carbon footprint. For example, donate all of the leftovers to shelters. Also, you can boost recycling by educating participants about what is recyclable.
Special Dietary Needs
A variety of dietary options is becoming more and more the norm. Companies and organizers of events must understand and respect the dietary restrictions of the attendees. Because, in some cases, it’s not just a preference, it can also be medically necessary. Therefore, every action should be taken to keep them safe.
This “natural and organic food trend” is not slowing down. Attendees are expecting food that provides natural improvement. Ingredients that promote physical, mental and emotional health(such as collagen, golden berries, functional mushrooms, turmeric, and nutritional yeast) are wanted. Plant-based proteins are in, too. To respect the dietary restrictions of your guests, you can create specialized menus like gluten-free, nut allergies, Kosher, Halal and more.
You don’t want a disappointed participant with negative feedback after the event had finished. So, during the event registration process, ask if guests have any special dietary needs. Send out invites and follow up on components. This reduces catering costs, waste and happiness of your guests.
Food-Based Entertainment & Decor
Event food can be an event itself.
Your menu represents yourself and the location of an event. It’s a tour of a professional kitchen and interactive cooking class of local delicacies.
Have you already heard about Instagrammable food? Instagrammable food is a huge trend. It means if you’re about to eat something, you need to post a picture of it on Instagram first. With hashtags, of course, like #food #instafood or #forkyeah. This trend can help your event stand out, so make sure you prepare food that is both delicious and charming 🙂
Due to the many types of research, three cups of tea per cup of coffee are consumed worldwide. Therefore, you can consider organizing craft tea stations. Craft tea is the new craft beer for the non-alcoholics. Also, tacos or pizza stations are always in. Who said it needs to be fancy all the time?
You can even organize live cooking stations, where guests can watch the food being prepared.
Instead of a chocolate fountain or fondue station, you can bring a chocolatier and let your attendees create their chocolate.
Food entertainment is a part of the event entertainment in general. You can check out our previous blog to see more about event entertainment.
