Key findings include:
- Catering is growing: Catering is growing 50 percent faster than the overall restaurant industry, with business catering driving much of the growth.
- Catering is important: 90 percent of restaurants consider catering important to their business.
- Catering is worth the investment: 91 percent of respondents who reported increasing catering revenues are investing in their catering operations, with top investments in personnel (34 percent), technology (25 percent), and marketing (24 percent).
- Catering is in demand: Demand for catering is coming from a wide range of industries, with healthcare, finance, IT/technology, advertising and construction among the top 10 sources of orders.
- Catering is big: The average check size of a catering order is $283.
- Catering is profitable: Large orders drive efficiencies in food and labor costs, which drive a larger portion of dollars to the bottom line than smaller consumer orders.