The pandemic demonstrated how having multiple income streams is vital to surviving and thriving in a volatile industry. Catering is one of those income streams — and it has been gaining momentum. As a recent webcast from Savor indicates, the catering industry generated $73 billion last year and forecasts indicate the industry could reach $124 billion in sales by 2032. The return to the office has fueled that growth, along with the “evolving role of food in the workplace.” Is your business ready to ride that wave? Catering business veteran Tracy Avolio said in the webcast that success in the business requires making seven touches before expecting to close a sale — a combination of phone calls, emails and in-person visits with samples. In your own catering efforts, how much are you reaching out to clients to secure potential sales as opposed to reacting to inquiries about your offerings? In your in-house and takeout orders, do you find opportunities to share your catering menu or invite people to have you stop by their office with samples? Can you create a menu with customizable options for a wide range of tastes or specific nutritional needs? At a time when many employers are looking for ways to entice employees back to the office, restaurant food can be an effective draw, enhancing the quality of a work environment. You can be their partner in that effort with a strategic approach to sales. As with so many aspects of the foodservice industry right now, there are tech tools and consultancies emerging to help businesses manage catering functions more smoothly or even outsource them altogether — support for you to raise your game if you see potential in it for your business.

Perhaps it has to do with the flexibility of post-pandemic schedules, the rise in hard-to-acquire dinner reservations in various places around the country, the need for restaurants to maximize sales opportunities, or all of the above, but the demand for quality lunch options appears to be on the rise. According to one restaurateur in a recent report from Eater New York, lunch has become the “new post-pandemic 5 p.m. reservation,” with multi-course, prix-fixe lunch menus popping up around the city. Offering enhanced lunch options could work well beyond major metropolitan areas like New York: Dinner reservations are becoming more difficult to secure at restaurants in many cities and towns around the country, and recent reports have indicated that restaurants are seeing more opportunity in catering (which has a lot of sales potential at lunchtime). Lunch could be an opportunity to give guests access to an elevated experience for what feels like a better value, provide your staff greater flexibility  with scheduling, and make more efficient use of your space and inventory. Could innovating at lunchtime work for your business?

Over the years, how much happy hour business (or other after-work business) has your restaurant generated? If this part of the day once provided a steady stream of traffic for you on several evenings a week, chances are times have changed -- due to factors such as the increase in hybrid work schedules post-pandemic, people’s desire to keep their professional and personal lives separate, and a decline in alcohol consumption. Research from Fox Business found that happy hour traffic has dropped by 49 percent in recent years. If this has impacted your business in any way, it could be a good time to gather your team and identify some new potential business streams – or simply shift your approach to the after-work crowd by offering some different options. While people may not be looking to stop in for appetizers after work, maybe they’d go for a pre-workout smoothie, meal kit or easy weeknight takeout. Maybe you can approach the offices that once gave you more after-work business and make them aware that you can cater their in-house lunches and meetings so they can make their employees’ less-frequent in-person connections feel more worthwhile. Or perhaps, now that the warm weather is coming, you can come up with a limited-time offer that will draw people to your outdoor dining area. Your data provides clues as to what your guests crave and when. What adjustments can you make that will help your business be as nimble as possible in the face of shifting traffic patterns?

If you had to choose one big growth opportunity this year, what would it be? For a rising number of U.S. restaurants, it’s catering. Expert Market Research anticipates 6.2 percent annual growth throughout most of the next decade for businesses that offer this service. A recent Restaurant Dive report says consumers’ return to the office is driving much of the demand, though private events are also fueling it. Catering is also looking different than it did before the pandemic. There is a greater range of restaurants getting involved – from small independents to large national brands – as well as an increase in offerings like boxed lunches and individual options across the channel. Appealingly for restaurants, the average spending per person on catered occasions is skewing higher these days, despite the increase in hybrid work environments resulting in a smaller critical mass of people in offices each day. At a time when company bosses are looking for ways to increase the appeal of coming to the office and want to encourage connections among employees who may be spending less time together, food from a favorite restaurant can be a useful tool. If you plan to increase your focus on catering this year, how might your menu accommodate consumers’ tastes for customization and choice? Does every menu item you offer travel well and also help you maximize profit per head? When you send your food out the door, how well does your branding and packaging represent your business and its values? From a distance, are there opportunities for you to build engagement and loyalty among the people who are enjoying your food as a group? What incentives and promotions might help your business stay in regular rotation with these groups?