Scaling your catering effort

On April 2 2009, QSR executives joined forces to brainstorm transitioning to catering. A productive round-table discussion. For content, read on.

“Many fast casual brands have found success in offering catering packages to the business market as well as special occasion gatherings. Quick-service restaurants also are latching on to the trend, often on a franchise by franchise basis.” QSR magazine, December 23 2008

With some revenues shrinking due to recession, it makes sense to find new revenue streams.One goal is to drive sales volume by servicing business to business catering orders. But in this climate, you don’t want to take on unsupportable expenses in the form of unnecessary labor or production inventory.

Erle Dardick, CEO of MonkeyMedia, has been selling the category of business to business catering since 2001, when he took a busy downtown deli and added a catering hub that would soon account for 70% of its revenue.

His latest Brown Bag roundtable discussion took place April 2, and was attended by exective staff from:

• Better Brands Group
• Le Boulanger
• Wildflower Bread
• Brueggers
• Ruby Tuesday
• Au Bon Pain and
• Rubios

On page 2 of this article, some ideas on how to scale your restaurant to create a profitable casual catering arm.