This preference for sustainability is widely held and should be the model for the catering industry as it navigates the future of the planet.”
country like the United States, a substantial number of people are food insecure. In the catering sector, food waste is endemic in two areas: on the event level and in production. • Event food waste: Food waste has always been a challenge for caterers of all types, but most specifically for buffet specialists. Since caterers are loathe to allow buffets to look sparse, even for the last guest through the line, this has always been a challenge. But there are workarounds for this issue, such as providing to-go boxes—not just for clients, but also for guests. Other options include scheduling an employee meal at the end of a shift to use up leftovers, and/or arranging for pickups of leftovers by food banks or soup kitchens. Some caterers even allow clients to designate a charitable recipient for leftovers on their behalf. • Production food waste: Some caterers have set a goal of zero waste from their commissary production, meaning that the only residual outputs besides food sent to events would be compost and recycling. This is naturally a challenge, but with the help of some new technologies and careful product selection, it may be achievable. The technologies include a combination of hardware and software, including scales, cameras, and advanced cooking technologies such as low temperature cook and hold ovens and combination oven steamers. On the software side, advances in artificial intelligence (check out the adjoining Special
Events magazine for a deeper look at AI) just in the past several years have been applied to enterprise systems to help identify, track, and minimize waste in production. These combined hardware/ software systems, while requiring a substantial initial investment, can pay back based on minimized waste in just a few years. Community sustainability Every caterer, particularly those specializing in full-service events, depends on a community of stakeholders for support and success. These stakeholders include rental companies, food and beverage vendors, professional services providers, employees, contract workers, venues, clients, and others. We have seen many caterers make it part of their ongoing dialogue with these community members to encourage them to be attuned to the sustainability dynamic as well. For example, some caterers have agreed to consolidate rental orders with catering deliveries to minimize
truck miles to their events. Others have encouraged their wedding clients to change the default entrée selection(s) to emphasize plant- forward options. Other community examples include making sustainable, non-plastic servingware a standard for delivery catering; encouraging staff to carpool by offering gas subsidies to the drivers; and working with venue managers to help minimize utility costs. All these efforts, as well as many others not covered here, are designed to help maximize both the perception and the reality of sustainability in the catering industry. This will help diminish the concerns of clients and guests who are concerned about the environment. A recent article in the New York Post states that two-thirds of Americans believe sustainability should be the default for companies. This indicates that this preference for sustainability is widely held and should be the model for the catering industry as it navigates the future of the planet.
Carl Sacks has spent more than 17 years as a consultant to the catering industry, starting at Catersource, and currently as the managing member of Certified Catering Consultants. His list of clients includes many of the most prominent and successful caterers in the industry. He is regarded as the top expert in several catering related areas, including maximizing financial returns,
strategic planning, and exit strategy development and implementation. He is also widely known for his expertise in contract and venue RFP response development. Carl also provides advisory services to both buyers and sellers of catering companies, and he has been involved in many successful transactions.
CATERSOURCE ■ FALL 2024
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