Sponsored by Olo
Catering has emerged as one of the strongest growth opportunities in foodservice, driving double-digit sales growth for some operators and comprising a significant percentage of total foodservice revenues.
The total addressable market for catering is estimated to reach $124 billion by 2032, as cited in a catering guide recently published by Olo, a technology solutions provider for the foodservice industry.
“With total restaurant sales projected to hit $1.2 trillion by 2030, catering will make up nearly 10% of all restaurant revenues, which means it’s material and can’t be ignored,” Olo said in the guide titled, “A
Restaurant operators of all sizes, from local independents to large national chains, have opportunities to benefit from the boom in demand for catering, if they have the right systems and processes in place.
Family dining chain Cracker Barrel, for example, tallied more than $100 million in sales growth from its catering operations in 2023. That represented
Beyond the appeal of the incremental revenues that catering can provide—catering orders average about $350, or 10 times the average takeout ticket of $35, according to Olo—the service also generates secondary benefits. These include the potential for workers to earn additional tip income, for example, and the potential to leverage catering as a marketing vehicle to attract new guests for traditional orders.
Catering helps honeygrow introduce its brand to new guests
At fast-casual salad and stir-fry chain honeygrow, the company seeks to leverage catering as it expands into new markets to help showcase its brand to potential guests.
“Catering is a great way to introduce ourselves quickly to large groups of people,” says J.P. Thomas, vice president of operations services at honeygrow, in a recent Olo webinar.
honeygrow, which has deployed Olo’s Catering+ enterprise solution designed specifically to help operators optimize their catering channel, has seen catering orders jump 78% over year-ago levels, along with 12% increase in average catering order value.
Workers’ return to offices, at least on a hybrid basis, has helped fuel the demand for catering, Thomas says. Olo’s Catering+ solution streamlines the ordering process for these workers with its automated billing processes and the ability to reorder without starting over from scratch each time they place an order. This helps keep these valuable customers coming back again and again.
“It’s becoming more and more important that the processes around placing an order are as easy as they can be,” says Thomas. “We’re trying to help those guests out as best we can.”
In addition to providing a user-friendly digital experience, Olo’s Catering+ solution also streamlines the catering process for operators by consolidating all catering orders into a single digital system. This not only helps improve order accuracy, but also frees up employees for other tasks and ensures management visibility into catering channel metrics.
In addition, Catering+ ensures that tax-exempt orders—such as for schools and nonprofits—are processed efficiently, for example.
Technology drives catering sales
Catering+ also helps track customer data to enable personalized communications and optimize sales opportunities.
Leslie Keys, catering manager at Olga’s Kitchen, says Catering+ from Olo is helping her company drive record sales.
“Our orders went from a couple a day to four or five or six Olo orders, which is amazing,” she says, noting that catering sales have increased 50% since adding Olo’s Catering+ platform.
honeygrow is also reaping the benefits of transitioning to the Olo Catering+ platform, says Thomas.
The company has always offered third-party digital ordering capabilities for its catering service, and over time has added functionality as the service has grown. Now, with Catering+, honeygrow is automating more aspects of the catering process in order to free up workers for other tasks.
“I think digital just allows us to focus on what's actually important,” says Thomas.
Resolving catering’s pain points
Olo is also helping Olga’s and honeygrow resolve some of the other historical pain points around catering, including the delivery process. The time-sensitive nature of catering orders—often they are scheduled to coincide with planned office meetings—dictates that timely delivery is essential, says Thomas.
Leveraging Olo’s Dispatch solution for managing delivery orders, honeygrow has been able to work closely with third-party delivery partners such as DoorDash to resolve some of the challenges that can emerge in off-site catering orders, he says.
“We’re able to drill into any issues that do happen to hopefully make sure they don't happen again,” says Thomas.
That can include actions such as communicating with delivery partners to ensure that the right drivers are assigned to handle catering orders.
“We’ve seen a lot of improvement,” says Thomas. “Over time, things have gotten exponentially better because of Dispatch, and because of the strength of the relationships we’ve developed with our partners on Dispatch.”
Whether you are considering adding a new catering service or growing an existing offering, Olo has the tools to help you overcome the challenges and optimize your revenue and profit potential. For more information about Olo’s Catering+ solution, visit http://www.olo.com/catering