A strong restaurant catering strategy can help operators drive larger orders, create repeat business, and turn catering into a more consistent revenue stream instead of a one-time opportunity.
Catering should be one of the easiest ways to grow revenue in your restaurant.
Higher order values. Orders placed in advance. Built-in exposure to new customers.
And yet… for a lot of operators, catering ends up being inconsistent, chaotic, or just not worth the effort.
It’s not because the food isn’t good.
It’s because the system behind catering isn’t built to scale.
Let’s fix that.
Why Catering Is a Bigger Opportunity Than Most Operators Realize
Catering has quietly become one of the most reliable ways to drive incremental revenue without adding seats or extending hours.
We’re not just talking about weddings and large events anymore. Today’s catering demand is coming from:
- Office lunches
- Team meetings
- School events
- Community gatherings
These are frequent, repeatable occasions. And they add up quickly.
According to ChowNow’s Ultimate Catering Playbook for Restaurants, catering orders average around $360 — roughly 9 to 10 times the size of a standard takeout order.
That’s not a side hustle. That’s a growth channel.
Even better? One catering order can introduce your food to 20 to 50 potential new customers at once.
If the experience is smooth, you’re not just fulfilling one order. You’re creating future regulars.
So Why Does Catering Still Underperform?
Most restaurants don’t struggle with catering because of demand.
They struggle because of friction.
It usually looks like this:
- Missed calls or slow email responses
- Confusing menus or unclear package options
- A “catering” tab that leads nowhere useful
- Too much reliance on manual ordering
Sound familiar?
When ordering feels complicated, customers don’t push through. They move on.
And here’s the bigger issue: marketplaces deliver demand, but they take the margin and own the customer.
The Real Goal: Make Catering Easy to Find, Easy to Order, and Easy to Repeat
This is where most operators get stuck.
They try to “offer catering” instead of building a real restaurant catering strategy designed to support repeat business and long-term growth.
The difference?
A real catering system removes friction at every step:
- Customers know exactly what to order
- The process takes less than a minute to understand
- Orders flow into your kitchen in a predictable way
- You actually capture customer data for repeat business
One of the biggest takeaways from the playbook is this:
Clarity drives orders.
If a customer can quickly understand what you offer and how to order, they’re far more likely to follow through.
Step 1: Simplify the Ordering Experience
Let’s start with the biggest unlock.
If your catering orders are coming in through a mix of phone calls, emails, and marketplace apps, you’re already creating friction.
A better approach is to create one clear path:
A dedicated online catering page on your website.
This does a few things immediately:
- Keeps orders out of inbox chaos
- Sets clear expectations (lead times, minimums, delivery windows)
- Standardizes how orders come into your kitchen
- Makes it easier to turn one-time customers into repeat buyers
This is where ChowNow Catering comes in. ChowNow’s digital catering storefront is built specifically to help restaurants:
- Accept catering orders directly through their own website
- Keep control of customer data
- Set ordering rules like lead times and minimums
- Reduce back-and-forth with customers
In other words, it replaces guesswork with a system.
Step 2: Build Catering Packages That Actually Sell
Here’s where a lot of operators overcomplicate things.
More options do not equal more sales.
The most effective catering menus are built around a few strong, flexible packages.
Think:
- “Team Lunch for 10”
- “Meeting Platter Package”
- “Office Taco Bar”
Not a long list of individual SKUs.
According to the playbook, the best-performing catering programs:
- Start with 3–5 core packages
- Focus on items that travel well and hold quality
- Allow for a few simple swaps (dietary needs, add-ons)
- Prioritize speed and consistency in prep
The goal is simple: make ordering fast and obvious.
Because the faster a customer decides, the faster they check out.
Step 3: Price for Profit, Not Just Volume
Catering can drive revenue fast. But it can also quietly eat into your margins if you’re not careful.
A solid catering pricing model includes:
- Food cost
- Packaging and supplies
- Labor
- Delivery or setup
- A margin buffer
If you’re not accounting for all of those, you’re not pricing correctly.
The playbook outlines a simple formula:
True Cost (food + packaging + labor + delivery) + Margin Buffer = Catering Price.
And don’t forget:
- Short-notice orders should cost more
- Delivery needs clear guardrails
- Setup or service should be priced intentionally
Catering should feel worth it. Not like a favor you’re doing.
Step 4: Use Catering to Build Direct Customer Relationships
This is where catering becomes a real revenue engine.
If all your catering orders come through third-party marketplaces, you’re paying for the same customer again and again.
Marketplaces are great for discovery.
But repeat business? That’s where margin lives.
Direct ordering allows you to:
- Capture customer data
- Follow up via email or SMS
- Promote future catering offers
- Encourage repeat orders
And that’s exactly what tools like ChowNow are designed to support. They help operators own the relationship, not rent it.
Step 5: Turn One Order Into the Next One
The fastest way to grow catering revenue isn’t more marketing.
It’s more repeat business.
A few simple tactics go a long way:
- Include a reorder card with every catering delivery
- Ask about the next event before the current one ends
- Track your top-selling packages and double down
- Review friction after each large order and fix it
Because once you land a great catering experience, the goal is simple:
Make it effortless to come back.
Want a Step-by-Step Playbook for Getting This Right?
If you’re looking to tighten up your catering strategy, streamline operations, and actually turn this into a consistent revenue channel, this is worth a read: The Ultimate Catering Playbook for Restaurants
It walks through:
- Building high-performing catering packages
- Setting pricing that protects your margins
- Creating an ordering experience customers actually use
- Operational checklists to keep your team on track
- Practical ways to drive repeat catering orders
Make Catering Work Like a System, Not a One-Off Win
Catering isn’t just about landing bigger orders.
It’s about building something repeatable. Something your team can execute without scrambling. Something your customers can order without thinking twice.
When you simplify the ordering experience, tighten your menu into clear packages, and take ownership of the customer relationship, catering starts to shift.
It stops feeling unpredictable.
And starts showing up as steady, high-value revenue your operation can actually rely on.
That’s where the real opportunity is.
Interested in how ChowNow could support your catering strategy? Click here to explore how direct ordering, simplified operations, and customer ownership can help you capture more high-value orders.
Want a clearer path to turning catering into a consistent revenue stream? Click here to get the step-by-step strategies in ChowNow’s Ultimate Catering Playbook for Restaurants and start building a system that actually drives repeat orders.
Want to Improve More Than Just Catering Revenue?
Growing catering sales is important, but protecting the margins behind those orders matters just as much, which is why Buyers Edge Platform helps restaurant operators improve profitability, streamline operations, and gain better visibility into the costs impacting their business every day. Click here to learn more.
