There's a reason Hallmark plays Christmas movies in July: the holiday season is rapidly approaching and anticipation is building. Preparation also begins early in the restaurant industry, where weekly store sales can easily 10x with holiday catering.
During my decade as a caterer—first assisting with banquets and private events at The Capital Grille, then launching catering at Tropical Smoothie Cafe, and eventually running my own catering business—I discovered first-hand what it takes to have a profitable holiday season.
Now, as a Sr. Sales Engineer at Olo, I often share those hard-won lessons in conversations with restaurants embarking on their catering journey or looking to grow their existing program. I’ve outlined my holiday catering playbook below so you too can maximize catering sales and feel confident going into the busiest time of the year.
From one caterer to another: Tips for a lucrative holiday season
Secure your holiday catering menu
While typical catering orders might serve 25–30 people, during the holiday season—when many guests are new to your brand—it’s important to curate catering packages that align with the celebration and can accommodate larger gatherings of 75–150 people.
Embrace add-ons
Guest budgets for holiday gatherings tend to be looser than day-to-day catering, so this is the time to offer add-ons—dessert platters, beverages, or takeaway gifts (cookie favors are a hit!)—which can boost check sizes.
Offer family meals
Not everyone is comfortable cooking for 10–15 family members. They’d much rather bring in food from a restaurant. If your menu allows for family meals, consider providing a feast—complete with protein, sides, and dessert—for anyone with visiting relatives or friends who would prefer to phone it in.
Update your catering photography
Showcase your holiday catering offerings in a celebratory setting vs. a business gathering or small event. Consider photographing your food on a table with seasonal decor so guests can envision it at their next celebration. For example, Sonny’s BBQ does an excellent job of displaying its catering packages and capturing the spirit of the season in its lively holiday imagery, as seen here.
Credit Sonny’s BBQ
Build a marketing strategy
Bring holiday catering to the forefront of your website with your updated photography and messaging. Don’t wait until November to let guests know about your offerings.
While every marketing email should feature a “we cater” message, beginning in September, it’s important to send a dedicated email or two to marketing recipients highlighting your holiday packages. That way, your brand is top-of-mind when someone is planning an event or social gathering.
Additionally, you should decide how to allocate your advertising budget to promote holiday catering, including social media placements and retargeting website visitors.
Encourage pre-orders
The best way to plan for the holidays is by driving awareness of catering starting in late September or early October and enabling guests to pre-order online with their desired pickup or delivery date. To incentivize pre-orders, offer a discount, coupon code, or gift card to use on their next purchase. This effort will help you set expectations for your team and prepare.
Educate and empower your team
In all likelihood, 15% of your operators are well-versed in catering. They have the right team in place, they’re staffed appropriately, they know your food well and how to package it. But some will still be nervous about the holidays and the influx of catering orders.
Take this time to reiterate the importance of catering internally and reintroduce your standard operating procedures to franchisees or operators. Host a catering course to retrain area directors and franchise business leaders on your menu, any changes, how orders will be placed (digitally, call-in, etc.), lead time for orders, production sheets and pack slips, etc. so they feel confident to execute.
Staff appropriately
During the holidays, not only will your restaurant be busier, your catering business will increase as well. Get your operators thinking about seasonal staffing to ensure they’re set up for success. They may want to hire one or two staff members to focus on catering orders and production—or bring them onto the regular staff and promote other high-performers to focus on catering. The cost of bringing on those employees will be offset by the additional catering revenue.
Create incentives
Develop fun ways to incentivize operators to drive catering. For example, give bonuses to managers that had high-volume holiday catering, especially those that drove the most net-new sales, grew their sales the most, or had the best customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores.
On the flip side, make each shift fun for team members working on holiday catering orders. If your staff is coming in early to prep food, bring coffee and donuts to thank them for their hard work and keep the morale high.
Practice, practice, practice
Back-to-school events are the perfect occasion to test and refine your catering operations before the holiday rush. A few trial runs will help your team feel prepared and less overwhelmed once Thanksgiving rolls around and the orders start flowing in.
Communicate with guests
Once guests pre-order for the holidays, follow-up to confirm you have their order on deck. Ask if they’d like to add any extras and give them a point of contact within the restaurant or at corporate should they need anything. Considering the average catering ticket is $350—10x the average mealtime ticket of $35—this personal touch is incredibly important for fostering relationships with catering guests and encouraging repeat orders.
After fulfilling a catering order, send a thank you message. I like to let guests know it was an honor to be part of their celebration, especially because there are many restaurants they could choose from. Add a little gift for the person who ordered. It could be swag or a gift card to return in January–March, when you’re trying to drive more business. This small token of appreciation will keep your restaurant top of mind and deepen your connection with the guest.
Why holiday catering is so important
At the end of the day, catering is an extension of your restaurant brand. It allows you to get your food in front of more guests, be part of a celebration, and extend the hospitality that makes restaurants special.
When you consider that holiday gatherings, in particular, are almost always centered around food, it’s an honor to have yours selected to be included. It’s important to maintain that mindset of thankfulness and excitement during this season and beyond.
Early preparation—from your menu to staffing and marketing—combined with the right catering software will help you maximize revenue at the end of the year, reduce stress for your team, and provide an unforgettable guest experience so you can enjoy the holiday season, too.
Learn about Catering+, Olo’s fully integrated, enterprise-grade catering solution. Download our ebook, “Accelerate Restaurant Growth with Catering.” And request a demo to get started with catering and maximize sales during the holidays and year-round.
Photo credit: Sonny’s BBQ
