Like many restaurants recently, Black Bear Diner recognized an opportunity with catering: a growing number of businesses have been using food as a key way to attract employees back to offices. As a restaurant concept with three dayparts and a menu that famously has something for everyone, Black Bear Diner saw B2B catering as a natural extension of the brand and a new way to drive revenue—even in a challenging market.
Knowing it wanted catering live in time for the holiday season and needed to get 160+ operators onboarded in a short timeframe, Black Bear Diner turned to longtime online ordering and delivery partner Olo.
Catering+, Olo’s catering offering, had the features Black Bear Diner needed: a familiar interface that wouldn’t require extensive training, ready-to-go integrations with third-party marketplaces (Rails) and the brand’s POS, tools that make large order processing easier for employees (production sheets, pack slips, calendar views, text to pay), and it gave both brand users and operators a one-stop-shop for all orders.
Plus, the brand knew Olo could support its accelerated timeline and have catering ready to go for the holidays.
Timing wasn’t the only strategic aspect of Black Bear Diner’s launch into catering. The brand opted to start with a limited catering menu, which was perfect for holiday office parties and also made catering manageable for operators from the outset. By minimizing complexity at launch, the restaurants were able to execute massive catering orders without being overwhelmed and realize value immediately.
With a successful holiday season under its belt, Black Bear Diner is continuing to evolve its catering menu and prepare for even more business this year.
