How to market your catering program

Question:

As spring events ramp up, what is your best approach for marketing your catering program?

Answers from FSD's Culinary Council

We have found that one of the most effective ways to market our services is by hosting small groups for invitation-only, seasonal tastings.  Our clients enjoy getting to interact with our culinary team and being a part of our menu-development process, and the tastings also provide us with the opportunity to display any new service items that we recently have purchased.

—Carrie Anderson
Executive chef
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

We look to reinvent ourselves each spring and to showcase some growth in our catering menu and food. Every year we relaunch our “new” catering menus that meet the changes in season, the changes in the market and the changes in the food. We keep it fresh and always promote the ability to create custom menus to meet the needs of the group.

—Jason Morse
Chef
5280 Culinary, LLC
Highlands Ranch, Colo.

We ensure we have plenty of photography to work with. Brides, grooms and event planners from recent events are often able to share their photography. We use Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram accounts to merchandise services. And we participate in wedding and bridal shows and business expos.

—Bill Brizzolara
Campus executive chef
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, N.C.