Proof of the Pudding, the Atlanta-based catering company and foodservice management firm, is good at many things. The company’s swift and steady growth is a testament to that.
But one area in which the serious company with the slightly silly name especially excels is identifying a need or an opportunity and rising to the task.
Some recent examples:
- Flash back to the uncertainty of spring 2020. Catering occasions evaporated overnight. So, Proof of the Pudding became a community feeding organization, preparing boxed meals for those in need and, eventually, becoming the foodservice provider for pop-up COVID hospitals around the country. The company ended up running nine hospitals with the Navajo Nation for almost a year, often taking over hotels that were no longer in use. “We would do the foodservice for feeding all the doctors, nurses, patients and crew,” Proof of the Pudding CEO Adam Noyes said. “It was a way to find a new line of business, emergency management feeding, that we’re still doing a little bit of today.”
- With many people continuing to work from home, even after life has returned to “normal,” there remains a large amount of unused office space in cities around the country. Proof of the Pudding, seeing that opportunity, is transforming three such spaces in Atlanta into event venues. “There were some real estate opportunities that could be taken advantage of to get really good deals on premium real estate and turn those into special event venues,” Noyes said. “So we’ve got three of those that we’re going to be opening between now and January.”
- Proof of the Pudding has made just one acquisition so far, purchasing the small, Atlanta-based catering organization Southern Crust Catering Company, in January. But “so far” is the key phrase here. “We’re looking at quite a bit of M&A activity right now around the country,” Noyes said. “We’re first looking at organizations where we can kind of replicate the success we’ve had in the Southeast.” Noyes declined to reveal more details, but said Proof of the Pudding is especially interested in growing through acquisitions in Texas and Florida, areas in which the company already provides foodservice for major sporting events.
Adam Noyes, Proof of the Pudding CEO
A history of growth
Proof of the Pudding got its start in 1979 as a caterer in Atlanta. In the years since, it has served food at some of the country’s most prestigious locations and events. It now operates in 18 states, from Palm Springs, California, to Miami and many parts in between.
In 1989, the company became the exclusive caterer for the Carter Presidential Center. The firm catered the 1996 Summer Olympics and partnered with the Atlanta tourist attraction World of Coca-Cola in 2010.
In the past decade, Proof of the Pudding has grown from a $15 million company to one doing $100 million in business each year. Last year, Proof of the Pudding was acquired by New York-based investment firm Bruin Capital for an undisclosed sum.
“We’ve still got our foot on the gas and are looking at a lot of new opportunities,” Noyes said. “We’re very calculated. We’ve been very picky about who we’re going to partner with.”
One of three new Proof of the Pudding event spaces in Atlanta
An impressive client roster
About 60% of Proof of the Pudding’s revenue comes from major sporting events, Noyes said. That includes the PGA tour, eight collegiate stadiums and Formula One racing. Every October, Proof of the Pudding feeds between 100,000 and 150,000 people for three days during the Circuit of the Americas Formula One race in Austin, Texas.
Providing foodservice for tourist attractions and conference centers makes up another big chunk of Proof of the Pudding’s business, followed by athletic dining and catering for corporate events, weddings and other gatherings.
“That’s now one of the smaller parts of what we do today,” he said. “But it’s still kind of our creative incubator of the company, because every event is new and unique, in a new location with a customized menu. We’re able to take a lot of that creativity and inject it into the company.”
Over the years, the company has built its reputation on relationships, he said.
“Our special sauce is relationships,” Noyes said. “We sit down. We’re good listeners. We sit down with the clients and we really listen to what their true needs are. You’ve got to have great food and you’ve got to have great service in our industry. But so much of it comes down to the people who execute it. We’ve placed a huge emphasis on people.”
Part of that emphasis includes bolstering the company’s executive ranks, promoting LaTosha Marks last month to senior vice president of human resources and hiring hospitality veteran Mike Pappas as EVP of operations earlier this month.
Menu innovation
At the heart of everything Proof of the Pudding does, though, is the food.
Everything is made from scratch, with a focus on designing menus that fit the occasion and the location.
“We don’t take any food out of a box,” he said. “We operate a catering company more like a fine-dining restaurant. We make all of our own sauces, and all of our ingredients are fresh, and we treat them with respect. We try to buy locally. We try to make sure our menus are as indigenous and unique to the environment where we’re serving.”
Having a team of about 60 executive chefs who spend so much time traveling the country allows for robust menu research and development, Noyes said.
“I think a chef’s job is one of the hardest,” he said. “The best chefs have to continually just reinvent themselves. A great menu for 2024 for Mississippi State University is, it was a great menu. But the menu for 2025 needs to be totally reinvented and not just be rinse and repeat. It needs to be creative and innovative. Our industry changes so fast.”