How to Build a Catering Menu for Your Restaurant

Building a catering menu for your restaurant can be a powerful sales tool to bring in new customers and added profits, but menu development can be a daunting task. How do you choose which dishes to include? In this article, we’ll discuss how to build a catering menu for your restaurant to attract clients and boost your profits.

Why is a Catering Menu Important?

With catering, you can expand your delicious food and bev offerings to more events, parties, and corporate meetings. While your main source of profits may be from traditional dining, you can grow by adding catering as an additional revenue stream. To have success, you’ll need to create a positive, easy experience for event planners to keep them booking your catering services.

Your catering menu informs prospective customers of their food and beverage choices but it also serves many other purposes including:

• Sets the tone for the experience
• Helps market your brand
• Provides cost-effective planning for inventory
• Accommodates dietary restrictions and allergies
• Tailors to guest preferences

Looking to build a catering menu for your restaurant? Check out how below:

Know Your Audience

Before you start creating your catering menu, it’s important to determine who your target audience is. Examples include social event planners, corporate event planners, couples planning weddings, non-profit organizations, and educational or government institutions. Additionally, think about specific demographic or cuisine preferences for your target market. Start by doing market research to know how to position yourself, what your unique selling points are, what event trends are showing, and where there are opportunities. Knowing your target market will help you determine which dishes to include on your menu and how to price them.

Stay True to Brand

When developing your menu for catering, you are exhibiting your restaurant’s brand. Your catering menu should not only list out menu items, but convey your story to entice potential planners to book with you. Every aspect of your menu, including the choice of ingredients, recipes, presentation, and pricing, should be influenced and directed by your brand identity.

Consider Your Restaurant’s Specialty

Your restaurant likely has a specialty dish or cuisine that differentiates it from others. Consider incorporating a chef’s favorite into your catering menu. Referred to as “anchoring”, this special dish will not only showcase your restaurant’s unique offerings, but will also give customers a unique taste and experience.

Offer a Variety of Menu Options

When building your catering menu, it’s important to offer a variety of options to cater to different tastes and dietary restrictions. Include vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free menu options to accommodate all guests. Consider all parts of your menu to make sure there is a nice mixture. You can also offer different serving sizes, complete meals (Prix Fixe), or family-style platters to cater to different event sizes and preferences.

Choices for Different Event Types and Budgets

Consider developing different menus for different event types such as a menu for corporate breakfasts and one for celebratory dinners, etc. Offering menu choices that cater to different budget levels is crucial.

Change Up Seasonally

Consider the seasonality of your ingredients. Utilizing ingredients that are fresh, locally sourced, and in season can markedly elevate the taste quality of your cuisine. Commit to freshness and quality and make this evident in your menus. In addition, leverage the season to accommodate specific event needs. For example, the holiday season should prompt you to add a holiday spin to your catering menu.

Price Strategically

Pricing your catering menu can be tricky. You want to make a profit, but you also don’t want to scare off potential customers with high prices. Consider the cost of ingredients, staffing, and overhead when determining your prices. You can also offer package deals or discounts for larger orders to entice customers to choose your catering services.

Highlight Popular Dishes

Avoid overloading your menu with too many options. It’s more effective to offer a select number of dishes that are prepared to perfection rather than a wide array of mediocre ones. Your catering menu should showcase your restaurant’s most popular dishes. These are the dishes that have received rave reviews and keep customers coming back for more. By featuring them on your catering menu, you can attract new customers who may not have dined at your restaurant before.

Promote Catering Services

Once you have your catering menu ready, it’s time to promote your services. Utilize social media, email marketing, and your restaurant’s website to spread the word about your catering offerings. You can also partner with local businesses or event planners to reach a larger audience.

Monitor and Adjust

As with any aspect of your restaurant, it’s important to monitor the success of your catering menu and make adjustments as needed. Keep track of which dishes are popular and which options are not selling well. You can also gather feedback from customers to see if there are any changes or additions they would like to see on the menu. Look at tools like sales reports, profit margins, or customer feedback to help you assess the effectiveness and financial success of your menu.

Handle It All With TripleseatDirect Catering Management

By following these tips, you can build a successful catering menu for your restaurant that will attract customers and increase revenue. Make sure you’ve got the right software to manage your catering business. TripleseatDirect enables restaurants to offer on-premise and off-premise events and catering to be booked by their clients, directly from their website, social media platforms, or EventUp. Book a demo to learn more.