Whether you own a small standalone catering business or your restaurant is running a catering side hustle, this is a great time to think about expanding your operation.
Restaurant catering services are experiencing significant growth today, even outpacing growth in the broader restaurant biz. This could be a great opportunity to add revenue, boost sales, and even drive more restaurant traffic.
In the discussion that follows, we explore a few of the reasons behind the healthy pace of catering business growth. And for a little help with our exploration, we are joined by Olo Senior Product Manager Kate Franco. Olo is a leading SaaS platform. (SaaS stands for Software as a Service, and usually describes a cloud-based software platform that gives users access to a wide range of different tools.)
What this means is that Olo offers all kinds of hospitality solutions for things like online ordering, loyalty rewards, reputation management, and more. Olo also features a suite of tools called Catering+ that integrates directly with your POS (point of sale) system and helps streamline your in-house catering operation.
Kate shares her insights on the recent catering boom along with some valuable tips on how you can seize this opportunity with help from the right tech.
The Catering Boom
If you’re thinking now might be the right time to grow your catering business, Olo offers some encouraging figures. According to Olo, the restaurant catering services sector is expected to grow at a rate of 6.2% in the next 9 years, reaching over $140 billion by 2035.
That translates to incredible opportunity for individual operators. As Kate tells us, “The economics of catering are really impactful. We typically see a catering average order value at around $350, which tends to be around 10 times larger than a meal or a standard takeout order.”
The opportunity doesn’t end there. Kate points out, “This number can be even higher for brands that take advantage of tax-exempt orders [orders from schools, non-profits, and religious institutions] or build relationships with corporate accounts. And if you manage these kinds of accounts right, they can become a source of predictable repeat revenue.”
As the catering sector grows, so does the opportunity to put a significant boost into your sales.
5 Reasons To Grow Your Catering Business Now
If you’re running a smaller catering business, either as your primary gig or your side-hustle, you’re already familiar with some of the pros and cons. Catering businesses deal with many of the same challenges as restaurants — high food costs, spiking energy prices, and employee turnover.
But there are also advantages to catering — more predictable inventory and labor needs, larger order sizes, and access to a new customer base.
So is it worth the extra work? And is now really the right time to go all-in on catering? Here’s what Kate had to say about it.
1. The Forecast Is Sunny
“Our data shows 100% year over year growth between 2024 and 2025,” Kate tells us. “Prior to COVID, catering was already the fastest growing channel in the restaurant space, outpacing industry growth. After COVID, it's coming back even stronger.”
Catering is in a serious growth phase right now and most forecasts say it’s only going to get better. Like Olo, Grand View Research predicts a robust compound growth rate of 7.7% every year between 2023 and 2030.
So obviously, there’s plenty of opportunity here. But there’s also a bit of urgency behind that opportunity. And that’s because your competitors are already making moves.
According to an article from Restaurant Dive, the vast majority of restaurant operators — 97% — expect continued growth in the catering sector. As a result, says Restaurant Dive, many operators are focused on expanding their restaurant catering services, expanding their existing spaces, and adding staff to help meet the growing demand for catering services.
The outlook for the catering sector at large is very good. If you want the same sunny outlook for your catering business, make sure to seize the day.
2. Event Catering Is Super On-Trend
The catering boom is actually being powered by a few simultaneous post-COVID trends. One of these is the much-publicized return-to-office trend. Grand View Research says that 48% of caterers identify corporate events as their biggest area of growth.
As Kate tells us, “Employers have been trying to incentivize employees back into the office, especially on specific days. With the return to work trend, catering orders are typically on a very consistent schedule, like, for example, a weekly Wednesday lunch. The brands that are able to attract and fulfill those types of weekly catering orders will have a very predictable source of revenue throughout the week.”
A number of other trends are also helping to drive restaurant catering growth. According to Grand View, many caterers say weddings remain their largest source of revenue. In addition, Kate points out, “We’re seeing the demand for catering expand well beyond the office — into schools, hospitals, sports venues, and other settings.”
Subscribe to Our Weekly Back of House Newsletter
Short and sweet summaries for busy restaurant operators. Subscribe to the Back of House newsletter to get updates delivered straight to your inbox.
3. Catering Usually Happens When Your Restaurant Is Quiet
Catering can be far more than a side hustle. It can also be what your restaurant does when things are otherwise slow.
“A lot of the catering orders that we see on our platform are delivered between Tuesday and Thursday by noon,” Kate explains, “which means you're generating a lot of really high-value revenue during what might be your off-peak time.”
Focusing more attention on your restaurant catering services can help offset the slow shifts, and provide steady working opportunities throughout the week for your team and your space. Kate advises, “Catering is a really good way to take advantage of slower periods in the restaurant and take advantage of the labor that's already in your restaurant.”
4. Catering Gigs Lead to Restaurant Customers
As we’ve noted, the catering industry’s outlook is pretty sunny. Meanwhile, says a recent report from the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant industry reported a net decline in customer foot traffic for 15 out of 16 months between the winter of 2025 and the spring of 2026.
This is all the more reason to lean into your catering business. And that’s not just because your restaurant catering services can help to offset the revenue you're losing due to lower foot traffic. It can also help boost that foot traffic.
“We typically see catering work as a healthy customer acquisition engine,” says Kate. “When you're catering an event and there are 30 to 50 people there, that’s so many more mouths that get to know your product, and so many more people that may now visit your restaurant. So catering is a really good gateway for new customers.”
The numbers support this observation. According to Restaurant Dive, 47% of people who had a restaurant meal through an employer ended up ordering from that restaurant in the future. Event and corporate catering are both amazing ways to serve and impress a captive audience.
5. You Have Access to More Tools Than Ever
There is another compelling argument for growing your catering business now. You have access to a generation of tech innovations that are truly changing the game. With the right tools, you can simplify, streamline, and automate aspects of your operation that required significant back office resources just a few years ago. This means your small business is more scalable than ever.
According to Restaurant Dive, 82% of corporate catering customers said they expected to order the same amount of or more food for work in the coming year. That same year — 2024 — saw 39% of all businesses ordering catered meals at least weekly. That was up from 32% the year before. Your business needs to be scalable if you want to handle that kind of growth and repeat business.
The right suite of tools can help you:
- Simplify your order fulfillment processes by managing all of your orders — online, in-person, and over the phone — on a single platform.
- Automate your workflow with tools to support communication, invoicing, and reporting.
- Tap into your guest data, personalize outreach, and boost repeat business.
Kate points out, “Seventy-four percent of catering orders are placed digitally, so the brands that are really investing in technology and have a digital front door are the ones who are set to capture that type of growth.”
Get the Right Tech To Grow Your Catering Business
If you're hesitant to grow your catering business, here’s some food for thought.
“Catering is happening to you,” Kate observes, “whether you’re planning for it or not.”
If your customers really like your menu, they’re probably already looking at your website for catering options. Make sure you’re prepared to meet that expectation.
We’ve got just the thing to keep you prepared – a fresh weekly batch of knowledge. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and stay on top of the latest tech, trends and headlines.
