How to Grow Your Catering Business

There’s more to running a catering business than just serving great food. When it comes down to it, you’re aiming to create unforgettable experiences that keep clients coming back. Whether you’re catering weddings, corporate lunches, or private events, growing your catering business requires a mix of smart marketing, strong client relationships, and operational efficiency.

But with so much competition, how do you make sure your business stands out? Let’s break down what it takes to boost your sales and keep your calendar booked year-round.

What Do You Need to Know About the Catering Business?

Before you focus on growth, it’s important to understand what actually makes a catering business successful. Remember that at its core, catering goes beyond cooking and delivering—it involves a careful combination of logistics, customer service, and strategic pricing. Without the right foundation, scaling up becomes a challenge.

Be certain that your business has the right systems in place and that you understand the essentials before you start making wide-scale changes.

What’s Included in Basic Catering Services

Clients expect a full-service experience, which may include additional details you might overlook. These elements can often extend past the menu and affect how the event is executed. Take a look at what’s generally included in catering services:

Customizable menus designed around any dietary restrictions
Food delivery and transportation
On-site food preparation and presentation
Basic serving staff (for buffet or plated service)

Not every client will be eager to purchase add-ons (such as specialty bar services or live cooking stations), so it’s important to focus on delivering these core components at a high level. The more you’re able to exceed their expectations, the more likely clients will book with you again and recommend your business to others.

The Most Common Types of Catering

Every catering event is different, which is why effective marketing that speaks to your target audience is so valuable. These are the most common types of catering events:

Concession Catering: Ideal for large public events at fairs, festivals, or concerts, concession catering focuses on high-volume, quick-service food options. Think of finger foods like hot dogs, nachos, or popcorn.
Corporate Catering: Corporate catering events can range from delivering meals to private offices to entire regional events. They’re primarily meant to support presentations or team-building initiatives.
Social Event Catering: Birthday parties, graduation celebrations, anniversaries, and more. Social event catering covers gatherings centered around creating a fun, memorable experience.
Wedding Catering: Food and drinks are a major part of any wedding, which makes hiring a catering business a must-have. Wedding catering is typically more intimate and personalized, requiring careful planning to ensure the menu aligns with the couple’s vision, theme, and guest preferences.

Why Profit Margins Are Important

The average profit margin for catering businesses falls between 7-8%, but that number depends on factors like food costs, labor, and pricing structure. Businesses that specialize in high-end or niche catering—like organic farm-to-table menus or luxury dining experiences—can command even higher margins.

Calculating revenue can get complex, but the key to profitability will always come down to smart pricing and portion control. Underpricing might attract new clients, but it won’t sustain long-term success.

So how exactly do you set yourself apart from the crowd?

This is where marketing comes in.

How to Grow Catering Sales

Now, let’s talk about how to grow a catering business successfully. It’s a delicate balance, and while you’ll want to keep expanding to find new clients, you have to make sure you’re keeping existing ones engaged. You also have to make sure your business stays profitable while being as efficient as possible.

Here are some tips on what you need to know about growing your sales:

1. Use Outdoor Advertising to Attract Local Clients

While online marketing is great, out-of-home (OOH) advertising ensures your business reaches local customers in high-traffic areas. Plus, it gives people outside your target audience a chance to see your brand, so you’re spreading awareness in places you might not have thought of before.

Some of the best ways catering businesses can make the most of OOH advertising include:

Highway billboards — Perfect for showcasing your catering business to commuters. This is what usually comes to mind when people think of billboards. They also come in different forms (more on that below).
Transit ads on buses and rideshares – Want your ads to move with your audience? With transit ads, you can go wherever your next customers are, getting exposure to places where static, unmoving ads might not reach them.
Street furniture — Strategically placed ads on bus stops, benches, and near kiosks keep your catering business front and center, especially in busy areas or near event venues.
Wallscape advertisements — Large, eye-catching ads on building walls can demand attention from drivers and pedestrians. They’re great for spreading the word about your catering services. If you’re lucky, they can even moonlight as Instagram-worthy spots for social media sharing.
Shopping malls — Looking to catch shoppers planning their next event? Place your ads near food courts or entrances where people are considering catering for their next gathering.

If you prefer digital advertising, consider digital-out-of-home (DOOH) ads, which allow you to track or program campaigns in real time. This means you can schedule them at the most effective moments—like during 5 o’clock rush hour on a busy highway or at lunchtime near a large office complex.

2. Build a Strong Online Presence

If people can’t find you online, they won’t book you. It’s as simple as that. A strong digital presence makes it easy for potential clients to discover and contact you. At a minimum, your catering business should have:

An active Google Business Profile with real client reviews
A website with an easy-to-navigate menu, pricing details, and testimonials
SEO-driven content (like blogs or FAQs) to show up in search results
Active social media pages that highlight past events

Most importantly, make it easy for clients to inquire about catering. A simple contact form and prompt responses can make all the difference between a client booking with your business over another.

3. Network with Local Businesses & Venues

The perfect partnerships can bring in a steady stream of catering jobs. By connecting with the right people, you can ensure a consistent flow of opportunities. Some of the best connections to make include:

Event venues that lack in-house catering
Corporate offices that regularly host luncheons and conferences
Wedding planners who need reliable catering partners
Local breweries or wineries that host private events

Building relationships with event coordinators and venue managers increases the chances of being their go-to catering recommendation. It also allows you to get the word out about your services to a broader audience, which can guide you to more referrals and repeat business.

4. Offer Tastings & Promotions for First-Time Clients

If potential clients get a taste of your food for free, they’re more likely to book.

Hosting small tasting events—from corporate clients to wedding planners—can help build trust and give you the chance to show off your signature dishes. You can also offer first-time booking discounts or throw in a special add-on, like free dessert platters, to entice new customers.

If you think your social media accounts are just there for posting photos of your food, think again. Your accounts should primarily be used as a tool for engagement and lead generation. Here’s how your catering business can stand out:

Share customer testimonials & event highlights – Show off happy clients enjoying your catering. There isn’t a better way to build trust and credibility than by featuring real people who enjoyed your service.
Post behind-the-scenes content – Give your followers a sneak peek into the hard work that goes into preparing a memorable event.
Engage with followers – Answer questions, run polls, and engage with customers in comments. Here’s an example of the popular burger chain Wendy’s replying to messages on X with snarky, witty comments that drove engagement:

If you can allocate resources to it, make sure you have someone running your social media accounts. In fact, there’s data to back up that businesses who dedicate time to optimizing their social media accounts are viewed more favorably by customers—around 73% of social media users agree that if a brand doesn’t respond to them, they’ll buy from a competitor.

6. Invest in Catering Management Software

If your scheduling system still relies on spreadsheets and sticky notes, you’re probably losing time (and money). Catering software can help you:

Automate booking requests and payments
Create detailed event timelines and menus
Manage food costs and portioning more efficiently
Reduce miscommunication between team members

Popular tools like Total Party Planner, Tripleseat, or CaterZen can save you hours of manual work each week.

7. Launch a Catering Loyalty Program

It’s no secret. Repeat customers are the backbone of a strong catering business. Even a simple loyalty program can encourage businesses and event planners to book with you regularly. Some effective models include:

Discounts after multiple bookings (e.g., 10% off every fifth order)
Referral incentives (reward clients who bring in new business)
Exclusive perks (priority booking for VIP clients)

Loyalty programs don’t have to be complex—just enough to give customers a reason to book with you again.

Online vs. Outdoor Ads: Which is Better for Your Catering Business?

When it comes to advertising your catering business, both online and outdoor ads have their perks. But here’s the thing: outdoor advertising has the unique advantage of reaching people in the real world, right where they are.

Maybe it’s a busy highway billboard or a giant, creative wallscape—one is bound to catch your eye. Outdoor ads make it easy to capture attention in places where people are likely to act on impulse, like when they’re waiting for a ride at a bus stop or shopping at the mall.

While it’s true that catering businesses aren’t immediate impulse purchases by nature, OOH ads serve as a reminder at just the right moment, particularly when someone is planning their next event. Plus, they’re a lot less intrusive than phone pop-ups or unskippable video ads.

Online ads are fantastic for driving engagement, but outdoor ads give you that in-the-moment, high-visibility presence that helps your catering business stay top of mind. Outdoor ads are also the perfect way to complement your online efforts and build local awareness.

Boost Your Catering Sales With Alluvit Media

Thinking about how to grow catering sales? It takes less effort than you might think—especially if you partner with an OOH marketing team that knows what they’re doing.

At Alluvit Media, we specialize in out-of-home advertising and can help your catering business reach new customers. Whether you want to place strategic billboards alongside highways, in busy city centers, or somewhere else you have in mind, we’re here to get your message out there. Plus, we offer no-cost, in-house graphic design services to bring your vision to life.

Ready to start showing off your mouth-watering menu or promoting a seasonal special? Get the growth your catering business deserves—fill out our contact form today.