In my own work at MonkeyMedia Software, I am fascinated by the endless opportunities presented to our multi-unit restaurant community when it comes to catering.  These days, no matter where my travels take me, every restaurant category is exploring the off-premise catering opportunity.  Pizza, Sandwiches, Salads, Sushi, Pasta, Chicken, Hamburgers, Tacos, Burritos and even Steak!  Yes, steak.

While all of these segments are exciting, to me, it’s the treat segment that really has incredible upside.  Why?

Because bringing treats in to feed a group of people serves a different purpose and market than bringing in services for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  A totally different reason to buy!  If you really want to bring smiles to the faces of your guests, what better than bringing them a treat!

Check out this video I found for Ben and Jerry’s Catering.  No wonder their catering services are growing faster than a speeding bullet!

So, this got me thinking!  If it works for ice cream, then it works for frozen yogurt, popcorn, cookies, coffee and so on.  And as I mentioned, it’s not just about feeding people, like when our guests need to cater meals.  No.  It’s bigger than that!

It’s about making people feel good.  It’s about cheering employees up after a tough quarter or celebrating something special like a new contract.  It’s about bringing smiles into someone’s day.  It’s about making the day special, for some reason.  It’s a clear signal to your guests that they are worthy of a treat!  Just like when you were a child.  Remember when Mom and Dad took you for an ice cream?  Emotional connection.  That’s what its about.  Yes, emotional connection.  Making memories.  Why?  Because it’s a treat!

Here’s the other thing I really like about the catering opportunity for the snack/treat segment.   If we are smart (and we are), we will leverage our brands in this segment, and look at “co-branding” our services with brands that fill the meal segment when it comes to catering.  So, imagine a day where our community brands co-exist as an ecosystem of caterers.  We actually bring each other into the catering contract. Isn’t that what caterers do?  They often sub-contract services.  So, why wouldn’t we?

Wouldn’t it be something to see when, say a brand like Ruby Tuesday, not only sells it’s own catering services, but in fact, brings in Ben and Jerry’s to complement the meal?  Now that’s opportunity!  Nowhere to go but up.  Nowhere to go but BIG!  Let’s work together to find new and exciting ways to bring our catering services to market.  Together, we stand united!

Let’s talk catering!

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