The Archive
decades of thinking;
hours of writing.
Three decades of work on restaurant catering, off-premises, and operations — collected and preserved.
Get Catering and Grow Sales!
2012
A strategic handbook for multi-unit restaurant executives — the original Catering Institute playbook, where the 5 Pillars framework began.
Read the book23 original essays from The Catering Institute era (2013–2019). Strategic thinking for multi-unit restaurant operators on the fundamentals of off-premises and catering. Historical artifacts — still relevant today.
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5 Pillars of Successful Restaurant Catering
The original Catering Institute framework — the five cornerstones every multi-unit operator needs to build a successful catering program.
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40 Little Things: It’s The Little Things That Matter
40 operational micro-moves — from thank-you calls to communication habits — that quietly make or break a catering program.
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45 Rockstar Marketing Tactics for Restaurant Caterers
45 practical marketing tactics for restaurant catering operators — outreach, retention, events, and branding.
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Centralization Strategies
Where to centralize in a multi-unit catering operation — and where to let the stores own it.
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Culture Trumps Strategy: What I Learned from Ben & Jerry’s
Why culture — not strategy — is the real differentiator in multi-unit catering, with lessons from Ben & Jerry’s.
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The Economics of Catering
The unit economics of catering — margins, leverage, and why off-premises outperforms dine-in when you capitalize on existing assets.
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Five Best Practices of POS Integration
Hard-won lessons on integrating catering into your POS — from a VP of IT who did it.
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Five Points of Competitive Differentiation for Catering in QSR
Five ways QSR operators can carve a defensible catering position in a crowded market.
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Five Ways to Grow Your Off-Premises Sales
Five proven levers to expand off-premises revenue — delivery, takeout, and catering — without cannibalizing dine-in.
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Further Defining the Service Script
How to codify the catering service script so every unit delivers the same experience, every time.
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Going Back to the Basics Always Works
When a catering program stalls, the answer is almost always a return to fundamentals — not a new shiny tactic.
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Growing Restaurant Catering Sales in a Franchise Ecosystem
The definitive essay on franchise catering — brand-franchisee alignment, incentive design, and scaling sales across the system.
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How Online Ordering Can Negatively Impact Your Catering Business
A counterintuitive look at how consumer online-ordering platforms often break the catering experience they were meant to enable.
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How to Grow Catering Sales — From a Franchisee’s Perspective
A franchisee-eye view of catering growth — what brands don’t see, and what operators actually need to win.
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How to Increase Catering Order Volume & Frequency
The levers to pull when you want existing catering customers to order more often and larger.
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Is Your Catering Experience Scalable & Predictable?
The scalability test every catering operator should run — and what to fix when the answer is no.
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Managing Sales Visibility
How to get honest sales visibility across a distributed catering operation — and what to do with it once you have it.
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Managing the Size of Catering Orders
Order size as a strategic lever — how to grow the average ticket without losing frequency.
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Menu Development in a Multi-Unit Restaurant Catering Operation
What multi-unit operators get wrong about catering menus — and a framework for getting it right.
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Ten Ways to Build Your Restaurant Catering Program
A ten-step playbook for multi-unit restaurants launching catering from zero — from menu to metrics.
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Time Management: The Key to Catering Sales Production
The time-allocation playbook for catering sales teams — what to do daily, weekly, monthly to hit production goals.
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Why Pizzerias Are Positioned to Win BIG at Catering
A contrarian take on the pizza category — and why pizzerias have a structural advantage in catering most miss.
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Why Servant Leadership is Crucial for a Successful Catering Program
Why catering programs live or die on leadership style — and why servant leadership wins in off-premises.
Regular contributor to FastCasual on operating, off-premises, catering strategy, and the business of restaurants.
Guest Podcasts
Conversations on other shows — interviews, panels, and industry talks.
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Catching Up with the Catering Business
Restaurant Operator Podcast
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Why Systems, Not Sizzle, Drive Catering Profits
Catering Insider — Episode 8
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The Restaurant Catering Workshop
Deliveringmore · DeliverThat
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Fulfillment of Prophecy: Moving Off-Premises
Give An Ovation
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The Problems With Catering Software
Food On Demand · DeliverThat
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Winning Big in Corporate Catering
Catering Webinar
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Catering Best Practices
Talk Tech Live
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Erle Dardick — Monkey Group (Full)
Breaking Bread
Podcast
The Catering Cage Podcast
Weekly conversations with restaurant operators, catering leaders, and technology builders. 38 episodes on off-premises strategy, growth, and the future of restaurant catering.
Watch on YouTube →RLC 2013 Presentation
For any restaurant operator looking to layer a catering program on top of their existing business—making room for organizational growth and the structural changes catering demands.
RLC 2017 Keynote
A keynote on the state and future of catering in multi-unit foodservice at the Restaurant Leadership Conference.
AKFCF — Customer Testimonial
KFC operators on adding catering within their franchises, using the MonkeyCatering platform and Catering Institute strategy.
Catering Institute — Speaking Engagements
Clips and context from keynote appearances and industry conferences on catering, off-premises, and operations.
Tony’s Deli & Catering Co. · 1996–2004
MonkeyMedia Software & The Catering Institute · 2002–2019
— end of the archive —
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