Can you imagine attending a conference and sitting through hours of thought-provoking talks on an empty stomach? Your attendees probably can’t either. Providing a delicious and nourishing catered spread energizes attendees and helps them focus. What’s more, good food lifts the mood, gets people socializing, and enhances the attendee experience. It’s all wins.
No doubt, planning the catering for a conference is intimidating, but you don’t have to do it alone. This guide covers the best practices (and some often-forgotten advice!) for feeding a hungry crowd of any size. What better way to do that than with a list of dos and don’ts full of real-life examples? Let’s dive in.
How to plan catering for a conference
Meticulous planning is what makes events feel so effortless for attendees. It sounds like a contradiction, but it’s true. When you take the time to hammer out all the logistical details early on, the important catering decisions that come next fall into place. The food is served on time, the menu fits the conference atmosphere, and the guests feel valued because of thoughtful catering.
Of course, the planning stages are everything but effortless. Professionals like you have their work cut out for them. Still, it’s all worth it in the end: attendees enjoy themselves and you breathe a sigh of relief instead of putting out (metaphorical) fires all day.
Do book your catering services well in advance
It all starts with finding an experienced and reliable caterer who aligns with your vision for the conference. If you’re in a large city, that shouldn’t be a problem. However, the challenge is booking one who is available. After all, yours probably won’t be the only event happening in town, which means you won’t be the only one looking for catering services. There’s only one solution: booking a caterer well in advance.
How soon should you start looking? Well, that depends.
For starters, large conferences with over a thousand attendees involve a lot of work from caterers. Just imagine how long it takes to prepare more than a thousand lunch sandwiches. If you’re expecting a big turnout, it’s a smart move to book catering at least one year in advance. Smaller conferences, on the other hand, are less demanding, so they can be planned a few months out. In either case, if you don’t give caterers enough notice, they may refuse to fulfill your order.
Besides crowd size, you should also consider what other events are scheduled to take place at the same time as your conference. For example, May is a busy month in college towns because of all the graduation ceremonies and parties. If you’re hosting your conference then, you’ll have to compete with other event planners for catering services. The early bird gets the worm, so book a caterer before everyone else does.
Don’t underestimate how much food you’ll need
Securing a caterer is only the beginning. Knowing how much food to order is the next challenge. It’s tricky! You don’t want to over-order and end up with tons of expensive leftovers, but under-ordering can be an even bigger issue. If you run out of food while guests are still hungry, they won’t be happy.
There’s no perfect answer to that problem. However, following standard portion sizes as a general guide could help. For instance, since twelve sandwiches typically feed ten people, you can quickly figure out how many sandwiches to order.
You don’t need to know all the recommendations off the top of your head, though. Most catering menus on ezCater include portion size suggestions for each item. All you need to do is multiply that by the number of guests you’re expecting. Easy peasy.
Building a satisfying conference catering menu
You can check off booking a caterer and doing food math off your to-do list. Those are the most challenging (and tedious) aspects of planning catering for a conference. Now, you can move on to the fun part: curating a menu attendees will love.
Do plan your menu in parallel with the conference schedule
Guests are much more likely to enjoy a well-thought-out catering spread than a random assortment of foods, no matter how flavorful they are. If you want guests to remember your event fondly, go the extra mile to curate a menu that meets attendees’ needs during the conference.
That’s easier than you may think. Let’s look at some practical examples.
Say that attendees have a thirty-minute break between two networking activities. They need a quick energy boost to get them into a socializing mood. Coffee and pastries do just that, so serving them during a short break is an excellent idea.
However, a sweet treat won’t always fit the bill. The refined carbs inevitably lead to a blood sugar crash that leaves guests feeling exhausted. That’s no good before a three-hour panel. A heartier meal packed with fiber, protein, and healthy fats — like a poke bowl, for example — would be a much better pick. It will keep guests full, energized, and focused for longer.
As you can see, scheduling different types of snacks and meals around conference events isn’t too complicated. And it pays off! When you give attendees exactly what they need when they need it, their conference experience shoots up.
Don’t be afraid to mix things up
Diversifying your menu makes your conferences more enjoyable, too. Especially for guests with pickier tastes: the more food variety available, the more likely they are to find dishes they truly want to eat.
Attendees with more adventurous palates will also appreciate you switching things up. Creative catering menus are a chance to explore new flavors, textures, and cuisines. For example, instead of only offering classic breakfast picks like muffins, pancakes, and eggs, why not also serve shakshouka? This beloved North African tomato stew is served with poached eggs and crusty bread at many modern brunch spots, but some hungry attendees in your crowd may not have tried it before. Now would be the perfect time to change that.
What better way to make sure guests remember your event than by introducing them to new, delicious meals?
Do offer comparable dietary restriction–friendly options
Using food to improve the attendee experience only works when everyone has something to eat — and that includes guests with food allergies and dietary restrictions. Serving an inclusive menu that’s just as nourishing, appetizing, and filling is a must.
Let’s say that you order Cajun-spiced chicken salads for lunch. What should you serve to vegans in the crowd? A sad lettuce salad with a few croutons on top won’t cut it, although it’s what some event planners with no plant-based meal experience gravitate to. A much better option would be asking the caterer to swap the chicken for chickpeas. This way, guests can share similar experiences even though they have different dietary needs.
ezCater makes accommodating special dietary requests simple. Our filtering tools guide you toward restaurants and caterers offering safe, satisfying options. Attendees feast on delicious meals and you save time looking through menus.
Handling food logistics during a conference
You’ve chosen a caterer, built a memorable menu, and ordered enough food. Great! Now comes the last stage: bringing those meals into the venue, setting everything up, and feeding hungry attendees.
Do schedule catering delivery strategically
Getting your food delivered hours before you need it is a clever idea. Fixing last-minute mistakes, like realizing you don’t have enough napkins, is much easier. And so is dealing with delays, like a delivery driver stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Having a dedicated partner like ezCater by your side gives you peace of mind, too. Our customer support team is available 24/7 to help you keep tabs on your order.
Make conferences better with delicious catered meals
Getting every little detail right is a lot of work, but it pays off. A well-fed crowd is more lively, engaged, and content. That’s good for you, too. When guests leave feeling happy, they’ll remember the conference — and your organization — fondly. As a result, they may return for future events.Ready to make that happen? Find out how ezCater can help you achieve better business results with streamlined and inspired food solutions.
