Corporate Catering, Private Dining Trends and Incentivizing In-Person Business Events

Business dining took a hard hit with the disruption of in-person events in 2020, but Dinova and Technomic’s State of Business 2022 Q3 Dining Report suggests a promising comeback for the food service industry.

Here are some key details regarding corporate catering and private dining trends:

Business Dining Spending and Overall Industry Health

An early dropoff in 2022 didn’t stifle business dining spending throughout the year, as we saw the BDIndex gradually improve from Q1 to Q3 with scores of 82, 84 and 89 respectively. A BDIndex or TIndex score of 100 means that dining has fully recovered to pre-pandemic (2019) levels. The TIndex showed an even quicker bounce back, predicted to sit around 108 by the end of 2022.

Inflation to Slow Business Dining Recovery

Although the return of in-person business operations is increasing reliance on the food service industry, economic inflation is expected to slow the recovery in the coming months. However, since professional dining is typically seen as a business investment, it’s more inflation-proof than personal dining or retail.

As covid concerns decrease among consumers, inflation is likely to become the top deterrent for dining out.

Incentivizing In-Person Events with Meals

Although the hybrid work model still prevails in 2022, employers are incentivizing in-person work with corporate catering and private dining. In an attempt to promote face-to-face meetings and boost company culture, businesses are turning to catered events or meeting at restaurants to talk shop.

Green Tomato Grill’s Corporate Catering

Green Tomato Grill offers a variety of affordable, healthy and hearty meals perfect for catering corporate events. Our options for healthy food delivery in Orange County satisfy a number of dietary preferences and restrictions, including plant-based, gluten-free and any allergy-conscious requests.

Incentivizing in-person business events through Green Tomato Grill’s catering services is cost-effective and sure to fulfill any demand.

Visit our catering page to learn more.