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F&B Trends - A Planner’s Expanding Responsibilities
Ann M. Luketic, CMP
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Food is incredibly important at an event – attendees will remember if they received a bad meal. Over the past ten years, the emerging food and beverage trends have begun to expand the professional event planner’s responsibilities from budgeting and selecting menus to becoming an expert on nutrition and health.
The increase in dietary restrictions and food allergies – along with an ever-changing attendee list – has made menu planning difficult. Here are some tips on how you can elevate or alter food and beverage trends to ensure your attendees have a unique, memorable experience they won’t find anywhere else.
Provide More Interesting Healthy Options
The health food trend is not new, and attendees are used to seeing super foods, such a quinoa or kale, intertwined into menu options. Challenge your caterer to think beyond their pre-packaged menu to meet the demands of your attendees. Tap into the high demand for flavor, and don’t be afraid to embrace the flavor profiles from different cultures or ethnicities, such as Mexican, Middle Eastern or Korean cuisines.
Give Attendees an Experience
You’re not just providing attendees with a meal – you’re providing them with an experience. Their meals should tell a story – perhaps about the city or the event. More importantly, their meals should be something they cannot receive at home! The rise in easy-to-follow recipe videos on social media has empowered everyone to be a decent home cook; providing diverse dining experiences and menu selections can provide you the wow-factor you need for a successful event. And, in this digital age, it’s always important to remember that people share everything on social media – give them an experience that will make their friends and followers jealous.
Ann M. Luketic, CMP is a Marketing Event Specialist at Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and a hospitality instructor at Corporate College, a division of Cuyahoga Community College.