Top 8 Event Catering Trends to Watch Out For This Year

Are you a catering genius or someone who is just now dipping your toes in the event catering world? We’ve got tips to help bring your A-game to the field!  

Most of your potential customers are no longer settling for simple and basic catering experiences. They want something more, something unique! Everything from eco-friendly catering to menus focused on dietary restrictions are in demand. The restaurant catering services market is currently valued at an impressive value of 14.8 billion US dollars, with different trends and preferences driving its growth. 

Accordingly, with these changing consumer preferences and up-and-coming trends, catering service businesses now need a wholesome set of offerings and unique loyalty program features to cut through the competition. Being aware of what is or isn’t trending can help you offer premium services and secure more bookings! Whether you’re an event planner, catering business owner, or food service professional, read along to get the inside scoop on the most influential event catering trends for 2025.  

8 Key Event Catering Trends Shaping the Industry 

To stand out in your niche, you need to adopt the latest trends. Here are the catering trends you need to know of:  

1. Hyper-Personalized and Customizable Menus

When it comes to menus, the heart of catering services, customization has become super meaningful. It’s no longer just a trend you’d see in celebrity weddings but a solid expectation pouring in from the general customer base. Your clients might want you to offer anything from dietary restrictions to local culture, or event themes when crafting menus, simply to add that ‘personal’ touch to their event.  

With the rise of data-driven customer insights, caterers are also able to deliver in this regard. They are using data sets to choose menus that consider these requirements, whether it’s gluten-free options, cultural specialties, or something else.  

One example of customizable catering includes build-your-own bars, like taco bars, ramen bowl stations, and fancy salad bars, offering guests a hands-on experience with mixing flavors they like best. Other than that, you’ll see more thematic menus in 2025, as well as AI-powered personalizations that rely on past event data to curate menus.  

2. Sustainable & Eco-Friendly Catering

Sustainability is trending everywhere. Luckily, catering businesses are all up for green practices, reducing their food waste and sourcing their products from local farms to decrease their negative environmental impact.  

As a catering business, you can become a part of this trend by offering farm-to-table restaurant catering menus, using eco-friendly packaging, catering equipment, and taking zero food waste initiatives by planning portion control efficiently and donating excess food to avoid waste.  

3. Experiential & Interactive Food Stations

Who wants those boring lineups of dishes anymore? No one! Instead, customers are now more interested in live cooking stations, chef demos, and hands-on dining experiences that can offer them an immersive experience and increase engagement levels during events. A few interactive beverage and food stations that can help you address event catering trends can be: 

• Live sushi rolling and Dum Sum carts 
• DIY beverage stations 
• Flambé dessert stations 

These are just a few examples. Get creative for the best results! 

4. Global & Fusion Cuisine Influence

Now that your events are attracting diverse audiences, blending innovation with local and international flavors is imperative. In doing so, you can make sure every guest walks out of the venue satisfied.  

Guests who are traveling for events crave traditional dishes and local flavors. Meanwhile, the locals might crave more modern twists. Some trending international flavors and cross-cultural dishes to expect at 2025 events include: 

• Asian-Latin Fusion: Think fun creations like Korean BBQ tacos or sushi burritos. 
• Mediterranean-Inspired Menus: All the Mediterranean goodness with Western touches, like hummus bars, falafel sliders, and mezze platters. 
• Street Food-Inspired Bites: Authentic bite-sized portions of Indian and Mexican delicacies like bao buns, loaded nacho crisps, or Indian chaats. 

5. Elevated Beverage & Mocktail Experiences

Another one of the key event catering trends that you'll see in 2025 is how beverage service is changing. There's a growing focus on craft beers, fun and artistic mocktails, and a preference for fun pairings, live mixology experiences, and alcohol-free options. This is because more clients are now prioritizing wellness.  

Some of the ways you can follow beverage trends in catering include offering infused sparkling waters. Flavors can include cucumber, lavender, or rosemary. You can also offer drinks like lemon sodas. You'll be able to entertain your clients more with craft mocktails like kombucha blends, non-alcoholic Moscow mules, and signature event cocktails. 

6. Tech-Driven Catering & Contactless Service

Technology is a major inspiration and influence behind important event catering trends. QR codes are being widely used to scan menus. There’s also a growing trend of using mobile ordering systems and AI-driven catering experiences, where AI can help caterers create unique menus that factor in the different preferences.  

If you want to use this trend to your advantage, you can go ahead with making AI-generated menus, adding contactless payment options, or even using mobile transactions. Then, you can also partner with smart platforms to automate the entire scheduling, ordering, and customer management processes within your catering service business. 

7. Health-Conscious & Functional Foods

Burgers and pizza sliders have long been popular options on event menus. However, now the trend is shifting toward more health-conscious and functional foods, gaining importance among clients. Catering businesses will see a growing number of clients who prioritize wellness and demand functional foods that have high nutritional value.  

In corporate events, this trend is especially apparent where organic, plant-based, and immunity-boosting menus are part of the events, such as wellness retreats. Some of the health-focused catering options that you can include on your menu are superfood-infused dishes like acai bowls, turmeric lattes, quinoa stuffed peppers—all the things you might see trending across social media marketing for restaurants via Instagram and TikTok.  

You can go ahead with adding protein-packed bites to your catering service menu, too. These items might include chickpea snacks, energy balls, and nut-based protein bars that come in handy in both small and large events.  

8. Small & Intimate Gatherings with High-End Service

Now that more people are going for micro-events instead of larger ones, clients are opting for more luxurious and high-end catering services. Since these intimate events have fewer guests, hosts usually opt for a premium menu with customized touches. 

Caterers are monetizing these intimate gatherings with premium services. These include offers like private chef experiences, curated wine and food pairings, and artisanal snack bars featuring high-end cheese, charcuterie boards, and more. 

How to Implement These Trends in Your Catering Business? 

Got the hang of the event catering trends in 2025? Now let’s get a bit more in detail about how you can implement them:  

Evaluate Your Current Offerings and Identify Gaps 

Figure out if your current offerings address the demand and align with trends. You can do that by auditing your menu and checking whether or not it can cater to evolving consumer preferences. Collect customer feedback for that. Also, research the new trends in different event types and how your competitors are incorporating event catering trends to find gaps. 

Invest in the Right Equipment and Technology 

Upgrade your kitchen and entire event catering business with nothing but the latest catering equipment to improve efficiency. Use digital platforms that can improve your operations and involve cutting-edge technologies like seamless payment methods, QR menus, and mobile ordering solutions in your catering business. All of this will help you avoid human errors and cut back on the time and energy you and your clients spend handling these basic tasks manually. 

Market Your Trend-Forward Catering Services 

Don't do all the work and then not make noise about the effort you've put into your event catering business. Market your trend-forward catering services through digital marketing, social media marketing for restaurants, and customer outreach mechanisms. You can share behind-the-scenes content about how you are embracing these catering event trends on your social media and showcase client testimonials. 

You can also use one of the most trusted and results-driving advertisement modes for marketing your services. By that, we mean partnerships with influencers who have large audiences. They will help you get your brand the recognition it deserves.  

Frequently Asked Questions About Event Catering Trends 

Want to learn more about event catering trends? Take a look at the FAQ section below on the topic at hand! 

What are the top three catering trends this year?  

The top three catering trends you’ll get to experience this year will be: 

1. Sustainable catering
2. Interactive dining
3. Health-conscious menus

What is the profit margin for event catering? 

You can expect a profit margin for event catering ranging from 6% to an impressive 25%. Where you end up on the spectrum as a catering services provider depends on your pricing strategy, catering food costs, and the overall efficiency of your food service.  

What are the 4 general types of catering? 

Catering revolves around diverse audiences. Regardless, its four common types are: 

• Corporate Catering: Provides food service at corporate events, conferences, and meetings.  
• Social Event Catering: Includes birthday celebrations, wedding receptions, and more. 
• Concession Catering: Involves food service at festivals, concerts, and sports events. 
• Mobile Catering: On-the-go food service relying on vehicles like food trucks and mobile catering vans.  

What are the 4 Cs of catering? 

The 4 Cs of catering are: 

1. Customer service 
2. Culinary excellence 
3. Creativity  
4. Cost management  

Using the Right Trends Now 

All in all, the catering industry isn’t going to come to a standstill anytime soon. It’s evolving, and for all the right reasons. There’s a wave of sustainable catering, a growing demand for diverse culinary experiences that factor in dietary preferences, and an interest in extravagant food stations and menus, all of which bring the best of global flavors to your customers. 

In such times, if you own or manage a catering business, there’s a lot to catch up on to stay competitive. With the curated mix of effective strategies and technology integrations, you can easily make the process of growing your business a breeze. Next thing you know; you’ll be getting booked like never before.  

To make the process even easier with a promising catering solution, book a demo with Paytronix now. Experience the difference expert help and guides can make in delivering top-notch catering experiences to your customers without hefty investments!