Catering Manager
The venue representative responsible for food and beverage planning, execution, and coordination for events.
Definition
The catering manager is your primary contact for all food and beverage needs at a venue. They help plan menus, manage dietary requirements, coordinate timing with event schedule, and ensure execution meets expectations.
A strong relationship with your catering manager significantly impacts event quality. They can advocate for your needs, flag potential issues, and provide creative solutions within venue constraints.
Why It Matters
Food and beverage often represent the largest variable cost component of events. Working effectively with catering managers controls costs while ensuring quality.
Catering also directly impacts attendee satisfaction. People remember bad food and long lines—the catering manager is essential to preventing these issues.
Examples in Practice
A catering manager suggests a cocktail reception format that serves the same attendance at 30% lower cost than the planned seated dinner.
Early engagement with the catering manager identifies a menu item that won't work with the event timing, preventing a day-of disaster.
A flexible catering manager accommodates last-minute dietary requirements that rigid execution would have missed.