Before adopting CaterZen, Pasta Pantry’s catering management system was as old-school as it gets: a giant wall calendar. Each day of the year was filled in manually, with additional pages added as orders piled up. While this approach worked in the early days, it quickly became cumbersome as the business grew. Keeping track of past orders or coordinating future ones often required digging through pages and guessing at the details.
In the world of catering, we know success is rooted in the relationships we build and the teams behind the scenes who make it all possible. Today, we’re both celebrating a journey and looking forward to a new one as we say a heartfelt farewell to Meredith Dillard and welcome Jill Hammett as our new Chief Operating Officer at CaterZen.
Red Hot & Blue, a beloved barbecue chain, had been managing their catering operations with outdated software that required manual order entry and lacked the convenience of online ordering. As demand for their catering services grew, General Manager Rachid Elkhasouani found that the manual processes were slowing down their ability to keep up with customer expectations. To meet the needs of their growing customer base and improve efficiency, Rachid knew it was time for a catering software upgrade. That’s when Red Hot & Blue turned to CaterZen.
I just had the honor of being featured on the Catering Cage podcast with Erle Dardick, and we had a blast diving deep into the world of catering technology and how it’s changing the game for restaurants. Erle’s podcast is known for being the place for innovative ideas in catering, and I was thrilled to share my journey from restaurant owner to creating CaterZen, a solution that’s been driving catering success for over 15 years.
You can catch the full podcast interview here:
Delta Blues BBQ, known for its signature smoked meats, started as a catering company before expanding into a full-fledged restaurant. As the business flourished, owner Travis Penn faced increasing challenges managing both sides of the operation with a combination of pen and paper and Google Calendar. This manual process, while simple in the beginning, quickly became a bottleneck as the company’s catering operations grew.
We’ve been tossing around the term “game-changer” for a while, but this time, it’s no exaggeration.
At CaterZen, we’re thrilled to introduce the biggest catering CRM update we’ve ever released—an overhaul that will transform how you manage tasks, reminders, and client follow-ups, all while keeping things simple, organized, and cost-effective.
Ever had that moment where you wish you could clone yourself just to keep up with your clients’ repeat orders? Imagine being able to replicate your best orders with just two clicks, freeing up your time to focus on growing your catering business. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, with CaterZen’s rebooking feature, that’s not just a pipe dream—it’s your new reality.
Let me walk you through how this popular catering software feature can transform the way you manage repeat business, keep your clients delighted, and keep your calendar full without breaking a sweat.
Salt + Smoke, a multi-location BBQ restaurant in St. Louis, MO, was on a mission to overhaul their old-school catering operations. They needed a modern solution to replace their pen-and-paper methods, and that’s where CaterZen stepped in, bringing transformative tools and streamlined efficiency to their catering game.
I’m excited to share that I’ll be speaking at The Restaurant Catering Workshop, taking place on October 15-16 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. This event is packed with insights and strategies to help you ramp up your catering sales and is perfectly timed right after the annual Fast Casual Executive Summit on October 13-15.
If you want to stay ahead of the curve and keep your clients coming back for more, you’ve got to adapt and innovate. Luckily, CaterZen has got your back. Let’s explore five key trends shaping the catering industry in 2024, and how our features can help you ride these waves to success.
