In 2021, more than 398,000 people in the U.S. needed medical care for burns, according to the CDC, and a claims-based analysis from 2020 reported 698,555 burn-related insurance claims. Meanwhile, the latest data shows that 8,000 fires break out at restaurants every year.
When times are tough, it’s natural to default to what feels safe, seems productive or has worked before. Sometimes, those instincts can keep us stuck.
Here’s a fresh look at the most common mistakes made by operators—and what stand-out hospitality businesses do instead.
Most catering operators treat packaging as someone else’s problem. You hand off specs to your supplier, they negotiate prices, and you move on to things that feel more exciting.
But packaging plays more of a role in a catering business than operators tend to realize. It directly affects your reorder rates, client acquisition costs and average order value. When you approach it strategically, it stops being a line item to minimize and starts generating measurable returns.
Focus on your trash. It may sound unsexy, but it’s a game-changing place to start if you’re serious about making your catering business more sustainable in 2026.
That’s one of the tips from Steve Short, a longtime sustainability expert who’s the COO of the Steve Short Culinary Team and Atlasta Catering in Phoenix, and a member of the CFE News advisory board. CFE News asked Short for the practical guidance he’d give other caterers looking to make meaningful sustainability changes in the new year.
As catering evolves, packaging continues to play a critical role in the customer experience. From food safety and performance to waste reduction and circularity, packaging is a way foodservice establishments can elevate their catering offerings. In 2025, we saw several innovations in food packaging, and we anticipate these trends will continue to expand in 2026.
Football season is in full swing, then there’s “Drinksgiving,” then New Year’s Eve, followed by the Super Bowl! The fall/holiday
By Allison Freeman, Element Event Solutions When it comes to holiday events, if you build it, they will come—and leave
By Ben Johnston, chief operating officer of Kapitus Critical issues continue to challenge small businesses in the hospitality sector, from
Catering plays an increasing role in today’s foodservice industry, especially with a return to offices and foodservice options continuing to diversify. As a result, the demand for convenient, sanitary and scalable catering solutions continues to grow.
At the heart of this is foodservice packaging—a reliable, convenient and sanitary solution that meets the evolving needs of caterers and their customers. From off-site or workplace events to corporate fundraisers and galas, single-use foodservice packaging, used at least once a week by more than 50% of Americans, is proving to be an essential part of modern catering success.
How much do people “like” you? Are engaged couples engaging with you online? Are you feeding customers who found you through your feed?
To learn more about how to increase interaction with potential clients through social media, CFE turned to two experts: Liese Gardner, a content strategy specialist who has advised hundreds of hospitality clients about their social media tactics since 2004; and Dora Fudali, marketing director for Bill Hansen Catering in Miami, who has organically grown the company’s social media follower count by about 10,000 since 2018. They shared some of their top strategies for creating powerful posts and expanding your virtual audience.
