Five takeaways from ECEP symposiums to help you grow your business
By Liese Gardner
At the annual symposium for Elite Catering + Event Professionals (ECEP), top catering business owners come together with thought leaders to exchange ideas and best practices. From HR and operations to culinary, kitchen, sales and finance, the event is a dynamic gathering of collective hospitality wisdom. Attendees leave with actionable insights designed to elevate their business and further the relationships started that week.
While the curriculum is put together by the ECEP board months in advance, the facilitator on the ground is Jennifer Perna, a driving force behind the exchange of ideas. As the overall moderator, she synthesizes key takeaways from each session and presents them back to the collective audience, ensuring that everyone—whether in the session or not—walks away with all the practical strategies presented that week to strengthen and grow their operations.
Perna’s hands-on experience in catering makes her the perfect choice for this role. Before launching Fulton Market Consulting in 2017, Perna served as vice president of sales at Blue Plate Catering in Chicago. Now a hospitality consultant, she serves as ECEP’s de facto education director. “The board sets the vision for the keynote speakers,” she says, “and I curate the rest of the content.”
As ECEP prepares for its 2025 Symposium in Napa Valley, California, we asked Perna to choose five of the most impactful sessions from the three ECEP symposiums that have taken place (Nashville, Tennessee; Palm Springs, California; and Charleston, South Carolina). “It wasn’t easy, but these five topics are essential to all successful companies,” she says.
Following are actionable strategies from those sessions that can help any catering business grow and prosper.
How To: Build a High-Performing Catering Team
Maggie Barton, Butler’s Pantry, St. Louis
Building a team isn’t just about filling positions—it’s about hiring individuals with the right mindset and offering them tools to succeed. Here are takeaways from Maggie Barton’s session on how to effectively hire, train and manage a top-tier catering team.
1. Hire for Attitude, Train for Aptitude
Skills can be taught, but mindset, passion and drive are inherent. Focus your hiring process on identifying talent, not just filling positions. Look for individuals who align with your company’s culture and values.
2. Address Gaps and Their Impact
Finding the right talent takes time. Analyze the true impact of unfilled roles by identifying what is missing. Then, avoid quick fixes. It’s better to wait for the right fit by applying that old adage—hire slow, fire fast.
3. Train for Knowledge and Understanding
Once you’ve hired for attitude, focus on skill development through training, mentorships and regular feedback. Share the big picture by helping everyone see how their roles support the company mission.
4. Create a Culture of Excellence
Cultivate a workplace that values continuous improvement, learning, growth and collaboration. Promote mutual support and shared success. By focusing on hiring for attitude and training for aptitude, you can build a resilient, high-performing catering team that drives sustainable success.
How To: Business Development Strategies
Michael Stavros, partner and vice president of business development, M Culinary Concepts
ECEP’s immediate past president Michael Stavros shared strategies for boosting sales and growing your business.
1. Generate Leads Strategically
Use a multi-angle approach for lead generation. Build relationships that are on the inside—economic developers, tourism offices and HR managers. Conversely, find B2B partners such as commercial real estate agents, leasing agents and gatekeepers like dock managers. Utilize Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools like HubSpot and Salesforce for tracking conversions and opportunities.
2. Engage Clients Effectively
Personalize your outreach with custom stationery, seasonal gifts and unique follow-ups to stand out. Host experiential events (food tastings, executive kitchen tours). Stay visible by attending trade shows, charity events and other networking opportunities. Offer incentives like discounts for repeat clients or contributions to Corporate Social Responsibility programs. One way is to offer to donate a percentage of sales to charities.
3. Structure Your Business Development Team
Define clear roles for sales managers (inbound) and business developers (outbound). Develop transparent compensation plans, such as commission structures, expense budgets and performance bonuses. Foster teamwork by ensuring that accounts are flexible and non-competitive.
How To: Develop Future Leaders in Your Organization
Developing future leaders is critical for the long-term health and success of any catering or event company. This important topic is revisited each year at the ECEP symposiums through a group discussion, with key takeaways summarized below.
1. Focus on People-Centered Leadership
Mentorship programs enhance skills and foster mutual trust. Assign senior leaders as mentors to mid-level managers. In that same vein, implement a buddy system. Pairing employees to work on projects as a team builds camaraderie and peer support. Finally, conduct monthly reviews. Use SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound) goals to evaluate and guide professional development.
2. Invest in Middle Management
Middle management is the bridge between strategic leadership and frontline employees. To enable mid-level managers to earn leadership roles, host leadership alignment meetings by regularly bringing mid-level managers together to reinforce organizational values, share updates and strategize solutions. And in annual or quarterly evaluations, make core value-based performance a measurement to foster deeper alignment with company goals.
3. Recruit and Retain the Right Talent
Recruit individuals capable of advancing within the company, even to the point of taking over senior roles. This approach empowers leaders to move up without leaving gaps. When onboarding, expose new hires to real-world scenarios early on. For instance, “put them in the trenches” immediately to establish expectations and evaluate adaptability.
4. Remove Toxic Leaders
Promptly address ineffective leadership. Replacing poor leaders creates space for growth, boosts morale and improves team dynamics.
How To: Sell Plant-Based and Alternative Diet Options
Renee Loux, founder, Clean Food + Smart Living, Maui
The growing demand for plant-based and alternative diet options presents a unique opportunity for innovation. Here’s how to effectively integrate and promote these options while enhancing your offerings and sustainability efforts.
1. Integrate Plant-Based Options Seamlessly
Incorporate plant-based dishes into your regular menus as standard offerings, rather than presenting them as a special or alternative choice. This normalizes these options and appeals to a wider audience, including those who may not follow specific diets but enjoy variety.
2. Get Creative with Plant-Based Dishes
Avoid bundling dietary restrictions—such as gluten-free, vegan and low-carb—into a single category. Instead, develop distinct, creative dishes that showcase the diversity and flavor of plant-based cuisine. Aim to make vegetables the star of the plate, with proteins as complementary side elements.
3. Share Best Practices with Peers
Host or participate in symposiums and workshops to exchange tested plant-based menu ideas. This not only elevates your offerings but also strengthens the industry’s ability to cater to alternative diets with creativity and precision.
4. Highlight Sustainability Efforts
Take inventory of your current sustainability initiatives and share your efforts both internally and externally. Customers increasingly value transparency and eco-friendly practices, so tell your sustainability story to demonstrate your commitment to the environment.
5. Consider Charging for Green Initiatives
As you implement sustainable practices, consider introducing a line-item fee for green initiatives or premium services. Many clients are willing to pay extra for events executed with an eco-conscious approach.
How To: Optimize Communication
Ken Barrett-Sweet, vice president of catering, The Catered Affair, Boston
Effective communication is vital in today’s catering operations to ensure seamless coordination across teams, establish clear delegation and manage dynamic event requirements. Strong communication strategies—such as those outlined below—also drive collaboration, streamline workflows, and foster an adaptable and cohesive workplace.
1. Set Clear Communication Parameters
Define when to use which specific communication tools—for instance, MS Teams for internal communication and email for clients. Establish time constraints for responses on different platforms to ensure efficiency. And create rules for prioritizing messages such as using “Unread” flags or Tags in Teams.
2. Encourage Technology Adoption
Identify and address barriers for team members not utilizing company communication tools, such as a lack of structured and timely training. Roll out new tools in phases to cater to early and late adopters of technology.
3. Streamline Communication
- Use channels for specific projects.
- Store files systematically in shared spaces.
- Implement newsletters or organized updates for broad communications.
- Involve team leaders to drive adoption of the new strategy and tools.
