By Sara Perez Webber
When Dan Simons and his partners launched Founding Farmers Co. Catering & Events in 2022, they weren’t starting from zero. They had a very strong base—a celebrated high-volume restaurant group with nine locations in the Washington, D.C., area and another in Pennsylvania.
Founding Farmers restaurants have gained a devoted following for their farm-to-table, made-from-scratch menus. The group is co-owned by Simons, fellow restaurateur Michael Vucurevich, and the more than 70,000 members of the North Dakota Farmers Union, with a mission to serve food that is grown and harvested on family farms.
What the Founding Farmers team discovered with their successful catering arm is that the business is harder than it may seem. In this conversation with CFE News, Simons—host of the entrepreneur-focused podcast Founding DC—talks catering growth (100% year-over-year for three straight years), the challenges of off-site execution, and why he thinks the hunger for experiential events is only growing.
CFE News: You built Founding Farmers Co. Catering & Events on the foundation of one of the country’s most successful high-volume restaurant groups. When did you launch the catering division, how has it grown, and what did you learn early on about how catering operations differ from running a restaurant—even a very busy one?
Dan Simons: In 2022, we made the decision to go beyond “restaurant catering” and start a legit full-service catering and events company. For the first three years, we grew about 100% year over year (YoY), and this year we’re up about 20% YoY.
I learned clearly, loudly and painfully that full-service catering is a cousin, not a sibling, to restaurants! Catering is like building a new restaurant, in random locations, with steep learning curves—over and over again. Whereas in a restaurant, we know exactly where we are going to work, and it is all about what happens inside the four walls every day.
CFE News: What’s the one thing that surprised you the most after launching the catering division, in terms of how catering operations differ from restaurant operations?
Simons: The difference between “recovering” from a mistake in a restaurant compared to trying to recover from a mistake in certain catering situations. The restaurant mistakes are much easier to both correct and to make amends for…whereas in catering, there’s zero tolerance for certain mistakes, and zero means truly zero.
CFE News: Are you seeing any booking trends in your catering operations—is there increasing demand for catered events? Are clients booking closer in than they have in the past?
Simons: Guests want more interesting, engaging and experiential events. This might be because they also know us as restaurateurs, so maybe this is more of a demand increase unique to us, although my hunch is that in society at large, people are eager for what feels analog, real, human.
As for timing of bookings, we’re seeing our average lead time increase, but that’s probably also because we started with such short lead times, and as we build trust and reputation, we’re getting bookings further and further out now.
CFE News: Catering execution happens away from the home kitchen, often under compressed timelines, with crews that may include seasonal or part-time staff. What advice do you have about building systems that hold up even when the team executing them isn’t your most experienced one?
Simons: I’m cautious about sharing advice, as I’m new-ish in the space. That said, one of our points of difference is that we have our in-house full-time employees and try to never use contractors or seasonal help. We have a large number of full-time wonderful, talented restaurant employees that we’re able to train on our catering standards and systems.
As with any business, I believe the most important ability is team-building—so whether with new employees or veterans, culture plus systems is what wins the day.
CFE News: If a catering company owner came to you today and said their calendar is full but they’re not seeing the profit they expected, where would you tell them to look first?
Simons: I’d start with the profit architecture, validating documented and costed recipes, and ensuring that accurate event-level P&Ls are in use. Understanding gross margins, prime costs, and tracking every penny is vital to optimizing margins and cash flow.
Founding Farmers Co. Catering & Events is based in the Washington, D.C., area. Learn more at foundingfarmerscatering.com.
