The ECEP Trends Council convened at the 2026 ECEP Symposium, compiling a list of 10 catering and hospitality trends identified by these industry heavyweights. The third annual ECEP Trends Report reflects how catering’s most influential operators are reading the room—and redefining it.
This past year, Nick Klug was named Proof of the Pudding’s Chef of the Year at the company’s annual Senior Leadership Conference. The award was presented by Klug’s son (who, he’s proud to note, has taken an interest in a culinary career), and the recognition carries a personal meaning. At its core, the award reflects his leadership.
Since joining Proof of the Pudding in 2017 as executive sous chef, Klug has risen to senior vice president of culinary, shaping experiences across the country—from PGA Tour and Formula 1 events to major venue openings. His path reflects both range and scale, but more importantly, perspective.
At the 2026 New York Restaurant Show, CFE News Editor-in-Chief Sara Perez Webber moderated a candid catering panel featuring four of most respected names in New York catering: Robin Selden and Jeffrey Selden, managing partners of Marcia Selden Catering and Naked Fig Catering; Carla Ruben, founder and CEO of Creative Edge Parties; and Danielle Shapiro, regional director of sales for Elior North America.
Jill Vidal-Raines’ path to the top elected role at the National Association for Catering & Events (NACE) didn’t start in a hotel ballroom or a catering kitchen. It started with rigorous sales training in the pharmaceutical industry.
Long before he stepped into Le Cordon Bleu in France, Ken Barrett-Sweet’s culinary journey began in Alabama with a simple recipe: one wise grandmother and a set of well-worn pots and pans.
“I must have had four or five,” he recalls. “While other kids played with dolls, I played chef. My grandmother gave me her old cookware, and I’d mimic her every move.”
Signs point to a robust year for catering in 2025. That’s the consensus from three veteran caterers, who shared with CFE their outlook for the industry.
“It’s hard to believe that we are five years removed from the pandemic,” says Anthony Lambatos, owner and CEO of Footers Catering in Arvada, Colorado. “After the dramatic drop-off and then meteoric return of events, business has stabilized, and we are settling into an environment with a bit more predictability.”
Lambatos—along with Kevin Lacassin of Good Food Events + Catering in Tampa, Florida, and Robin Selden of Marcia Selden Catering in Stamford, Connecticut—pointed to six trends they see impacting their businesses going forward.
