{"id":157728,"date":"2020-12-22T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?post_type=tnp_long_form&p=157728"},"modified":"2026-03-27T08:54:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:54:44","slug":"not-just-restaurants-caterers-suffering-even-more","status":"publish","type":"tnp_long_form","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_es\/projects\/not-just-restaurants-caterers-suffering-even-more\/","title":{"rendered":"No s\u00f3lo los restaurantes: los catering sufren a\u00fan m\u00e1s"},"content":{"rendered":"

California\u2019s catering businesses were booming. Then the pandemic hit. One caterer who stages high-end parties says she has lost more than 75% of her revenue.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christine McEnery hasn\u2019t \u201ccracked the code\u201d on how to get her business back amid a global pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After losing every gig she had on the calendar for 2020, the Monterey Peninsula caterer thought she had found a solution in delivering prepared meals to her clients\u2019 doors during the initial lockdown. But as soon as restaurants and country clubs began to reopen for takeout, most of those orders disappeared, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I were to add up the money I\u2019ve made since March, I think, at best, I\u2019ve lost 75%,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really been quite enormous.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

R.J. Hottovy, an analyst at food industry consulting group Aaron Allen, said the catering business was booming in the years leading up to 2020, outpacing the broader restaurant industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the impact of the restrictions has hit both small, independent caterers and large catering companies that make corporate deliveries, such as Panera. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ones that we have seen survive are the ones that have effectively pivoted in trying to accommodate smaller group orders and things like that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s still probably going to be several months before we start to see large group gatherings or corporate-type engagements, so I think they need to continue to prepare for some difficult months ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even caterers that already focused on dropping off food for business or social gatherings \u2014 rather than providing full service at events \u2014 have suffered, according to Melissa Wilson, principal at research firm Technomic. In the spring, 49% of such businesses had declines in sales, with 31% of those that had experienced a decrease seeing a dropoff of more than 75%, according to Technomic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Caterer
Caterer Christine McEnery wears a mask while putting the finishing touches on a dessert. Photo courtesy of Christine McEnery<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

McEnery said her pivot to delivering prepared meals has been far less profitable because she typically caters to high-income clientele in the Monterey and Carmel area who prefer a full-service feast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the bigger financial challenges in catering is, when you offer a full service, from bartenders to servers to people cleaning up, you are able to charge way more and make more profit than you ever can dream of,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re dropping things off in Tupperware, there\u2019s a huge change in the customer’s perception of value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would not be happy doing this kind of service forever because you\u2019re working just as hard and you\u2019re making half as much money,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, McEnery doesn\u2019t even have enough delivery business to work full-time \u2014 three days a week has been the maximum. She said she\u2019s glad her husband doesn\u2019t work in hospitality and has maintained a steady income. Her hopes that her customers would hire her to cater for small, outdoor gatherings this year did not pan out, as \u201cwe\u2019ve kind of trained ourselves out of gathering,\u201d and she can only hope business will return in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt almost doesn\u2019t matter how successful you were, then, because now it\u2019s a completely different playing field,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I haven\u2019t cracked the code for how to gain back the income that I\u2019ve lost.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

California\u2019s catering businesses were booming. Then the pandemic hit. One caterer who stages high-end parties says she has lost more than 75% of her revenue. Christine McEnery hasn\u2019t \u201ccracked the code\u201d on how to get her business back amid a global pandemic.  After losing every gig she had on the calendar for 2020, the Monterey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":157725,"template":"single-feature.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[544],"coauthors":[50835],"class_list":["post-157728","tnp_long_form","type-tnp_long_form","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-business","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNot just restaurants: Caterers are suffering even more - CalMatters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"California\u2019s catering businesses were booming before the pandemic. 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