It’s no secret that there’s been a tremendous amount of attention within the tabletop and buffet categories in recent years towards banqueting and catering, especially to the business meetings sector. In fact, enhanced food & beverage experiences at conferences and meetings is at an all-time high.
And, the great news is – all this attention continues to be warranted. And, here’s why.
IACC – the International Association of Conference Centers – has recently put out their “Meeting Room of the Future” report and, in the report, they found that three critical areas that continue to drive decision-making when it comes to business conferences:
- Younger and younger generations are playing larger roles in business conferences – as both delegates and meeting planners.
- Planners are continuously required to do more with less. Budgets for business meetings have generally remained flat…. While at the same time….the demand for unique experiences has increased.
And, # 3….here’s the important one….
- The demand from meeting planners for enhanced food & beverage offerings is at an all-time high.
And, in case you were wondering….
A hotel’s food & beverage offerings are the third biggest factor for meeting planners when determining site selection for their meetings. First is location. Second is price. But F&B in third place is a huge driver when selecting where meetings are held.
And, here’s where great tabletop and buffetware can really come into play.
When suppliers are meeting with conference centers or business banquet locations to discuss tabletop or buffetware needs, consider how our category products help address the priority needs that current meeting planners say they are looking for.
According to the IACC, here are the priorities that today’s planners have…..
- Meeting individual dietary needs; to be able to accommodate allergies and personal eating plans or preferences
- Source food offerings that are local…and seasonally appropriate
- Be mindful of food waste
- Be creative in the presentation of the food & beverage
- Being flexible in the setting menus…..
These are the challenges that today’s meeting planners face most often.
Creative suppliers of tabletop and buffetware need to understand these priorities and then tailor their presentations to how the products that they have to offer help conference venue operators and meeting planners overcome these challenges.
Along with the IACC report, we came across a great “real-world” article in Meetings Today by Michele Polci. Michele is the Director of Catering Sales for Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas and oversees the sales efforts for all catered events held across one million square feet of banquet and event space at eight Las Vegas properties.
In her article, Polci gives 10 Crucial Food & Beverage Trends for Meetings. All of the trends that Michele offers up are very insightful, but one really caught my eye….
Michelle points out that today’s meeting planners are taking note and trying to do their part in conservation and sustainability.
This translates to meeting planners seeking venues where their F&B serving pieces that are re-usable or natural.
As suppliers of permanent dinnerware and reusable serving pieces are definitely on-trend and those of us seeking to work with conference centers and banqueting operators need to point that out to decision makers for those types of venues.
So, the secret is out! Business conferences and meetings are on the rise and an enhanced F&B presentation is one of the key drivers for decision makers on where to have their event. Great buffetware and creative tabletop can certainly help make the key difference.
More than ever.
#TabletopMatters
