News

Boston Market catering, takeout up 20 percent over last year

Heat & Serve options have surged 20 percent over last year, and catering is up 18 percent.

November 21, 2014

Boston Market's biggest season of the year may be getting bigger.

The homestyle concept is reporting that sales for catering and takeout for Thanksgiving Week are up 20 percent to date compared to last year's holiday season.

Boston Market’s sales for Heat & Serve offerings are also up more than 20 percent based on orders taken to date compared to orders during the same time period last year, with some regions increasing sales by as much as 40 percent. The brand’s catering sales have also increased 18 percent based on orders taken to date versus the prior year.

"Growth in the 40 percent markets is tied to a stronger effort by our local teams to get the word out about our holiday offerings and the effectiveness of our in-store POP," said Tony Buford, Boston Market’s executive vice president of Operations. "We’ve also been doing extra POP elements in Spanish. Two of the areas that have high Spanish-speaking populations – South Florida and California – are top performers at holiday."

Buford also attributes the jump to several other factors:

• Rising demand for prepared foods.
• Beefed up operations. "We’ve enhanced operations and we’re more equipped than ever before to meet growing demand – our call center has been improved and we believe we’re capturing more calls than ever before," Buford said in an email statement.
• Boston Market has also set up food tents adjacent to 75 locations to accommodate the influx of customers.
• Strong local marketing. Passionate local leaders are marketing effectively within their communities and in store, said Buford.