Fast Casual Executive Summit

Stop being reactive: How restaurants can double catering sales

CaterZen founder and former restaurant operator Michael Attias will share strategies for finding new catering customers, winning back former buyers and growing sales with existing accounts at the Restaurant Catering Workshop.

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August 21, 2026 by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com

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Restaurants that want to grow catering sales need to stop waiting for customers to find them.

That is the premise behind a session led by Michael Attias, founder of CaterZen and a former restaurant operator, at the 2026 Restaurant Catering Workshop, Oct. 6-7 in Arlington, Texas, immediately following the Fast Casual Executive Summit.

Attias will open the workshop with a challenge for attendees: What would you do if your job depended on doubling catering sales over the next 12 months?

The answer, he said, starts with becoming less reactive.

"The biggest mistake is being too reactive," Attias said in an email interview. "Too many restaurants think having a catering menu and online ordering is a catering strategy, then wait for customers to find them and place an order."

While many restaurants have built systems to accept catering orders, Attias said they have not necessarily developed a strategy to create new business.

"Catering is a sales business," he said. "Growth comes from consistently asking: Who should be buying from us that isn't, who used to buy from us that we need to bring back, and who already buys from us that could be buying more?"

During his session, "If Your Job Depended on Doubling Catering Sales in the Next 12 Months, What Would You Do?," Attias will share three strategies he would prioritize to drive catering growth, along with a fourth opportunity he said may already exist within a restaurant's current operation.

The session will focus on practical approaches to identifying high-value prospects, marketing to specific customer segments, bringing former customers back and finding opportunities to increase sales among existing customers.

"Most restaurants are pretty good at taking catering orders, but not nearly as good at proactively creating catering business," Attias said.

Hands-on learning

Attendees will then move into small-group discussions to apply the same challenge to their own businesses. The groups will pressure-test ideas and identify the actions most likely to have an impact on catering sales.

The goal is for attendees to leave with a short list of strategies they can begin implementing immediately.

Attias' session is designed to help set the tone for the Restaurant Catering Workshop, which will bring together restaurant operators, catering leaders and industry experts to examine the strategies and challenges shaping catering growth. The session will follow the opening keynote featuring catering expert and Crumbs founder Kelly Grogan and Chris Barnes, VP of delivery operations of dlivrd Technologies, who will reveal the mechanics of a catering program that drives revenue.

Also on the agenda

The workshop agenda includes sessions focused on catering profitability, sales and marketing, operations, technology and building stronger relationships with corporate customers and third-party partners.

For restaurant brands looking to make catering a larger part of their growth strategy, Attias said the starting point is changing the way they think about the business.

Having a catering menu and an online ordering platform may make it easier for customers to place an order. Creating sustained growth, however, requires a more proactive approach to finding customers, winning back former buyers and growing relationships with the ones a restaurant already has.

The Restaurant Catering Workshop — Oct. 6-7, 2026 | Arlington, TX
Turn catering into a bigger, more profitable part of your restaurant business.

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About Cherryh Cansler

Cherryh Cansler is Publisher of FastCasual.com and Vice President of Connect Food. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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