Healthier and lighter food? Aesthetic plates of first visual impact? Well, it seems that yes, the attendees eat more through their eyes and that the healthy is what triumphs. Society has become more and more aware of the fact of eating better and healthier and, at the same time, the demand for vegetarian and vegan menus is increasing. We tell you what else you have to take into account this 2023 when setting up a catering service for your event.

What the customer demands and what triumphs are very healthy options, “fresh and careful presentation”, in the words of Life Gourmet. “There is an obsession with light, refreshing, not too hot food, whether for breakfast, lunch, dinner…” according to Medems Catering. In general, all the catering companies we have spoken to agree that this is what the client wants at events today. We at eventoplus also see it ourselves when we attend any event.

Life Gourmet assures us that the trend is changing and sweet buffets are on the rise, but with individual formats. “Cakes also of different elaborations are on trend.” It seems that we will eat desserts with very little sugar where the fruit works by decorating and, above all, “illuminating the plate with sweet sensations but avoiding sugar,” for Medems. Coloring also with flowers? Cooklab assures us that they will use violet or lavender a lot this year in desserts and you only have to look at the photo they have sent us from AGA Catering…

This year we will seek to maintain a link with our past that makes us feel good, as Artigot Catering and its premium line crea_tasting lab believe. . “One way to relive that past at an event is to incorporate flavors that are associated with fond childhood memories.” El Antiguo Convento is committed to the same idea: “the menus are traditional, renovated and adapted to the times we live in, fusing them in many cases with Latin and Asian flavors”. Or even African flavors, for Cooklab, which also talks about “vintage recipes with a twist focused on health and healthiness”.

“Most are more attracted to the presentation and appearance of the food than the taste,” according to Artigot. That is why it will be important to work on this part this year. One idea advocated by Artigot, and applied in its premium line crea_tasting lab, is to use vertical food stations. “These showcases are very practical as they are not only fully customizable and modular, but also add depth and height to the display creating settings that are visually very appealing.” At Medems they opt for what they call “surprise trompe l’oeil: the dishes look like one thing and taste like another, looking for a surprising experience”. Cooklab, on the other hand, relies on “crunchiness” to amplify the sensations of the diner.

For the Antiguo Convento Catering will be key this year and AGA Catering agrees that more and more importance is given not only to what is eaten but how and where. “Nowadays, people are fleeing from sober plating and are looking for colors and shapes that, without being aggressive, are eye-catching”. Medems talks about containers with different silhouettes, playing with the depth of the plate, where the food shines by its color and where in general the waiter adds a sauce or a cream interacting in different steps with the diner.

VOK DAMS (these Germans always ahead…) has already launched a vegetarian/vegan catering policy, systematically suggesting it as a first choice. And caterers here in Spain tell us that this year it will be important to take into account special diets because demand is growing, especially if there are international attendees, according to Medems. Allergies are also in the spotlight, with nuts and gluten leading the way. “We are already trying to reduce gluten and even dairy of animal origin (including milk, creams, creams, creams and cheeses)…. “as the Old Convent tells us. In this sense, we recommend you to be well informed prior to the D-day of all allergies and wishes of the guests.

It impacts catering in many ways. First of all, more and more organic, local and seasonal products are being requested (all caterers agree on this). What does this mean? “Well, if there are no plums in Spain in January, we don’t think about buying them in Chile or elsewhere,” according to Medems. This year, the assemblies will be more inspired by natural colors, with an important role being played by crafts and tableware, of course without plastic. Instead, materials such as metal, wood or ceramics take center stage. Surpluses have always been one of the concerns of catering and this year, it will also be necessary to measure the quantities in detail before preparation. Important for this: calculate attendance and reduce no-shows.

“What the client demands the most are tailor-made menus. The proposals must be and fit with the aesthetics of the event,” Life Gourmet explains. An example? Marking logos, for example, as we are told by AGA: “when we thought that marking logos on products was demodé, we find that now more and more corporate events want to opt for this way of giving visibility to the brand”. Also, for the Antiguo Convento, in the catering set-ups themselves, at the space and table level, they ask to transmit more the idea of the brand, the corporate colors or even the values, be it luxury, modernity, exclusivity, tradition…

Menus that take into account the ‘Spain brand’ and the diffusion of Spanish gastronomy and the Mediterranean diet will be a trend this 2023 for the Antiguo Convento. In the tasting that Medems carried out at the beginning of the year, they told us that they were tasting wines from different appellations of not so conventional origins. “The aim is to make different D.O.’s in Spain known in order to give added value, fulfilling a mission of dissemination, recognition and visibility of other areas of Spain”. (In the picture you can see a moment of the tasting)

The cocktail bar becomes a staple. Caterers agree that more and more clients are demanding a cocktail bar at their events. Premium brands are positioned against basic brands. The party part has gained a lot of importance in the development of the event, for Life Gourmet. The Old Convent adds that sophisticated cocktails with a wow effect set-up is super trendy and AGA also agrees on the importance of Cocktails, as well as “barista coffees, craft beers or even kombucha are some of the requests that will step with out more and more at events”.

Source -https://www.eventoplus.com/articulos/10-tendencias-en-catering-para-eventos-este-2023/ by Paula Rey