Planners and Hotels Wrestle With Rising Costs as Event Dining Evolves
Photo Credit: A restaurant at this year's C2 Montreal festival. More events are experimenting with charging attendees for meals instead of baking the price of food and beverage into the ticket price. Skift / Andrew Sheivachman
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As social media shines a spotlight on dining experiences, delegate expectations are placing pressure on food and beverage budgets. Meeting organizers don’t just have to deal with allergies and intolerances; they also have to wow attendees while keeping costs under control.
Presenting a lackluster chicken breast or lukewarm chunk of salmon to attendees during an event is now a liability that event planners are looking to avoid. Food and beverage service has become integral to not just the event experience, but marketing success in the age of Instagram and Twitter.
As event professionals focus more attention on food and beverage, though, costs and quality expectations have risen in tandem, creating a challenge for the budget-minded event planner.
CWT Meetings & Events finds that food and beverage costs make up 20 percent of overall event budgets – up from around 15 percent five years ago, according to senior vice president and global head Cindy Fisher.
Where events don’t have a large lodging component, food and beverage can represent an even bigger slice of the total budget. “An inner-city InterContinental Hotel might have a food and beverage share as high as 70 to 75 percent, whereas the share at a resort hotel may be lower due to high
