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COVID-19 & its impact on corporate & event catering.

Corporate and event caterers

Are you missing out on your corporate event meetings because everything is work from home now or missing out on weddings or parties because of the limit on the number of people? Don’t worry! It’s not just you, people around the world are experiencing major inconveniences due to the madness this virus has caused.


What would be the first thing that you would miss at such gatherings? Is it the photos, or the gifts, or your friends or the fun? Surely the first thing that all of you would miss would be the FOOD out there!


All of us would definitely miss the catering food at weddings or parties because many of us would be super excited to attend events just for the food! We now wonder how fortunate were those days to enjoy such corporate dinners or kalyanam saapadu. Beyond the fun and celebrations, we never forget to compliment the food out there! Thanks to the event caterers to make the occasion amazing by preparing delicious meals.


Impact of covid-19

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, catering business have suffered a massive direct impact. The impact is too high because caterers depend on events hosted for a larger group of people. When the base of having a larger group of people together is banned due to lockdown, caterers do not get orders and thus have no means to continue their operations.


Corporate/event catering do not have a very high margin business and usually work on 5-6% margin and their cost being 95% (approx.). Apart from this, it’s definitely hard to think about hosting an event and hiring a caterer when “social distancing” and quarantining is being practiced. It is equally hard from the caterer’s side to prepare and serve food with lesser workforce and with all the safety measures to be practiced on place.


Also let’s not forget that the employment status of an event caterer is very unstable and seasonal, added to this, the COVID-19 has made the lives of caterers tougher. All of these are definitely too much to handle for a caterer.


Lockdown restrictions & IMPACT

  • Work from home model has left a irrevocable impact on life of caterers and has taken a huge toll on the catering business. The corporate catering segment has seen a tremendous drop in their business with cafeterias on IT campuses shut and showing no signs of reopening anytime soon.

  • Restrictions on gatherings & social distancing rules has further restricted the livelihood of caterers around the country. There has been thousands of marriages, birthday parties, get-together parties and other social events being cancelled thus breaking every hope of caterers during the COVID times. With fewer mouths to feed and the existing social distancing norms has curbed every opportunity of the business.

  • Economic impact: There has been a huge impact on the economy leading to a behavioral shift among the general public. Salary cuts and layoffs have led people to realize the importance of savings. Tendency to spend has been considerably reduced which imposes a negative impact on the economy. There is only a slow path to recovery, which has traumatized general public to revive and sustain this pandemic. In addition to all these factors, the world fighting to provide a vaccination has instilled a threat for the future progress in the economy.


Sheplates - A perfect platform


Caterers do not have any sort of alternatives because their niche is quite narrow as they focus on cooking for larger group of people. Unlike restaurants where smaller quantities of food being prepared as per demand, caterers focus on a larger group and serve in bulk quantities. There are now instances where small scale caterers are forced to opt out of the businesses as they could not bear the rent and other expenditures for their kitchens.


On the other side, with few restrictions being lifted, marriages, birthday parties, and other get-together functions are slowing picking up pace as people have now got used to the new normal of facemasks and sanitizers. Though everything might seem normal, don't you think it would be beneficial if a platform is available to help diversify or generate leads to sustain all difficulties faced by public and caterers?


We at Sheplates provide a perfect platform where caterers can collaborate with us. Sheplates can generate leads for caterers and also provides a platform where people can book caterers for their different events as we would cater to all types of specifications.


Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has changed the lives of many upside down. It’s important to remember, everybody is dealing with different battles, and it’s important to support others and their businesses. This situation will pass, and businesses will recover. Sheplates can help you revive and to kick start a new journey and way of life!



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