What’s Driving Restaurant Catering Growth in 2026
As investment in catering grows, so does the need to understand what turns that investment into lasting growth. With more restaurants to choose from and more ways to order, customers have higher expectations for the entire experience. Earning their repeat business means making each order easy to place and dependable from preparation through delivery.
Drawing on data from 100+ restaurant brands, 8,000+ locations, and more than two million annual orders, MONKEY’s State of Catering 2026 report examines how catering growth is changing. As average order value growth slows, its findings put greater emphasis on earning repeat orders and connecting customer data with the systems that manage preparation and delivery.
Growth Is Shifting From Higher Prices to More Orders
For several years, larger orders and higher prices drove catering revenue growth. The report shows that momentum is slowing. Average order value growth has fallen to approximately 2%, and customers are paying closer attention to prices.
Future growth will depend less on charging more per order and more on bringing in additional orders. That means reaching new customers and giving existing customers reasons to order more often.
Pricing and average order value will always matter, but they can’t carry the program on their own. Growth also depends on how often customers come back, and dependable service gives them a reason to choose the restaurant again.
First-Party Growth Builds Stronger Customer Relationships
Marketplaces help catering buyers compare restaurants and discover brands they might not find otherwise. MONKEY’s report makes the case for pairing that reach with a strong direct ordering experience, so restaurants can attract new customers while building the relationships that keep them coming back.
The opportunity is to give customers a reason to order directly the next time they need catering. Making it easy to reorder and offering payment options that fit how businesses buy can make that choice more convenient. Some customers will still prefer a marketplace, while others may want to work more closely with a restaurant they now know and trust.
Direct ordering also gives brands more customer information to work with. Bringing order history and account preferences into a shared system helps teams recognize frequent buyers and provide more personalized service. As restaurants look to grow repeat business, connecting that information across the catering program becomes increasingly valuable.
Repeat Customers Make Guest Data More Valuable
The report shows that a large share of catering orders comes from a small group of customers. The top 5% of guests account for 60% of orders, and the top 10% account for 70%.
Restaurants need enough customer insight to recognize valuable accounts and understand what keeps those relationships active. Useful information includes:
How often an account places an order
Which restaurant and customer locations it uses
What types of events or needs generate orders
Whether its ordering patterns are increasing or slowing down
This information can help catering sales teams follow up at the right time. It can also help operations teams prepare for recurring orders and provide service that reflects what they already know about the customer.
No single ordering channel will provide every piece of the picture. Connecting the information available across the catering program can help restaurant teams identify patterns and support repeat business more intentionally.
Connected Operations Give Brands a Clearer View of the Business
MONKEY’s report highlights the importance of connecting teams, systems, and reporting to build a stronger catering program. Together, they give restaurant brands a clearer view of how the business is performing, from the orders coming into each location to how reliably those orders are fulfilled.
Marketplace orders, first-party orders, phone orders, and sales-generated orders may enter the business differently, but they all rely on restaurant teams to prepare them. When information is spread across separate systems, managers spend more time piecing together updates. Connecting order management with production coordination and delivery tracking helps teams see what is coming and respond when an order needs attention.
That visibility also helps leaders understand what sits behind the sales numbers. Revenue and average order value show how much a program is generating, while fulfillment data helps reveal how well the operation is supporting that growth. A location may be adding orders while also experiencing more delays or refunds. Seeing those results together gives the brand a better sense of where additional volume is creating pressure.
A centralized delivery tracking and reporting dashboard supports this view by bringing active delivery updates and fulfillment performance into one place. Restaurant managers can focus on immediate needs, while regional and corporate teams can identify patterns across locations and delivery providers. With shared information, brands can make more informed decisions about where to improve operations and where they are ready to grow.
Delivery Completes the Guest Experience
The State of Catering 2026 report shows that restaurant brands are taking greater control of how catering orders reach their customers as delivery becomes a larger part of the business. Once an order is placed, customers want clear updates and confidence that their food will arrive on time and ready to serve.
Greater control does not mean every restaurant needs to build an internal fleet. Brands can use their own drivers, delivery partners, or a combination of providers. The goal is to create a consistent process for every order, regardless of who completes the delivery.
Delivery orchestration can make that process easier to manage. Instead of asking restaurant teams to make manual fulfillment decisions for every order, an orchestration platform can route orders based on the brand’s delivery rules, available providers, and current conditions. It can also provide a backup option when the preferred provider is unavailable.
Delivery orchestration also gives restaurants more control over who handles their orders and how those deliveries are compensated. Brands can sort preferred drivers by specific certifications and set gratuity amounts that make orders more attractive to drivers, helping improve fulfillment rates. This approach allows restaurants to keep the delivery relationships that work for them while gaining more control over how orders are assigned and supported.
Catering Growth Beyond the First Order
The State of Catering 2026 report shows that restaurant brands need more than demand to build a strong catering program. As average order value growth slows, restaurants need to generate more orders. Marketplaces help expand their reach, while first-party ordering gives customers another way to engage. Guest data helps identify repeat business, and connected workflows, reliable delivery, and connected reporting help restaurants manage growth at scale.
DeliverThat recently sat down with Ben Pidduck and Nick Wilson of MONKEY Catering Platform to discuss the report and what its findings mean for restaurant operators. Watch the full Delivering More conversation for more on marketplace growth, first-party ordering, customer frequency, delivery, and the future of restaurant catering.
