MasterChef winner Claudia Sandoval displays her creative F&B at a private Destination Concepts event.

Large gatherings of corporate meeting and event attendees bring about a unique set of challenges — none more so than the area of food and beverage.

As attendees become food savvy, crave variety and demand a wider range of flavors, memorable food and beverage options for large groups are now viewed as a key focus area for planners to please attendees and keep them coming back for more.

Wendy Spivak, principal and co-founder of The Castle Group, a Boston-based events management firm, is seeing several strong trends emerge around food and beverage (F&B) offerings. “There is a clear shift toward sustainability, including efforts to reduce food waste, greater use of recyclable serving vessels, clearly marked recycling stations and locally sourced ingredients,” Spivak says. “There is also growing demand for non-alcoholic options, such as inventive mocktails, wellness and energy drinks and expanded tea and coffee bars.”

Health-conscious menu planning has become a priority, with some attendees requesting fully vegetarian meals or menus that emphasize lighter, balanced dishes. Interactive food and beverage experiences are also gaining popularity, allowing attendees to engage more directly with their meals through chef-attended action stations, build-your-own break stations, wine pairings or chef-led presentations during dinners.

Spivak and her team recently worked with a corporation that was highly focused on sustainability for their CEO Summit of about 215 attendees. They were grateful that the host hotel was very amenable to supporting these efforts through F&B selections. “They worked with us to create custom menus that highlighted locally sourced ingredients and sustainable meats, utilized full ingredients to minimize waste and donated unused food to a local rescue organization,” Spivak says.

They did this while still featuring unique menus that remained high-end and distinctive, reflecting both the event destination and the attendees’ home region. They highlighted the sustainability measures through curated signage and recycled-paper menus at the final night dinner, which noted ingredient sourcing, included the corporation’s sustainability statement and featured a message from the chef about the hotel’s commitment to sustainability.

When working with corporations on meetings and events, Hank Stampfl, CEO & founder of Revel Rouge Events, aims to embrace new trends while avoiding being too faddish. As he explains, chic, branded details like custom ice cubes, branded napkins or toast stamps with the company’s brand are fun ways to extend a company’s identity into the menu.

“A major shift we’re seeing is toward more intimate dining experiences. Even for large corporate groups, community tables encourage connection and conversation,” Stampfl says. “We also love creating personalized menus and napkins based on each attendee’s RSVP food and beverage selections, adding a personalized touch for each attendee.”

This past summer, Revel Rouge Events planned a large-scale brand event with the HASK Corporation, the clean hair care line. The event featured custom ice cubes and a playful “Donut Touch My Curls” station with glazes inspired by the ingredients in their new Curl Care Collection.

“Every element is tied back to the brand’s story, showing how food and beverage can become part of the narrative rather than just an amenity,” Stampfl says.

Chef Bill Roll, private chef and assistant professor of culinary arts at Brookdale Community College, says that, in his experience, large corporate groups are gravitating toward experiences that are not just about eating, but about engagement. Trends include interactive chef stations, globally inspired menus and wellness-focused options that balance indulgence with lighter, health-conscious choices.

“Sustainability also plays a big role, guests want to know that ingredients are responsibly sourced, seasonal and local whenever possible,” Roll says. “Creativity often comes through in the storytelling: menus that highlight a region, a cultural theme or even a company’s values.”

One memorable corporate event Roll worked on was a corporate retreat at a private country club for over 2,000 attendees.

“Instead of the standard buffet, we designed a series of live chef action stations inspired by international street markets,” Roll says. “Each station represented a different global city. Think handmade pasta in Florence, fresh sushi rolls in Tokyo and a taco bar with house-made tortillas in Mexico City. To elevate the experience, we paired each station with craft cocktails or mocktails tied to that region. The result was not only a meal, but a journey that allowed attendees to explore different cuisines while engaging directly with chefs.”

Attendees indulged in different types of creative cuisine at the Asian Night Market in Los Angeles. Photo credit: DCI

In his role as senior designer of Destination Concepts Inc. (DCi), Stewart Calhoun is seeing some unique, innovative approaches to large-scale dining options. “Incorporating multisensory elements into food and beverage experiences is a growing trend, and attendees are consistently wowed by eclectic displays and artistic presentations,” Calhoun says. “This approach is especially impactful at themed events, where F&B can be seamlessly integrated into the décor — transforming it from a standard buffet into a central part of the experience. By elevating the visual and experiential aspects of F&B, these displays create memorable moments that engage meeting attendees beyond taste alone.”

Calhoun stresses that “variety is the spice of life,” and today, accommodating diverse dietary preferences and restrictions is not just a courtesy, it’s a must. Thoughtful menu planning directly enhances the personalization of the attendee experience, making everyone feel seen and included.

Calhoun and the event planning team at DCi have crafted menus that are not only inclusive of dietary requirements but also invite the entire group to explore new flavors and cuisines. To guide attendees through their culinary journey, Calhoun has implemented a few creative strategies beyond a well-curated menu:

• The Food Guru – A knowledgeable chef stationed onsite to answer questions and provide insights into the menu offerings.
• QR Codes – Strategically placed scannable codes that reveal detailed ingredient lists, empowering guests to make informed choices with confidence.

“By blending inclusivity with creativity, these approaches ensure that every attendee – regardless of dietary preference or sensitivity – can fully enjoy the experience,” Calhoun says.

For a high-impact financial company sales summit, the DCi team transformed the heart of downtown Los Angeles into an immersive Asian night market experience for 800 attendees. Inspired by the iconic 626 Night Market — the original and largest Asian-themed night market in the U.S. — this event brought the corporation’s vision of a “never-before-seen” experience to life.

“Set beneath towering cherry blossom trees, glowing neon signs and twinkling string lights, guests explored a vibrant culinary landscape through custom-designed food stalls,” Calhoun says. “Each stall offered a taste of authentic Asian cuisine, including ramen, sushi, dumplings, stir fry and Peking duck — placing food and beverage at the epicenter of the evening. The atmosphere was further elevated with dynamic entertainment, featuring Taiko drummers, a 360-degree photo booth and a high-energy DJ that kept the energy flowing throughout the night. The result was a fully immersive, unforgettable experience that delighted attendees and set a new standard for corporate event creativity.”

DCi also recreated the energy and fun of the famous Texas State Fair for a corporate group of 1,800 attendees. “Infusing regional classics into events is both on-trend and has mass appeal — recreating a popular local event so attendees can experience it is a true treat,” Calhoun says. “It’s widely known that the Texas State Fair is all about the food so our custom state fair experience featured a wide range of food and beverage options to bring the theme to life.”

The DCi team sourced 18 diverse stations and food trucks and five specialty cocktail bars. In addition to classic fair food like cotton candy, popcorn, corn dogs and funnel cake, they served local specialties like BBQ brisket, mini-margaritas, whisky tastings, mango on a stick and more. Interactive stations, such as the Frito Boat bar and Nitro Ice Cream, added to the fun, along with unique items like biscuits branded with the program logo.

“This is a great example of where F&B plays an integral role in presenting a complete experience for the attendees,” Calhoun says.

Technology is also becoming paramount in effectively orchestrating F&B for large-scale corporate gatherings. At a recent tech conference in Chicago, Jordan Kaye, founder and CEO of Analog Events, integrated food and beverage into the guest journey through a proprietary AI agent.

“Attendees pre-ordered coffee and lunch through the agent, which also helped manage seating charts and dietary preferences,” Kaye says. “This gave us highly accurate counts for large group meals and allowed us to personalize service at scale. Instead of a one-size-fits-all setup, every guest felt seen and catered to — even in a large-format conference environment.”

Embracing Challenges

When planning F&B offerings for large numbers of attendees, some of the biggest challenges planners face with large-scale groups are with dietary restrictions and accommodating unique needs, or ensuring there are enough good food options for those with specific restrictions.

“Between vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, halal, kosher, nut-free, dairy-free, and allergies, there are a lot of things to consider when trying to create a menu that appeals to the masses,” Spivak says. “Another challenge is managing expectations against rising costs. Many attendees have certain expectations for food offerings or quality, especially if they are paying to attend the event. This, mixed with rising food costs and client budgets, can make delivering on those expectations challenging.”

Roll says the biggest challenge of developing memorable F&B offerings for large-scale groups is balancing scale with quality. Too often, planners underestimate how complex it is to serve hundreds (or thousands) of guests while still delivering food that feels fresh, flavorful and elegant.

“A common mistake I see is overcomplicating the menu. Planners sometimes want to offer too many items, which can slow service and dilute execution,” Roll says. “Another challenge is timing: ensuring food and beverage service flows seamlessly with the event schedule. The best outcomes always come when chefs and planners collaborate early in the process, so the food becomes an integrated part of the event, not just an add-on.”

Being sustainable for large-scale group events can also be challenging. As Spivak explains, not all venues are amenable to supporting specific F&B requests in a truly meaningful way, plus ensuring there is enough food for a large group while minimizing waste, making service quick and efficient while using sustainable packaging, and sourcing local ingredients in large quantities may not always be feasible.

“Also, trying to keep large-scale menus fresh and exciting, without banquet fatigue, can be a fun challenge to work around,” Spivak says.

For Stampfl, wait service at large-scale events is often treated as an afterthought, but he sees it as a chance to choreograph something truly special: movement and timing that elevate the energy of the room and become a defining feature of the event.

“From the initial welcome beverage to seamless staff movement throughout the event. Timing is the biggest challenge to orchestrate with large events,” Stampfl says. “Pacing service with programming and minimizing lulls is key. Another common mistake is under-preparing staff; briefing them to embody the event’s tone transforms service into part of the overall experience.”

Additional challenges include:

• Consistency and quality at scale — For large groups, maintaining consistent quality from the first to the last bite is always a challenge. It’s essential to work with a vetted culinary team that can deliver excellence across the board.
• Elevated expectations — Today’s attendees often have discerning palates, thanks to the popularity of culinary shows and a growing interest in food culture. Staying ahead of F&B trends and offering innovative menu options is key to impressing this audience.
• Overlooking personalization — Customization is no longer optional. Planners must consider dietary preferences and restrictions, and ensure that non-alcoholic beverage options go beyond basic sodas and water to include thoughtfully crafted alternatives.
• Treating F&B as an afterthought — You can design the most stunning and immersive environment imaginable, but if the food and beverage fall short, the experience suffers. F&B should be a central part of the event strategy — not just a logistical detail.

“The biggest challenge — and a mistake we see often — is not truly understanding the audience. Food and beverage isn’t just logistics; it’s identity,” Kaye says. “We create attendee avatars or archetypes for each event to understand how different attendees might actually eat. It’s about moving beyond “feeding the masses” and toward personalization. Think of it like curating a Las Vegas buffet plate uniquely for each person — but now, with AI tools, we can scale that kind of customization faster and more efficiently than ever before.”

Upcoming Trends

Spivak and her team are anticipating a focus on personalization will continue to grow as a F&B trend with large-scale corporate groups — whether that means more flexible meals and snacks where attendees can choose when to eat on their own time or the selection of foods, snacks and beverages offered being customizable by the attendees.

“We also suspect the importance of sustainability to continue to grow,” Spivak says. “Right now, it feels like true sustainability efforts at events are a luxury that can come with a cost, but I anticipate that will continue to become more of a requirement than a request, and become more accessible to more groups with venues getting involved in supporting the efforts more thoroughly. Sober living is also continuing to increase in popularity, so expect to see more focus on zero-proof beverages — getting creative with mocktails, offering wellness-focused drinks, and more non-alcoholic beer and wine options.”

Roll believes the future of F&B for large corporate groups lies in personalization and technology. Guests increasingly expect menus tailored to dietary preferences and restrictions, and with the help of pre-event surveys or apps, planners will be able to customize experiences more than ever before.

For Kaye, the real future lies in customization– taking attendee orders ahead of time, aligning portions to real demand, and using data to eliminate waste. And when there is surplus, it’s about being intentional with composting, recycling or donating.

“We expect to see caterers, planners and even attendees taking a much more active role in reducing environmental impact while still delivering exceptional culinary experiences.” Kaye says. “Food is one of the most universal ways to create connection. When it’s treated not as an afterthought, but as a centerpiece of the event, it has the power to surprise, delight and bring people together. The best events understand that a meal isn’t just sustenance — it’s storytelling.” C&IT