Celebrate

Tips & Trends

Meeting planners are no strangers to specialty menus and dietary requests. Whether it’s medical concerns such as allergies and celiac disease, religious restrictions such as halal and kosher diets, or just personal preference, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/chart/24791/share-of-americans-who-who-follow-nutritional-rules/">a significant portion of people follow a restricted diet of some sort</a>.
While it might not be possible to cater to every food restriction, a mindset shift might help you see menu planning in a different light: Think of menus not in terms of restriction, but in terms of inclusivity.
Whether someone’s dietary restriction is medical, cultural, or personal in nature, your job as a meeting planner is to deliver an event your attendees will remember—something that’s impossible if they’re not properly nourished. Read on to learn the basics of creating a menu that will make all your attendees feel included.

<h3>Talk It Out: Pre-Event Communication</h3>
<ul>
 <li>Ask your attendees what they need. If you’re not already asking attendees about dietary restrictions during registration, start now. It may be tempting to use an open text box to solicit preferences, but doing so can lead to misinterpretation. Instead, use a broad swath of opt-in fields (shellfish allergy, vegan, etc.) for attendees to clearly identify needs and use the text box to capture outliers.</li>
 <li>Give your hotel partner and catering team a heads-up. The more notice you can give them, the better, but codifying lead time into your contract can help avoid confusion down the line.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Get Thoughtful: Menu Planning</h3>
<ul>
 <li>Make inclusive foods the base. No one dish addresses all dietary needs and preferences, but beginning with an inclusivity mindset will lead you to meals that require fewer workarounds to satisfy the most people. For example, making all entrees plant-based—with an option for meat-focused add-ons—flips the traditional script of beginning with meat and putting vegetarians into the “other” category.</li>
 <li>Evaluate the most common allergens. While it doesn’t matter why your attendees can’t eat a certain food, allergies can be deadly. There may not be a need to eliminate the most common food allergies—peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, fish, eggs, milk, sesame, soybeans, and wheat—from your menu, but making them add-ons instead of the base of what you have available is considered inclusive.</li>
 <li>Look for crossover opportunities. Low-carb and gluten-free diets have a natural overlap, as do vegetarian and kosher menus (with a little planning). You don’t have to have a separate menu for every type of diet out there, just options suitable for all.</li>
 <li>Let delegates DIY. Buffets and semi-buffets allow guests to assemble particularly tricky elements of a meal. For example, a sandwich bar with different types of bread (including gluten-free) and fillings (with ample vegetarian and kosher options) or the classic salad bar.</li>
</ul>

<h3>The Big Day: On-Site Considerations</h3>
<ul>
 <li>Label everything. Empowering attendees to select the foods that are right for them removes a bit of the burden from you and grants them full transparency. Labels should include all ingredients, including the type of oil used in frying and sautéeing. Avoid making exaggerated claims, particularly around allergies and medically related claims. For example, don’t label a dish “gluten-free”—even if the dish doesn’t have any gluten-containing products—unless the kitchen that prepared it is versed in cross-contamination.</li>
 <li>Group sensitive foods together. At a salad bar, this might mean grouping nuts, seeds, and croutons at the end of the line, with plain vegetables up front. This also lessens the chance that people will use inappropriate utensils to transfer food to their serving plates.</li>
</ul>

Global

How to Give Delegates a Taste of Belonging, No Matter Their Dietary Needs.

Make Your Menu More Inclusive

Educate

Even the simplest of meetings has something you can taste, even if it’s as humble as a cup of coffee. That ubiquity means that taste is already a part of every meeting you’re planning. Why not use the gustatory senses to level up your meetings?
Having delicious food and drinks on hand is part of the equation (and it won’t earn you any complaints). But leveraging the morsels you offer to maximize your meeting’s impact will make your event all the sweeter. Here are five ways to get started.
For ways to bring the other senses into your events, visit the other articles in this series: <a target="_blank" href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/news-and-highlights/article/428/the-five-senses-of-meetings:-make-your-meetings-more-visual">sight</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/news-and-highlights/article/429/the-five-senses-of-meetings:-make-your-meeting-super-sonic">sound</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/news-and-highlights/article/516/the-five-senses-of-meetings:-make-your-meetings-more-tactile">touch</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/news-and-highlights/article/512/the-five-senses-of-meetings:-incorporate-scent-into-your-events">smell</a>.

<h3>Test your taste buds</h3>
A taste test requires participants to focus their senses so they can discern one variety of whatever they’re tasting from another—making it a great exercise for priming people to truly pay attention to the moment. An expert-led tasting educates attendees on the treat in question, but it’s not your only option. Try setting up stations, each hosting a different variety of the featured item, and let guests draw their own conclusions. (You can also up the ante and make it a blind taste test, then give out prizes to the people who guess the most ingestibles correctly.) As for what to taste: Wine and chocolate tastings are perennial favorites, but you can get creative. Tasting the differences in everyday items—honey, salt—can reveal exactly how attuned we are to subtle variations in flavor.
<h3>Make standard snacks sensational</h3>
Sometimes it’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Let that guide a taste voyage, by offering a relatively simple snack that’s served or prepared in an interesting fashion. Try a station using liquid nitrogen to make popcorn or ice cream, for example. Even just serving food in a heightened manner can make your event more memorable, whether that’s serving meals under cloches, using edible presentations, or deploying bento boxes.

<h3>Get attendees’ hands dirty</h3>
Who doesn’t love a sundae bar? True, everybody loves a sundae, but the joy of a sundae bar is getting a chance to build your own dessert without the effort of gathering ingredients. You can extend that thinking to pretty much any otherwise standard menu offering, elevating it beyond the item itself. Hot dogs with all the toppings, lemonades with a choice of herbal infusions, and, sure, sundaes—the point is to let guests build it themselves, not just serve it to them as is.
<h3>Withhold taste</h3>
Preventing people from tasting can call attention to the gustatory senses just as much as feeding them. At a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bizbash.com/catering-design/event-design-decor/media-gallery/22144139/event-decor-inspiration-from-diffa-by-design-2022">2022 fundraiser for Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS</a>, the New York School of Interior Design built a tiered faux serving structure with expensive foods stationed at the top, literally untouchable. This particular execution was designed to call attention to food inequality, and the concept could apply to any meeting with a theme centering on scarcity—or, on the opposite end, desire. (Just make sure you eventually feed your attendees, even if you play tricks with priming their palates.)
<h3>Match your menu to your meaning</h3>
Catering offers you the opportunity to underscore your meeting’s mission in a visceral way. Hosting an event marking an anniversary milestone—say, an association’s 50th anniversary? Plan around foods popular in the 1970s, such as Watergate salad and fondue. Want to call attention to your host city’s history? Plan a menu around that city’s heritage. If other menu considerations limit your ability to go off the grid, get creative with naming. For the <a target="_blank" href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/inspirational-stories/article/405/ask-the-right-questions-get-the-right-answers">Florida Dental Association’s 2022 convention</a>, the “Sea Vibes” theme meant there was plenty of seafood on offer. But simply renaming the salad bar “Poseidon’s Power Greens Salad Bar” kept seafood-averse folks sated while remaining on theme.

Think Beyond Standard Catering to Make Your Meeting More Memorable.

The Five Senses of Meetings: Make Your Event More Tasteful

Network

Coffee might not make the world go round—but it sure makes meetings happen. Morning wake-up call, afternoon pick-me-up, setup for an organic networking session, the stuff that keeps planners engaged during the height of the frenzy: Coffee serves all of these functions, and more. No wonder most meeting planners can rattle off coffee arithmetic like seasoned mathematicians. (“If 1 gallon serves 10 mugs but half of the attendees are going off-site for the afternoon…”)
But just because coffee is ubiquitous doesn’t mean it can’t be stepped up a bit. Here are four ways to stir up your coffee service without giving you the jitters.
 
<h3>Go international.</h3>
Sweet, thick Cuban coffee. Milky, smooth Vietnamese coffee. Viscous, perfumed Turkish coffee; whipped dalgona coffee from South Korea; foamy, bracing Greek frappes. While the plain old American-style coffee dispenser may win points for efficiency (which is why it’s popular outside of North America), it lags behind its international competitors in intrigue.
Investing in an international offering, even if for one type of coffee only, can make the afternoon perk more memorable. If your budget allows, a “coffees of the world” setup lends itself well to a networking session. Be sure to serve miniature versions (yes, even of miniature coffees such as Italian espresso) to allow people to sample various types of joe without getting too amped.

<h3>Let people DIY.</h3>
A coffee bar with milk and sugar? Of course. Oat milk and agave? Getting a little more interesting. But to add a dash of whimsy to your coffee service, get even more playful. Try any (or all!) of these options:
<ul>
 <li>Candies: chocolate shavings, crushed peppermint candies, citrus lollipops</li>
 <li>Spices: cayenne pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, clove, star anise</li>
 <li>Flavored syrups: homemade herbal simple syrups (lavender, rosemary), an assortment of commercial syrups</li>
</ul>
Round it out with cookies meant for dipping, such as biscotti, and skip the dessert tray if your budget is tight.
 
<h3>Host brew stations.</h3>
A coffee tasting, also known as a cupping, can be a networking activity as well as a pick-me-up. But it’s not just about trying different types of coffee beans; it’s also about how your cups are brewed.
Percolated coffee is what your guests are probably used to at events, thanks to its ease of large-batch brewing. But the same beans that make for a robust cup of percolated coffee will result in a more delicate flavor if brewed in the drip style. French press java results in a heavier, oilier, more flavorful cup; cold brew gives a silky mouthfeel. Try setting up different stations with different brewing methods for a low-fuss taste test.
 
<h3>Go alternative.</h3>
We’re not just talking about decaf and tea, either. A growing crop of functional beverages promises the same elevating effects as coffee, but with added benefits and less chance of a caffeine crash. Try <a target="_blank" href="https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2022/03/27/Coffee-alternatives-We-see-a-pronounced-trend-away-from-caffeine-as-people-want-more-healthy-energy">alternative beverages</a> such as those made with yerba mate, MCT oil, adaptogenic mushrooms, rooibos chai, and guarana.

Coffee Is a Must—But There’s Still Room to Play.

Four Ways to Perk Up Your Coffee Service

Are you ready to take sustainability practices to the next level? The 370 attendees at Marriott’s THE EXCHANGE, Travel Partners Conference (TPC) , held March 21-24 in Waikiki, Hawai‘i, are—and thanks to the sustainability-focused event, they’re ready to spread the word to others too.
As with any well-designed meeting, the Marriott’s TPC event, held at The Waikiki Collection (the <a href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/tour/HNLWS">Sheraton Waikiki</a>, <a href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/tour/HNLLC">The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, Waikiki</a>, the <a href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/tour/HNLWI">Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort &amp; Spa, Waikiki Beach</a>, and the<a href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/tour/HNLKS"> Sheraton Princess Kaiulani</a>), began by considering what attendees need. The Waikiki Collection, who achieved the prestigious Sustainable Event Professional Certification from the Events Industry Council, &nbsp;took the lead on all the sustainability initiatives for this event. The attendees were Marriott International Global Sales Organization’s top intermediary customers—those who specialize in sourcing and planning events for corporations and associations—so this was the perfect audience to demonstrate how to execute a best in class sustainable event.

“The conference theme is “Step Beyond” which encourages attendees to go further than what we have done in the past. And that applies to our sustainability tactics too. In Hawaiian, “Mālama ka ‘aina” means to take care of the land, to be a respectful and responsible steward. This concept is one of the most basic and most important pillars of Hawaiian culture and therefore sustainability is even more important given the location of this meeting.”

Attendees not only went to sessions designed to educate them on sustainable practices they can transfer to their own meetings, but they also witnessed some of those practices firsthand. Here’s a sampling of what they took in.

<ul>
 <li>The value of keeping it local. “We are not shipping one thing to the island from the mainland,” Clarke says. “We even hand-carried all of the name badges.” The lanyards from which those hand-carried badges hung were made by local artisans, crafted from seashells, and designed to be reusable as a lei-style keepsake. Even the swag was local and sustainable: Attendees received a gift card to Tori Richard, a Honolulu-based design company world-renowned for its Hawaiian wear, cut and sewn in Hawai‘i since 1956.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>Partnerships with farmers. Attendees themselves actually became farmers for a day. Delegates had an option to sign up to plant taro, an important Hawaiian food staple, with local farmers using age-old farming techniques; other attendees harvested taro that was used in dishes for the event’s closing ceremony. That’s taking “farm-to-table” to a personal level.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>Slice-on-demand fruit. “How many times have you gone to an event and seen tons of cut-up fruit, and it’s still there after the event?” Clarke asks. Marriott’s TPC event’s elegant solution to this particular form of food waste? Slice-on-demand fruit. Attendees went to a fruit station and asked for what they wanted—pineapple, papaya, mango, apples, whatever—and it was cut on demand. This offered a premium experience and reduced food waste.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>Composting Waste. Green waste from the event was used to start compost bins, and these bins were donated to local community gardens and elementary schools. The composting program helps the land, but it extends beyond the island too. “With this composting program, you’re leaving a legacy here,” Clarke says. “You’ve come to the island, you’ve enjoyed the experience. Now you’re leaving a legacy of your impact here in the soil. You’re giving back to the island.”</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>Filling it forward. In pre-event communications, attendees were asked to bring their own water bottles. This helped reduce plastic waste from bottled water, but Marriott’s TPC took it further, partnering with Fill it Forward, an organization designed to match sustainable individual practices with large-scale sustainability efforts. Attendees received a sticker with a QR code to be placed on their bottles. Every time they refilled, they could scan the QR code, and Fill it Forward would make a donation to an environmentally focused Oahu organization. The practice will extend beyond the event—when people refill their bottles at home and scan the code, well after the event has ended, the local nonprofit will continue to benefit. At the end of the event, $5,000 was raised towards this project.&nbsp;</li>
 <li>Carbon consciousness. Marriott properties are on track to be carbon-neutral by 2050, but as those efforts are underway, carbon consciousness is the name of the game. Step Beyond served as the unveiling of Marriott’s new carbon calculator, which will be beta-tested in 52 hotels around the world and will inform Marriott’s <a href="https://marriottbonvoyevents.com/tips-and-trends/article/372/how-marriott-is-expanding-its-sustainable-practices-for-events">Serve 360</a> sustainability goals. Carbon offset donations for the event will go to <a href="https://www.southpole.com/">South Pole</a>, a strategy organization working toward emission reduction.</li>
 <li>A focus on visibility. Within the events industry, some sustainability efforts are visible to attendees; think reusable water bottles and recycling bins. But initiatives with the most impact tend to be larger-scale, as they happen on an operational level, making them invisible to attendees. Given the special nature of the this audience, Marriott chose to shine a light on that work so that these influencers understood what was happening behind the scenes. Videos showcasing back-of-house sustainability efforts, digital signage at food stations indicating which local sources were supplying the goods, and partnerships with session presenters to reinforce the sustainable practices happening around the event—all of these laddered up to delegates walking away with a keen understanding of what’s happening, and why it matters.</li>
</ul>

“All our hotels are learning from each other as it relates to sustainable practices,” Clarke says. Thanks to Marriott’s TPC event in Waikiki, attendees are learning too. Now it’s time for them to spread the word.

How Can Hospitality Become More Sustainable? Influence the Real Influencers.


Marriott’s Most Sustainable Meeting Yet

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how widespread food insecurity is around the world. But did you know that 30% of global food production is wasted? Meeting planners are as aware as the rest of society about food insecurity, which is why it’s so important to review the facts about donating event leftovers to a community kitchen—something that is “well within the bounds of an organization like Marriott,” says Amy Bourne, Marriott’s senior manager, sustainability and supplier diversity.
Perhaps more important is to dig into how to reduce food waste in the first place, Bourne says. But first, a look back.
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act
Many meeting planners may still be operating under the erroneous belief that legal concerns bar them from donating leftovers and surplus food from their events to a community kitchen. But, as Bourne points out, that’s just not true. The 1996 Bill Emerson Food Donation Act established federal protection in the United States from civil and criminal liability for persons involved in the donation and distribution of food and grocery products to needy individuals when certain criteria are met. Criteria include certain safety protocols like packaging and food storage temperature. Outside of the U.S., meeting planners should check with their country and state laws and local public health officials to ensure compliance with local food donation requirements.
Ending Food Waste at Every Point
According to the World Wildlife Fund, about 11% of greenhouse gas emissions could be eliminated if food waste were brought to zero. (Aviation, by comparison, accounts for 2% of global emissions.) Donating leftovers is a positive step toward that, but it’s not a perfect solution to food waste. Enter Marriott’s Serve 360 commitment to creating positive and sustainable impact wherever the company does business. One of Serve 360’s goals is to slash food waste to landfill in half by 2025.
What does this look like in practice? In addition to ensuring food waste is not generated in the first place through improved planning and purchasing decisions, there are creative ways to prevent food waste from entering landfills. Let’s say there’s sliced watermelon on a buffet. Some properties have developed tasty recipes to turn the rind into candies that can be left in guestrooms. Another fun use for food waste? Banana peels can be dehydrated into jerky, as they have been at some of Marriott’s European properties. In 2021, the JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok transformed used coffee granules into an enticing (free!) body scrub for guests, and 14.2 tons of fruit and vegetable peels from the property were donated to a local farm for animal feed.

How to Make a Donation
What if, despite your best intentions and carefully planned ordering, your meeting still has leftovers? Bourne says there are several apps that make food donation easy by picking up leftovers from meetings. Some of these include (in the United States): <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chow-match/id1091954512">Chow Match</a>, <a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/copia/id1563996344">Copia</a>, <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/food-finders/id1483853305">Food Finders</a>, <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mealconnect/id1230097075">MealConnect</a>, and, in the U.K., <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/too-good-to-go-end-food-waste/id1060683933">Too Good to Go</a>.
The Future of Food Waste
“Beyond our 50% reduction goal, globally, by 2025, we are continuing our work with external partners like the World Wildlife Fund,” Bourne says. One successful program that Marriott is proud to share with its hotels is hotelkitchen.org, an online toolkit that full-service hotels and food service institutions, including restaurants, cruises, and catering companies, can use to learn more strategies for reducing food waste. The toolkit was produced via a collaboration between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the American Hotel &amp; Lodging Association (AHLA), and the Rockefeller Foundation, with contributions from Marriott International.

“We encourage our hotels to first and foremost prevent food waste where feasible and then entertain multiple options to ensure waste does not end up in landfills.” 

Regardless of whether it’s donating food, repurposing scraps, or other diversion options such as composting, meeting planners have a responsibility to think not just about what guests will eat, but how those meals will impact the earth.

Marriott’s Senior Manager of Sustainability Explains How to Whittle Down Food Waste.

How to Manage Leftovers From Your Meeting

Over the last decade, the meetings industry has made major strides in embracing sustainable food and beverage options. Enter COVID-19, and a new world of hurdles.
COVID-19 isn’t a foodborne illness, but with social distancing in place, meeting planners turned to individual food and beverage packaging as a precautionary measure. Doing so helped alleviate stress from attendees. It also added up to a lot of waste.
So how can planners soothe people’s nerves about coronavirus-era dining while staying economically and environmentally efficient? Denise Naguib, global vice president, sustainability and supplier diversity at Marriott International, suggests tackling this challenge one step at a time.

“Think about: ‘What is one change I can make at this meeting? It’s not just about taking it all on, but thinking about one at a time, making the change and communicating effectively.”

Use these tips to help you choose individually packaged items that do the least amount of damage to the planet.
Think single-serve, not just single-use.
Individually packaged food and beverage is meant to serve one person at one time. But that doesn’t have to mean disposable, single-use packaging options.
For example, you can reduce waste by serving lunch in reusable, plastic clamshell containers or bento boxes. The same packaging can be washed, sanitized, and repurposed for lunch service on the second day of your event.

Gift individual, reusable water bottles.
In the spirit of single-serve, consider gifting reusable water bottles. Not in your budget? Share your environmental goal with your partners and vendors and see if any of them would be willing to donate branded canisters to your event.
Communicate your goals to attendees, too—let them know that the water bottles are more than just free swag, it’s also an opportunity to reduce waste. Naguib says to remember that thinking sustainably is a change for many people. “To act differently and carry their water bottles around, having refilling stations, that is a step,” she says. Layering in one change like this, one meeting at a time, not only makes it less overwhelming for you and your guests, but it also allows for a feedback loop.
“Get that feedback and insight from your own attendees to see what’s working, what’s not working, and cull ideas from them,” Naguib says.

Consider the materials.
There are ample sustainable packaging options—the trick is to find one that’s within your budget. Here are some considerations to keep in mind as you navigate what is and isn’t feasible for your next meeting.
<ul>
 <li>Glass containers for food and beverages are 100% reusable but are not always recyclable in many communities. While glass bottles (for, say, soda or iced tea) may be the first idea that pops into your mind, this could be the time to bring out your mason jars for easy pre-batching.</li>
 <li>Though paper packaging for food can be tricky to recycle, if you select paper packaging made from recycled paper, you are still reducing waste by not creating products from new materials.</li>
 <li>Metal vessels such as aluminum and stainless steel are highly reusable and readily recyclable. Opt for reusable jars or recyclable cans.</li>
 <li>When using plastic packaging, familiarize yourself with the <a href="https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/g804/recycling-symbols-plastics-460321/">recycling symbols</a> and make sure the recycling facilities in your meeting’s region accept that type of plastic. And avoid plastics with bisphenol A when you can.</li>
 <li>For single-use items such as straws, consider options made from biodegradable materials like paper.</li>
</ul>
Think outside the container.
Individually packaged items don’t necessarily need to be boxed or bottled. Wine glasses can be used to <a href="https://www.bizbash.com/catering-design/food-trends/media-gallery/21319420/15-lowtouch-hightaste-catering-ideas-for-live-and-virtual-events">serve starter salads</a>, and metal cutlery can be individually wrapped with cloth napkins instead of a sealed plastic pack.
And remember that individual items don’t all have to be inedible. Consider bread bowls for soup or ice cream cones to hold dessert candies. Keep an eye out for more <a href="https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=21377">edible packaging under development</a>, too.
Keep the big picture in mind.
As Naguib points out, communication is key. Work with your venue to place recycling and composting bins in a variety of strategic locations, and communicate these locations and your goals to everyone at your event. Additionally, make sure your recycling bins are clearly labeled, so there’s no confusion about which items can and cannot be placed inside.
If you’re reusing food and beverage packaging each day, make sure your attendees know how to use it. Create clear signage to show where water filling stations are located in your venue, or where to place materials meant to be sanitized and reused, such as mason jars and bento boxes. Doing these things will ensure everyone at your event feels safe while (re)introducing sustainability into your meeting’s mix.

Just because you’re serving individually packaged meals doesn’t mean your sustainability efforts are off the table.

Single-Serve Meals Can Be Sustainable Too 

Long live the buffet!
In a world suddenly hyperaware of germs, many have questioned if buffets can still be used to feed the masses. But at its heart, the buffet needs to live in order for meeting planners to accomplish their goals.
“You gather, sure, for the food and beverage, but you gather because your meeting has a purpose,” Dana Pellicano, Marriott’s vice president of U.S. and Canada food and beverage, told meeting planners at Marriott’s <a href="https://www.marriottbonvoyevents.com/tips-and-trends/article/327/marriott-s-the-exchange-brings-industry-leaders-together">The Exchange event</a> in August 2021. “You want to have rich content. You want to have time for networking. If you spend all your time trying to feed 400, 500 people à la carte, it certainly can reduce the amount of time you can spend meaningfully doing other things. So the buffet has long been a solution for volume foods. I don’t think that changes.”
COVID-19 is neither foodborne nor primarily passed through surface contact, but hesitancy might persist for many meeting professionals and attendees. Not that the coronavirus is the only concern around buffets. “If ever an area of food and beverage and the meetings experience was rife for intervention, it was definitely the buffet,” Pellicano said on an episode of <a href="https://www.northstarmeetingsgroup.com/Podcasts/The-Eventful-Podcast/food-beverage-trends">Eventful: The Podcast for Meeting Professionals</a>.
The buffet that Pellicano refers to as the “Battleship buffet”—a massive space purpose-built for buffet service, limiting its versatility—may indeed be dead, partly because of hygiene concerns, partly because designers are creating more elegant solutions to dining spaces. So how can planners feed their attendees in this new environment?
The “such is the state” bit was meant to transition from the “the buffet is dead, long live the buffet” contradiction. Without it, we recommend just being more straightforward.

Planners have already been experimenting with solutions, including staggering mealtimes, designing spaces to encourage optimal foot traffic, and offering boxed and other prepackaged meals. Here are a few more principles to play with:
● Offer creative stations. At its simplest, this can mean replacing one giant food station with four smaller ones spread throughout the space. At its more imaginative, this can mean converting a recreation space into a dining hall. One tantalizing example: At the <a href="https://www.marriottbonvoyevents.com/tour/HNMMC">Wailea Beach Resort–Marriott</a>, private floating cabanas have been turned into dining spaces.
● Keep the buffet, but optimize it. A staffed, one-sided buffet can come close to meeting the volume demands of a two-sided buffet while reducing crowd density. Staffing the buffet with servers has another benefit—reducing food waste (and cost), as portion sizes are more standardized.
● Remind people that they’re away from home. Strict lockdown measures are long gone, but people have still been spending more time at home. That gives planners an opportunity to dazzle. “I think perhaps people are really looking to say, ‘Hey, if I go out, I want an experience,’” Pellicano said on Eventful. “‘I want the best, I want something different, I want you to really wow me, I want a product that maybe I don’t get in my local store, so really show me something new and show me something that’s high-end and unexpected.” That doesn’t have to be at odds with sanitary needs. Pellicano points to ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages, such as premixed cocktails, which have seen a rise in quality in the past few years.
● Incorporate trends that grew in tandem with the pandemic. People’s relationship with food and health shifted along with attitudes toward public health, and your menus can reflect that. Consider adding items that keep pace with your attendees’ collective reckonings, such as plant-based meat alternatives and premium low- or no-alcohol beverages.
At its heart, the current rethinking of the buffet offers planners an opportunity. “I don’t see another way where we can meaningfully feed a whole bunch of people and get them on their way to their next really important general session without something in the buffet space,” Pellicano said at The Exchange. “But I sure hope we’re building better ones, smarter ones, more sustainable ones … and get folks through and where they need to go on time.”

COVID-19 brought a much-needed reconsideration of the buffet. Here are four things to think about as you brainstorm how to keep your attendees engaged with food and beverages.

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