Top Food Trends For Corporate Events in 2018

If getting on top of the year’s greatest food trends isn’t on your to-do list for 2018, it really should be. It’s an easy way to be more confident about your menu picks and venue choices. Fortunately for you, if you’re looking to get a leg up on competitors when it comes to wowing potential and favorite clients, we’ve got a handpicked selection of some of the biggest trends to watch out for.

Instagrammable food

Love them or hate them as you scroll through your Instagram feed, perfectly posed photos of food aren’t going away any time soon. If you’ve got social media savvy clients, you’re going to want to make sure that the food you’re serving them at events not only tastes good but looks good as well. Choosing a venue or caterer who pays attention to plate composition and color palette is a surefire way to take advantage of this trend in the coming year. This is even more important if your attendee list includes millenials who especially love to share their experiences in social channels.

Contemporary regional Chinese and Mexican cuisine

According to Nation’s Restaurant News, Mexican and Chinese food will continue to be hot ticket items in 2018. As chefs continue to explore the nuances of regional cuisines of those two countries, you can expect to see more menus moving forward that focus on one of Mexico’s 31 states, or discrete Chinese provinces like Shandong. Be on the lookout for restaurants that infuse these classic menus with regional flourishes if you’re looking to increase event attendance by offering clients something they may not have tried before. 

Deep frying

Bad news for your resolutions, we’re afraid—deep frying is coming back in a major way in 2018. In 2017 alone, Fine Dining Lovers said they’d eaten deep fried squash, deep fried eggs, even deep fried pizza—and that trend doesn’t appear to be letting up anytime soon. Couple that with a new spotlight on fried chicken dishes like karaage, and you’ve got a recipe for a sinfully good food trend. Fried foods are back in 2018, but let’s be honest—did they ever really leave?

Poke and fish-based dishes

Poke, the Hawaiian fish salad, has just begun to get widespread appeal in cities across the United States. GrubHub reported that in 2017, Poke delivery was up 643%—almost three times that of the next most popular dish. Coupling that with an increased desire for fish as a snack, a Poke-centered event is a great choice for guests who are health conscious and like to try something out of the ordinary. 

We’re only a month into 2018, so it’s entirely possible that we’ll be seeing new and exciting trends emerge as the year goes on, but these trends offer safe bets for you as you schedule dinners and cocktail parties with your customers, partners and teams. As always, take these with a grain of salt, do your research and be confident about your choices. Peruse some of Kapow’s dinner event offerings for a taste of what we can do for your next event.