In this episode of Barbecue Catering Smarts, Michael Attias sits down with Chris Bennett, VP of Catering at Maurice’s Piggie Park—a multi-generational barbecue brand with nearly 70 years of history.
Chris shares how he built Maurice’s catering division from essentially zero into a meaningful revenue stream by focusing on relationships, consistency, and playing the long game. Rather than chasing every lead, his strategy centers on taking care of existing customers, letting reputation compound, and leaning into the segments that scale best—especially corporate events.
They also dive into how brand legacy, community involvement, and product quality all work together to drive catering growth, why not every opportunity is worth pursuing, and how simplifying your focus can actually accelerate revenue.
This episode is packed with practical insight for BBQ operators who want to grow catering sales without adding chaos—by focusing on what works and doing it consistently.
Barbecue Catering Smarts is sponsored by CaterZen Catering Software.
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✅ Catering Growth Takes Time: Building a strong catering program is a long game—not something that scales overnight.
✅ Start with Awareness: Early growth comes from simply letting customers know you cater and building local visibility.
✅ Relationships Are the Engine: Consistent catering revenue is driven by relationships, not one-time transactions.
✅ Focus Beats Complexity: You don’t need to do everything—identify what works (like corporate events) and double down.
✅ Corporate Catering Scales Best: Large corporate events offer repeat business and higher-volume opportunities.
✅ Your Dining Room Is Your Marketing: Every guest could become a catering client—service and experience matter.
✅ Community Builds Demand: Giving back and staying involved locally strengthens brand trust and drives referrals.
✅ Reputation Compounds: Taking care of current customers fuels organic growth without aggressive outbound sales.
✅ Systems Enable Scale: Once processes are in place, you can handle high-volume events without micromanaging.
✅ Great Product Is Non-Negotiable: Quality food is the foundation—everything else builds on that.
🔹 “It’s definitely a long game… not something you can open overnight and expect a truckload of money.”
🔹 “Everybody that walks in the door could be a potential catering client.”
🔹 “Building relationships really is the big thing.”
🔹 “Find what works for you… and do what you do.”
🔹 “Corporate events—that’s where we drill down the most.”
🔹 “Our strategy now is taking care of the customers we have.”
🔹 “We’ve grown it quite a bit… just by making catering the focus.”
🔹 “A little bit of love goes a long way.”
🔹 “It all starts with a good product.”
