Time to retire the rubber chicken jokes — today’s convention centers are ready to cater to the latest trends in food and beverage, from special meal requests to healthy innovations.

There’s an old saying that the bigger the ship, the longer it takes to change course. But when it comes to convention centers — the venue equivalent of a giant cruise ship —they are proving to be amazingly adept at scanning the horizons for new trends in food and beverage (F&B). Even more surprisingly, they are able to change courses in a less time than you may think.

MeetingMentor recently caught up with several convention center F&B and catering experts from giant global companies that manage dozens of convention centers, arenas and other large venues, as well as individual convention center chefs, to find out how they are adapting their offerings to today’s meeting and event F&B needs. Here’s what they see as some of the top trends — and what they’re doing to shift with the changing tides, both on the retail and catering sides of their business.

Healthy, Plant-based and Locally Sourced

Convention centers have jumped on the general trend toward healthy, sustainable and locally sourced food and beverage in both their retail offerings and their catering departments. As Shaun Beard, global senior vice president of food and beverage with ASM, says, “People are more cognizant now than ever about what they put in their body. They want to know that how healthy it is, where it comes from, and who the supplying vendor is. The requests have only gotten more detailed as time goes on.” ASM handles food and beverage for convention centers, arenas and other large venues throughout the U.S. and abroad, including in Ft. Lauderdale, Pittsburgh, Grand Rapids, Mich., Cleveland, Houston, Palm Springs, Salt Lake City and Tucson.

Kevin O’Brien, vice president, Oak View Group, and Director of Finance for F&B at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, adds that while groups may say they want healthy F&B, “I would call it more healthy-ish. The reality is that people don’t always follow their diets when they’re at a show. We try to dial down the [unhealthy aspects] by skewing toward clean items we know people will gravitate toward. And we put more emphasis on protein being the dominant item in any dish.”

A side dish to the healthy menus trend is a need for more specificity and communication toward exactly what’s in each dish, he adds. It’s important to be very clear what’s in a vegan versus vegetarian dish, as well as one that’s halal, or kosher or gluten-free. He adds that about 18% of their menus incorporate dishes to accommodate special dietary needs.

The trend toward plant-based foods also is taking root in convention center F&B, the experts agree. “We made a commitment a few years ago that a third of our catering menus would be dedicated to dishes that are plant-based and sustainable, which was a big move for us,” says Beard. Not that ASM thought a third of all its F&B consumers were clamoring for plant-based foods, “We wanted to demonstrate to people that there are other options out there.”

In 2022, ASM created a curated menu through a deal with Wicked Kitchens to provide healthy, plant-based foods in 33 venues. Although the dishes were all plant-based, “first and foremost, it was all about the flavor,” Beard says. “People would see the flavor was big and well-presented, and then it would be like, ‘oh, by the way, it’s plant-based.” While these items still only make up about 10% of the total consumption, it’s still gaining momentum, he says. “It has a little bit to do with marketing and a lot to do with flavor presentation breaking down misconceptions about what plant-based foods can be. You can switch the mindset from obligation to opportunity.”

O’Brien adds, “The typical carnivore often will opt for a plant-based meal, which can skew your prep numbers.” For example, if 65 people out of 150 said they wanted the plant-based item and that’s what the kitchen prepares, but then the number bumps up when those who hadn’t opted for the plant-based meal like what they see when they see what the plant-based offering looks like, he says.

Can’t Get Much More Local than This

One way to satisfy that growing appetite for healthy and locally sourced foods is to grow it in house. For example, says Sodexo Live!’s James Katurakes, aka “Chef K,” executive chef for the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) in Orlando, Fla., instead of continuing to buy a lot of microgreens, fresh herbs and vegetables from other sources, the OCCC worked with a partner to create a hydroponic garden onsite. “This has allowed us to get the freshest microgreens and lettuce by providing a convention center-to-table concept, where greens can be pulled right from our Hydroponic Gardens to a guest’s plate. It doesn’t get any fresher or more sustainable than that,” he says.

Chef K’s center also has honored increased requests for artisanal, fresh, local options in interesting ways. One has been incorporating honey frames from a local Florida beekeeper into charcuterie trays for breakfasts and receptions. “It has created an elevated experience, while also incorporating an educational piece for attendees to take with them.”

ASM’s O’Brien also is proud to tout McCormick Place’s rooftop garden, which produces about 8,000 pounds of herbs and veggies annually. As is Shane Beardsley, vice president of guest experiences with Javits Center in New York City, who waxes poetic about his center’s acre-and-a-half rooftop farm and greenhouse. “Our chefs can work with event planners on items that are coming into season at our farm at the time of their event,” he says. While no Midtown Manhattan rooftop farm will be able to supply the total needs of tens of thousands of attendees, “almost two-thirds of our catered options have something derived from the farm.”

Catering to Personal Dietary Needs and Preferences

While it may feel like almost every one of your 5,000 attendees these days wants a special meal, “In reality, it’s maybe 15% on average,” says O’Brien. In a food hall environment, it’s easy for individuals to choose something that’s gluten-free, or whatever other special dietary need or preference a person may have. Allowing for personal choice in a catered environment is a little trickier — even if it only involves 15% of your attendees.  As Beard says, “In the food hall, you can have something for everyone, but you can’t realistically do that for 10,000.”

The best way to come as close as possible is when planners collect information ahead of time on how many people will need special meals that meet the needs for halal, gluten-free, allergen-free, etc. Then talk with the catering department or the chef and ask them to help you curate a menu that will meet all those needs, says Beard. “It’s a lot more work but also it leaves a lot more room for creativity.”

Buffets that are inclusive for all are one way to go, says Chef K. “One of the biggest trends we’ve been seeing here at the Orange County Convention Center is the need for buffets to be inclusive for everyone, particularly for those who are gluten free and vegetarian. All our menus include gluten free indicators as well as vegetarian options. This allows everyone to eat off the same buffet without feeling isolated with their own station of specific food and allows guests to go through buffet meal halls quicker.”

Cleaner and Greener

Convention centers have been at the forefront of sustainability when it comes to food and beverage for reasons both environmental and practical. The average event wastes between 15% and 20% of the food it procures, according to the LVP Beyond Food Report — and the bigger the event, the bigger a compost pile that 15% to 20% becomes. Despite reports that sustainability is taking a backseat these days to other concerns, such as rising costs, convention center F&B professionals say it’s still a top priority for their clients.

“Sustainability is the number-one word out of every show manager’s mouth,” says O’Brien. In addition to rooftop gardens, Chicago’s McCormick Center has eliminated most single-use plastics and has a food digester on site, as well as a robust food waste retrieval and donation program that distributes food to those in need.

“It’s not always about food — it’s also about how you’re managing waste,” he says. In his center’s food court, the center can provide staff to ensure the F&B trash is broken down down into the appropriate bins for composables and landfill items. “Attendees want to see that they’re not contributing to wasteful or inappropriate handling of refuse. People take that very seriously,” he says.

Packaging is important too, says Beard. “Is it made of reused material? Is it sustainable, recyclable, compostable? These are all very important to consumers now. You have to look at the total experience of that guest, down to what happens to the packaging after the product is consumed.

But sometimes it is about the food, especially how it’s sourced, says Beard. “We’ve partnered with some folks that can trace each food product back to its source and calculate its carbon footprint so we can put that right on the label for selected items. We even have that available for our catering menus because some of our groups what to understand what their impact is. That didn’t happen 10 or 15 years ago. Today, it’s table stakes.”

One final note: Don’t forget to look at your F&B history, says Tracy Stuckrath of thrive! meetings & events and host of the Eating at a Meeting podcast. “Look at your historical data of what they did and did not eat at your last program. Really partner with your convention center catering teams to track what was actually consumed so you don’t order 4,000 bagels when last time you had platters of leftover bagels.” This can help you get a double return of reducing costs and reducing waste by right-sizing your catering order.