Market segments
- Corporate office catering
- Wedding + social events
- Convention + trade show
- Sports venue + stadium
- Healthcare + senior living
- School + university dining
- Government / military / institutional
Catering KPIs.
Catering operations provide food + beverage service for events at off-premise locations (corporate offices, weddings, social events, sports venues, conventions). Real estate footprint is typically minimal — production kitchen + cold storage + dishwash + dry storage + small office, often 2,000-15,000 SF in industrial flex or commissary buildings. Performance is measured in booked event volume, average event value ($25-$200+/person), prime cost (COGS + labor, target ≤55%), and labor productivity per guest served. The category spans corporate catering (Aramark, Compass Group, Sodexo at scale), wedding + social catering (mostly local independent operators), institutional catering (school + healthcare + corporate cafeterias), and event-venue captive catering. There is no pure-play public catering REIT — operators include Compass Group plc (CPG.L LSE-listed, world's largest contract caterer), Aramark (ARMK), Sodexo (SDXAY ADR). Net-lease retail REITs (O, NNN, EPRT, ADC) hold no meaningful catering exposure. Ilora.ai ingests catering booking calendars, event P&L reports, prime cost analysis, kitchen + delivery vehicle scheduling, and contract / corporate-account documentation, then benchmarks against industry data + Compass / Aramark / Sodexo comparables.
14 definitions · Sector: FOOD AND BEVERAGE · Used by Ilora.ai specialist AI agents
- NOI
- Total revenue minus operating expenses (excludes financing and capital costs). The primary measure of property-level profitability.
- Cap Rate
- Net Operating Income divided by current property value. Expresses unleveraged annual yield as a percentage.
- DSCR
- Net Operating Income divided by total annual debt service. Lender-required cushion measure; below 1.0 means NOI cannot cover debt.
- LTV
- Loan amount divided by property value. Lower LTV = lower lender risk.
- OER
- Operating expenses divided by gross revenue. Lower is better, but varies by property type (hotels run higher than triple-net retail).
- GRM
- Property value divided by gross annual rental income. Quick valuation shortcut; less precise than cap rate.
- IRR
- Annualized return on investment accounting for time value of money across the full hold period.
- CoC
- Pre-tax annual cash flow divided by total cash invested. Measures the cash yield, not total return.
- DCF
- Valuation method that projects future cash flows and discounts them to present value at a chosen rate.
- TTM
- A rolling sum of the most recent 12 months. Smooths seasonality for KPI comparisons.
- COGS
- Cost of food and beverage products sold. Typically 28–35% for full-service restaurants.
- Prime Cost
- COGS plus labor cost. Industry benchmark target is below 60–65% of revenue.
- Avg Check
- Total revenue divided by number of checks (transactions). Measures pricing + sales mix.
- Turnover
- Number of times a table is occupied during a shift. Capacity utilization measure.
Net Operating Income
NOI = Revenue − Operating Expenses
Capitalization Rate
Cap Rate = NOI ÷ Property Value
Debt Service Coverage Ratio
DSCR = NOI ÷ Annual Debt Service
Loan-to-Value
LTV = Loan Amount ÷ Property Value
Operating Expense Ratio
OER = Operating Expenses ÷ Gross Revenue
Gross Rent Multiplier
GRM = Property Value ÷ Gross Annual Rent
Internal Rate of Return
Cash-on-Cash Return
CoC = Annual Cash Flow ÷ Total Cash Invested
Discounted Cash Flow
Trailing Twelve Months
Cost of Goods Sold
Prime Cost
Prime Cost = COGS + Labor
Average Check
Table Turnover
Sub-types
Sub-types within Catering.
- Corporate / Contract Catering
- Aramark, Compass Group, Sodexo — institutional contract catering.
- Drop-Off / Office Lunch Catering
- EzCater, Foodee — corporate office daily lunch delivery.
- Sports + Stadium Catering
- Levy Restaurants, Aramark, Centerplate — sports venue concessions + premium.
- Boutique / Specialty Catering
- High-end specialty caterers — kosher, vegan, ethnic specialty.
- Healthcare / Senior Living Foodservice
- Compass + Sodexo subsidiaries serving hospitals + senior living.
Amenities & features
7 amenities Ilora.ai tracks for Catering.
- Production Kitchen
Commercial-grade kitchen for event-scale production; convection ovens, prep tables, refrigeration.
- Production capacity (meals per shift)
- Equipment CapEx amortization
- Cold Storage / Walk-In Freezer
Walk-in cooler + freezer for prepared food + ingredient storage.
- Cold storage capacity
- Storage cost per event
- Dishwash + Sanitation
High-volume dishwash + sanitation station for cleaning equipment + servingware.
- Dishwash throughput
- Dry Storage + Pantry
Dry goods + pantry storage for non-perishable ingredients.
- Dry storage SF
- Catering Truck / Van Fleet
Refrigerated delivery vehicles for off-premise event delivery.
- Vehicle count
- Delivery cost per event
- Banquet Equipment Inventory
Tables, chairs, linens, china, glassware, flatware for off-premise events.
- Banquet equipment inventory value
- Office Space (Sales + Coordination)
Sales office + event coordination workspace.
- Office SF
Industry reference
How the catering sector operates.
Operating models
- Contract caterer (Aramark, Compass Group, Sodexo at scale)
- Independent local catering operator
- Restaurant + catering hybrid (restaurant + catering arm)
- Stadium / venue captive catering
- Drop-off / lunch delivery operator (EzCater partner)
- Healthcare + senior living foodservice contract
Regulatory frameworks
- FDA Food Code
- Local health permits + restaurant inspection
- OSHA worker safety
- TIPS responsible alcohol service (where alcohol served)
- Liquor licensing (event catering permits)
- DOT delivery vehicle compliance
- ServSafe certification
- ADA Title III
Industry organizations
- NACE (National Association for Catering and Events)
- NRA (National Restaurant Association)
- IFEA (International Festivals and Events Association)
- CMAA (Club Management Association of America — venues)
- BizBash (events industry publication)
- Catersource
Comparable public REITs / operators
- No public REIT pure-play. Public contract caterer operators: Compass Group plc (CPG.L LSE-listed, world's largest contract caterer, ~$50B mkt cap), Aramark (ARMK, ~$10B mkt cap), Sodexo (SDXAY ADR, French — global)
- Local catering market is highly fragmented — no institutional consolidation
- Net-lease retail REITs hold no meaningful catering real estate exposure
Documents Ilora.ai ingests
- Catering booking calendar
- Per-event P&L report
- Prime cost analysis (COGS + labor)
- Equipment + supply ordering log
- Delivery vehicle scheduling
- Corporate contract / account documentation
- Health permit + ServSafe certifications
- Liquor license (where applicable)
- Wedding + social booking pipeline
- Insurance binder (general liability + product liability)
Industry tools (we integrate with these)
- Tripleseat (catering sales + management — leading platform)
- Caterease (catering management)
- Total Party Planner
- Curate (event sales)
- Better Catering Software
- EzCater (delivery marketplace)
- CaterTrax (institutional)
- Toast for Restaurants (POS)
- Restaurant365 (accounting)
- MarketMan (inventory)
Frequently asked
Common questions about catering.
- How is catering real estate different from a restaurant?
- Catering operations have minimal customer-facing real estate — production kitchen + cold storage + dishwash + dry storage + small office in 2,000-15,000 SF industrial flex or commissary buildings. Restaurants have customer dining rooms requiring premium retail-grade locations + finishes + restrooms + bars + parking. Catering economics depend on event volume + per-event margin rather than dine-in covers. Real estate is functional + low-cost; restaurant real estate is location-driven + premium-cost.
- Who are the largest catering companies?
- The catering industry has three global giants: Compass Group plc (CPG.L, ~$50B mkt cap, LSE-listed, world's largest contract caterer with ~600,000 employees), Aramark (ARMK, ~$10B mkt cap, US headquartered), and Sodexo (SDXAY ADR, French — global). These three dominate corporate + healthcare + education + sports venue catering. Wedding + social catering is highly fragmented at the local level. Drop-off + office lunch catering aggregates through EzCater + Foodee marketplaces. Stadium catering specialists: Levy Restaurants (Compass subsidiary), Centerplate (Sodexo subsidiary), Aramark Sports + Entertainment.
- What is a commissary kitchen?
- A commissary kitchen is a centralized commercial kitchen used by multiple food businesses — caterers, food trucks, ghost kitchens, small restaurants — under shared-kitchen membership or per-hour rental. Members get access to commercial-grade equipment + cold storage + sanitation without the CapEx of building their own kitchen. Commissary kitchens fill the gap between catering operations + ghost kitchens (CloudKitchens, REEF) + food incubators. Pricing typically $25-$60/hour or $1,500-$5,000/month membership for full access. The model enables small caterer entry without major capital + real estate commitment.