Catering

Lunchbox hosting 1-day catering summit in NYC

Photo: Lunchbox

May 23, 2025

Restaurants hoping to grow their catering revenue and optimize off-premises operations may attend The Catering Leadership Summit, June 25, at Emmy Squared Pizza in Midtown West, New York City.

Hosted by enterprise restaurant technology platform Lunchbox, the one-day event will bring together restaurant executives, digital leaders and catering managers for a panel discussion and structured networking happy hour, said Lunchbox CEO James Walker.

"As more brands recognize the untapped potential of catering, this forum will serve as a place to learn from peers and take home actionable insights," Walker said in a company press release. "We're excited to bring leaders together for a conversation on where catering is headed and how to make it more profitable."

Attendees may also join a limited-capacity tour of Lunchbox client Maman's flagship location in New York, featuring a behind-the-scenes look at its catering operations guided by Chief Development Officer Guss Firestein.

The forum's featured Panel, "Scaling Catering Profitably: What the Most Successful Brands Are Doing Differently," features strategies to increase catering profitability, leveraging first-party data, guest relationships and tech-powered efficiencies. Speakers include leaders from Emmy Squared and Naya, a 31-unit Mediterranean chain based in NYC.

The event — hosted by Lunchbox with primary sponsorship from Shift4 and additional support from 1Huddle — will conclude with a structured networking happy hour featuring Detroit-style pizza and drinks, allowing attendees to connect with fellow operators and industry professionals in a casual setting, Walker said.