Food, glorious food. If you’re planning an event and wondering what the hottest trends in event catering are, you’ve come to the right place. Because 1) we’ve done our research and 2) we just love talking about food.

So here you go, the newest trends in event food and catering:

Street Food

You can never go with a street food vendor for an event, or plural – if your guests are so lucky. There is so much to choose from when it comes to street food, so you’ll undoubtedly find something to suit your brand or your specific event, or just your general tastes. Think about Dinerama, what’s not to love?

Whatever choice or choices you decide to go for, set up your food destinations as a pop-up shop or food truck for added effect. They make a fun addition to your event, whether they’re there serving up your main dish or just there for desserts or a late-night snack.

Burger vans, taco vans, ice creams vans, cupcake vans – you name it, you’ll be able to find a food truck for any event.

Create Your Own

If you’re more interested in a low-key affair for your event catering, DIY or Create Your Own-style tables could be the way forward. It’s like a buffet… but better. We’re not sure if they’re popular because of their interactive nature or because people just want to load up on their favourite toppings, but either way, it’s a winner.

We’re talking more than just a salad buffet though. Why not be more creative? A make your own pizzas, tacos, sushi or poke bowl station, maybe? Or just load up on breakfast and brunch goodies, because one thing that we know, is that people love breakfast foods at any time of the day.

Keep it Eco-Friendly

Keeping everything event as eco-friendly as possible is an important factor in the events industry these days, and we’re here for it. That means your event catering should do its best for the cause too.

But what does that mean for your event catering? Well, sticking to local produce and local spirits is a good way to fight that carbon footprint. On top of that, people love discovering new goodies that are locally sourced. Plus, you want to think about food waste and minimise it as much as possible, which can be difficult when it comes to events, particularly large events.

Go for catering companies who focus on being eco-friendly and sustainable brands as whole, they’ll handle all that stuff and make your event planning a whole lot easier.

Mix Up Those Cocktails

Don’t just go for the standard cocktails that everyone knows for your event – spice it up a bit. Make the most of that local spirit you’ve gone for and mix it up or choose a few special cocktails for a proper menu. Be creative and choose cocktails that will represent your brand or your event in the perfect way.

Part of the most recent cocktail trend is to provide more non-alcoholic options in their menus. Mocktail ideas have become a whole lot more exciting (and tasty) over time too, so make sure you do your research and come up with some ideas that will keep everyone coming back for more.

Instagrammable

Ah, Instagram. You can’t seem to pull people away from it, can you? Well, like they say – if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Make your event food and catering Instagram-friendly and reel in all those delightful red hearts.

So, what makes food Instagrammable? Seeing as you can’t taste via Instagram, your best bet is to make your food pretty or present it in the best way you can. Being clever with colours, layout or doing something quirky like branding your pizza with a company logo (sorry, that’s the best we’ve got today), will have what it takes to hit those newsfeeds and amongst the hashtags.

With food being forever-a-hot-topic on the social media platform, you need to give it your best shot and make sure people know about any hashtags or profiles you want to push. Honestly, people just can’t resist.

Out of the Ordinary

From a bit basic to much less basic, we’re talking about the trend to keep it out of the ordinary. These days people doing like bland and boring. They want to experience new things, new tastes. That means more than just your average beans on toast, three course roast dinner or buffet style event.

There’s one company in particular that we can’t get enough of, and that’s Lick Me I’m Delicious. Their food installation ideas are out of this world and truly magical. From edible balloons and edible bubbles to alcoholic fountains and mists, they’ve thought up a lot of stuff that is bound to blow anyone’s mind – but especially the guests that get a taste of this magic first-hand.

Immersive Dining

The rise of immersive experiences is evident in London without doubt, and this has most definitely been applied to the catering industry too. Restaurants and dinner experiences aren’t just about the food and ambience anymore, diners want to be immersed into an experience where more senses are stimulated to enhance the food itself. Sounds pretty clever, right?

One incredible example of immersive dining in London is Chamber of Flavours by Gingerline. What can only be described as a ‘multi-dimensional dining adventure’ (because it’s kept incredibly secret by those who attend), Chamber of Flavours sees its guests where a pair of colourful socks to enhance their time-travelling skills, before they are launched into a food adventure.

But that’s just one way of doing it. If you’re looking to include the hot new immersive trend into your event, the sky is quite honestly the limit here. From soothing the senses with sound to creating a jaw-dropping venue look to inspire minds, what will you choose to impress your guests beyond the realms of taste?