When a pandemic kills the demand for buffets, what’s a Wichita caterer to do?
As a caterer, Ben Arnold’s business has largely relied on big buffets.
But ever since March and the start of the coronavirus pandemic, buffets have been taboo.
“The catering world has been flipped up on top of his head,” said Arnold, who owns Wichita’s Corporate Caterers also runs the A.V.I restaurant at the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview.
What’s a caterer to do?
Arnold says he lives by the motto, “If you’re not evolving, you’re dissolving,” and he’s been looking for ways to adapt to the current reality. You might recall his popular idea in the first weeks of the pandemic to sell from his catering pantry “survival kits” of meat, toilet paper and other items that then were scarce in grocery stores.
Now, he’s come up with some new ways to evolve, and one is 24-feet long with wheels.
Arnold has recently purchased a state-of-the-art mobile kitchen that includes 18 feet worth of kitchen space. Though he won’t use it as a traditional food truck, he’ll be able to take the truck to big events and cater meals. People will be able to walk up to the truck and get a boxed meal, eliminating the need for buffets.
“It’s like all the other guys’ food trucks, only you won’t find me at festivals and street corners,“ he said. “It’s designed for events like company picnics or if a warehouse needs to feed employees.”
Arnold also has invested in some large rolling warmers that he can use to transport boxed meals, hot and ready to eat, to any place that needs catering. Each rolling warming box can hold 72 meals, and he has four of them.
“We just roll the warming boxes into the businesses, and the employees can pull their meals out,” he said. “Instead of getting a box that traveled for 15 minutes just sitting there, they come out piping hot. The idea is that they limit the exposure, and that’s what everyone wants to see.”
So far, Arnold said, the warming box idea has been popular with pharmaceutical reps, law enforcement agencies and hospitals.
Arnold said that he’s spent about $80,000 between the truck and the new equipment since the pandemic started. He wants to “get ahead of the eight ball” he said and be able to survive the pandemic.
“The meals must go on,” he said.
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 1:11 PM.
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