An entree by Create Catering
Philip Dorwart is planning on ceasing the operations of his Create Catering within a month.
Dorwart, who was a breakout chef at Table of Contents back in the day, launched his own catering company and event space in Northeast with his wife Desiree in 2007. They've had a pretty good run, until the pandemic and the subsequent new rules of social gatherings. "It's just not our business model to be only catering parties of 25 people max, it doesn't work with our overhead and pay all the bills," Dorwart told me.
When the lockdown closed restaurants, it also closed caterers. But while restaurants could more easily pivot to takeout, caterers had a tougher time doing so. There was no gift card rally for them, they didn't have the built-in, daily traffic of loyal customers. A few caterers (my buddy Chef Ted, Chowgirls, and Create's Automat among them) moved into weekly or special event meal kits with pick-up or delivery. Though it has kept some money coming in over the past few months at Create, it's not enough to keep the operation going.
"Normally, we'd be booking an average of 33 events in September, our busiest time. We have 3." And nothing for October, November, or the holiday season. "We've basically been told that big weddings are not coming back any time soon, they are the hotspots that people worry about. Nobody is talking about how this affects a whole ecosystem of business, from caterers to event planners, florists, AV guys, event spaces, all of it." Dorwart did apply for and get some PPP money in the beginning, and he made sure to give $2,500 hazard pay bonuses to his staff because he knew these lean times were coming.
Now, he's trying to decide whether he's just going dormant for 8 months, or if he's totally done with the business. "You know the value of a catering company is in their 'book' or their list of clients," Dorwart noted, "but if none of those clients are able to throw benefits or parties, there's no longer any value to the book. I don't know, do I want to try to relaunch a whole business again in 8 months? That's what I'm trying to decide right now."
Create's Automat meal kits will be available through September 19th, after which the company will close up shop. Indefinitely.
