Caterers NAICS 722320

Nov 6, 2025 - Fewer US Marriages

• According to the latest data on national marriage trends from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 2,041,926 marriages in the US in 2023. That’s about a 1.2% decline from 2022 and down 12.2% versus 2001, the high point for tying the knot so far this century. Moreover, The Wedding Report forecasts total weddings will ease to roughly 1.89 million by 2028. The top three states for wedding growth from 2023 to 2028 are Utah, Montana, and Nevada, while Louisiana, New Mexico, and Maryland are expected to see the biggest declines. Marriage in the US is in decline because the 20–34 age group, the core of the marriage market, has plateaued in most states and attitudes toward marriage have shifted. However, when couples do marry it’s with stronger intent and more deliberate spending, a plus for caterers.
• Caterers are facing new competition from restaurants, especially fast-casual chains that launched drop-off or pickup catering during the pandemic to boost business, The Wall Street Journal reports. “Caterers do have a challenge to compete with restaurants who have brick-and-mortars and storefronts and brand-name recognition,” Alex M. Susskind, professor of food and beverage management at Cornell University told WSJ in June, adding “That may negatively affect traditional caterers, so they need to pound the pavement and really sell how they are different and more personalized than a fast-casual restaurant that can drop off a self-serve taco bar.” As more companies host catered meals to lure employees back to the office, competition for corporate catering jobs is heating up. And as post-pandemic pent-up demand for weddings and bar mitzvahs has waned, the big growth area for caterers is corporate spending, Susskind says.

• Tariffs on imports are poised to have a negative impact on the catering industry, Catersource reported in May. While caterers themselves generally do not import products directly neither are they end users. As such, a 25% tariff will typically raise the prices caterers pay for imports, not by the full 25% but by somewhat less, assuming that importers absorb some of the tariff-based increase. However, since caterers are value-adding intermediate consumers of imports, these tariffs will likely impose substantial cost increases in the industry, according to Catersource. Mexico and Canada, both targets of Trump administration tariffs, are major suppliers of perishable foods to the US, including much seasonal produce (Mexico) and seafood and pork (Canada). A 15% increase in prices of these products based on a 25% tariff would make a sizable impact, possibly as much as 2–3% food cost on food revenue, per Catersource.
• Employment by caterers grew 1.8% in July compared to a year ago, easing a bit from its record high in June, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Meanwhile, the average industry wage at catering and mobile food services rose 4% year over year in July to $24.15 per hour, ten cents short of its record high in December 2024, per the BLS. Catering companies are staffing up for the peak wedding and event season. Looking ahead, the projected catering staff job growth rate is 2% from 2018-2028, according to the career platform Zippia. That’s about 17,700 new jobs for catering staff over the decade. With more than 72,000 active catering staff job openings in the US, caterers still need to hire workers.