Attendees at Northstar's Small & Boutique Meetings Park City enjoyed festive macarons and other dessert delights. Photo Credit: Ketara Gadahn/Studio Alani
This year, Northstar Travel Group celebrates its 25th anniversary. To mark the milestone, Northstar’s brands are looking back at how the travel industry has evolved over the past 25 years, where it stands today and what the next 25 years might bring. This article is part of the Northstar 25 project.
Once upon a time, the joke was that rubber chicken was served at all banquets — leaving attendees full but, well, not particularly satisfied.
How times have changed.
Now event planners regularly chat with chefs about menus, looking for creative, sustainable ways to juice up the plates, and to keep those with food issues safe, all while dazzling everyone in the room.
Tracy Stuckrath, owner of Thrive! Meetings & Events, and founder and host of the Eating at a Meeting podcast, has been on the frontline of all these changes. We asked her about what she's seen.
Creatively, how has F&B evolved over the years?
When I started in the early '90s, banquet menus were all the same no matter where your meeting was being held. Plated chicken, a plain salad and a dessert all looked the same in every hotel. I do remember one of my bosses complaining when I served an arugula and frisee salad — he didn’t want weeds on the menu. Back then the costs were manageable, although we probably thought they were expensive.
Managing allergies and other dietary needs basically fell under the "vegetarian" label. That has changed dramatically since then. My first experience managing allergies at an event was at a Disney property in around 2005, after I was diagnosed with an allergy to yeast. To be honest, I did not ask anyone else if they needed anything "special," but I let the chef know about me. They managed it well, and that is what prompted me to start my business.
"The bigger change is that the food is expected to do work. It’s supposed to build connection and reflect the group's culture, and it has to do that for everyone at the table."
Today, things have progressed a lot, but there is still so much more to do. I think planners as a whole are more cognizant of asking guests about their needs and trying to provide options. There are more vegetarian and gluten-free options across the board.
I also think planners and venues are starting to think about what the food says about the event, the destination, and the people in the room, although it does depend on where you’re meeting.
The bigger change is that the food is expected to do work. It’s supposed to build connection and reflect the group's culture, and it has to do that for everyone at the table.
Which element has excited you most in these developments?
I am glad to see inclusion being thought about by providing options on menus, and more planners and venues asking about dietary needs. Thirty years ago, even 16 years ago, the vegetarian was lucky to ask a server for a vegetarian plate and have it delivered. In the last decade, it has gotten much better, but the guest with a dietary need got a special plate, delivered late, with everyone else either eating theirs when it's hot, or watching and waiting to eat until the vegetarian plate arrived.
Now I see chefs and planners designing menus where many people can eat the same meal, and nobody has to ask permission to be fed. When that works, you can see it in the room. People relax and start talking.
How is your fight in the food-labeling arena going?
Slowly, but it’s moving. I want to bang my head on the wall still sometimes.
California passed the ADDE Act (Senate Bill 68) last year, effective July 1, 2026, requiring food service companies with 20 or more locations to label for the top nine allergens on menu items. Other states have similar bills in play without the 20-location stipulation, but more importantly, in my opinion, the FDA Food Code now says that unpackaged food and food served in bulk for self-service must be labeled for the top nine allergens. More than 10 States have adopted the FDA Food Code. The challenge is implementing and enforcing it.
All of this matters because event food has long been a blind spot in allergen policy. I keep telling planners and venues that the law is only part of it. Even where it doesn’t reach your event, your attendees expect to know what’s in the food, and your contract and your processes need to back that up.
Planners and venues who get ahead of this will have fewer incidents and stronger relationships with their guests. Labeling all foods makes eating at a meeting much easier for those with allergies; we don't want them to feel left out. People with food issues are going to choose not to eat at all if they can't be sure they are safe.
Are chefs listening to what planners want now?
It depends on where you are and who the chef is. Earlier this year, when I was meeting with a chef for an upcoming program, I mentioned we had a few guests with nut allergies triggered by touch. He said, almost immediately, that he would eliminate all nuts from the menu.
That kitchen was fully on board, but some still treat a dietary request as an interruption. Overall, I’m hearing more chefs say "tell me what you need" than I did even five years ago.
And more planners are choosing foods that are delicious for everyone, but won't trigger anyone's issues.
The best results come when the planner offers specifics early: Give the kitchen headcounts and actual needs, and have a conversation before the banquet event order is finalized. Chefs respond to clear information. They struggle with a vague "make sure it's allergy-friendly" two days before the event.
This week, one F&B director who is also a chef told me that murder is not something he wants to be known for. He even welcomes the health inspector, since they help ensure you won't make people sick or kill them.
