One month results
How a Smoothie Franchise Got 16 Warm Catering Leads in One Month
FlashCater ran catering outreach for a single smoothie franchise location in a Midwest college town. In one month, 480 nearby businesses heard about its catering and 27 wrote back.
- Business
- Smoothie franchise, single location
- Location
- Midwest college town
- Goal
- More catering orders from local businesses
- Service
- Done-for-you catering outreach
One month results
- 16
- warm leads in one month
- 27
- replies from local businesses
- 480
- local businesses reached
- 5.6%
- reply rate (3.4% industry avg)
About the client
The client is a single location of a smoothie franchise in a Midwest college town. It had a catering menu and the brand’s online ordering, but nothing was telling local businesses that it catered.
The challenge
- 01
Nobody knew it catered
The store could take catering orders, but the businesses and groups nearby had no reason to know that.
- 02
No time to sell
The owner was running the store. Daily outreach wasn’t realistic.
- 03
An unclear buyer
A smoothie shop isn’t the obvious pick for a group order. It wasn’t clear who nearby would want catering from it.
What we did
- Found the local businesses and groups most likely to order catering from the store
- Ran outreach on the store’s behalf, so the owner didn’t write a single email
- Adjusted the plan every week based on who was responding
- Answered every reply or passed it to the store, ready to quote
Results
In one month, FlashCater reached 480 local businesses and got 27 replies, a 5.6% reply rate against a 3.4% industry average for cold outreach.
- 16 warm leads: 12 asked for details and 4 connected us to whoever orders
- Several groups asked about feeding 50 to 60 people at once
- An elementary school asked for a quote on 50 smoothies
- 9 more businesses asked to be kept in mind for upcoming events
What businesses asked for
Wants to feed 50 to 60 staff and asked about a group discount
Planning a party for 55 to 60 people
Asked for a quote on 50 smoothies
Asked about a post-game meal
Took the menu to share with its sports teams
Asked about lunch for six
Replies from local businesses, summarized, names removed
Catering orders go straight to the store, so orders aren’t included in these numbers.
Key takeaways
- 01
The demand was there in month one
27 local businesses replied in the first month, and 16 of them wanted details or pointed us to whoever orders.
- 02
Bigger orders than the counter sees
Several leads were for 50 to 60 people at a time. That’s not an order that walks in the door.
- 03
“Keep us in mind” is a lead
Nine businesses said not right now. They know the store caters now, and they’ll hear from us again.
FlashCater’s comment
“Within one month, local groups were asking this store to feed 50 or 60 people at once. Those orders don’t walk in the door. Someone has to go find them.”
Co-founder, FlashCater
Every number on this page is from one month of outreach. Names are removed to protect our clients and the businesses that replied. Replies exclude auto-replies and count each business once. The 3.4% industry average comes from a 2026 benchmark of billions of cold emails.
Want results like this for your restaurant?
Start with a free catering audit. We’ll show you:
- Which local businesses are worth reaching out to first
- Where catering orders are slipping away today
- Whether outreach, ordering or follow-up should come first