Beef and lamb make up 10% of the portions served at events, yet produce 45% of catering emissions. One beef dish can out-emit a dozen vegetarian ones. That’s the central finding of A Closer Look: Catering, our second report in this series, built on thousands of catering entries across 789 events measured in TRACE in 2025. It also questions where a lot of the industry’s catering reduction efforts have gone – serveware. 

A small share of the footprint, with a high level of control

Across events measured in TRACE, catering makes up around 1% of the average event footprint, rising to 9% once attendee travel is removed. However, catering presents event organisers with a high level of control. The menu and the way food is served are usually the organiser’s decision, with no need to wait for a venue upgrade or new infrastructure.

“Catering is one of the most controllable parts of an event footprint. Changing the menu doesn’t usually need new suppliers or new investment, and it usually costs less.” Emily Shephard, Insights Lead at isla.

The emissions sit with red meat

Vegetarian dishes are the largest share of portions served at events measured in TRACE. Beef and lamb, at just 10% of portions, produce 45% of catering emissions.

That gap means counting meat-free dishes on a menu can give a misleading picture of where the emissions are. A menu can be mostly vegetarian and still have most of its emissions coming from a small number of beef or lamb dishes.

Start with the buffet

The data points to one service format above all others:

• 51% of red meat emissions at events sit on buffets
• 73% of buffets are served at conferences

Buffets tend to lean on red meat, and self-service makes portions harder to control.

For practical ideas on changing buffet menus, read 5 ways towards low-carbon event catering: solving buffets, conferences and attendee expectations.

Lower emissions and lower cost

Plant-forward menus tend to cost less than red meat options, and they’re less exposed to price rises. Red meat prices have swung more than almost anything else on a catering invoice in recent years, which makes it harder to budget for, particularly across multi-year contracts. The same menu change can reduce both emissions and spend.

What about cups, plates and cutlery?

Many organisers have already made changes to their serveware, and that work matters for waste. But serveware accounts for under a tenth of catering emissions. The carbon is in the food.

Read the full report

A Closer Look: Catering goes further than the headline findings. The full report includes:

• A rule of thumb for comparing the emissions of beef and vegetarian covers
• How the way dishes are named and placed on a menu changes what guests choose
• The price data behind the cost case
• What the data says about food miles
• How catering scores across five dimensions for prioritising action
• Practical actions, and questions worth asking your caterers and venues

It’s free to download.

Download A Closer Look: Catering

Join the webinar

Alex Camacho, Insights Manager at isla, will walk through the findings in a free webinar on Wednesday 11 November at 2pm GMT, including what they mean for organisers planning menus for 2027.

Register for the webinar