Best Buffet or Action Station: Food and Beverage - 2025

The spirit of the Catered Arts through Innovated Excellence Awards (CATIES) is to recognize achievement of exemplary food production at an event. Include photos of the decorative element during production and at the event. The Event featuring your entry must have taken place between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024.

This award is given for a sweet or savory buffet station, action station, installation, or a single buffet service line, where the caterer is responsible for all aspects of the station including the presentation and menu design. Only Décor elements that support the catering design and layout should be included. Excluding the culinary component, the caterer may utilize sub-contracted services to produce the event and achieve their design, as long as, it is the caterer’s vision that is being implemented from concept to completion. If the menu design concept is not TOTALLY yours, do not enter this category.

Entries should be formatted as follows:

1. Include name of the Category, Name of the Product/Event, 100-word maximum synopsis of the entry

2. A 1000-word maximum description addressing the following:
• Describe the buffet or station design concept and presentation.
• Describe the creative process used to design the buffet or station.
• Detail the setup of the buffet and functionality of the presentation.
• Describe any challenges or obstacles and how they were overcome.

3. Collateral to include photographs and production notes. Additional relevant collateral may be included. Photos may be positioned within synopsis and description texts. Maximum number of photos is 10 and they must be at least 300 dpi at 8x10.

4. Your entry must be anonymous and without any reference or pictures of your company identifiers. This is a blind judging and judges will score your entry based on your submittal only.

CATIES Official Rules

By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to the official rules and warrants that his or her entry complies with all requirements in the official rules.

By entering the Contest, entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted photographs/images are an original work created solely by the entrant, that the images do not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the images.

If the images contain any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the images, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the image, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the photograph by ICA without compensation.

Winners will be chosen by ICA or judges selected by ICA, in their sole discretion. Winners will be notified by ICA. All decisions by ICA
and/or the judges are final and binding.

By entering the Contest, all entrants grant an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive, royalty-free license to ICA, to reproduce, distribute, display and otherwise use the images in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known. Additionally, by entering, each entrant grants to ICA the unrestricted right to use all statements made in connection with the Contest, and the names, personal data, pictures or likenesses of Contest entrants, or choose not to do so, in its sole discretion.

Judging Criteria and Scoring Values:

• Originality of the buffet or station design concept and presentation: 25 points
• Creative process regarding the menu design: 20 points
• Functionality of the presentation: 15 points
• Recipes: 10 points
• Overcoming challenges and obstacles: 10 points
• Overall Impression: 20 points