This budget-saving idea is pretty simple: Smaller portions are cheaper! And done right, your attendees won’t notice (except that they all might feel better after dinner). Beef prices are extremely high right now, say chefs: An eight-ounce centercut tenderloin may cost $25 per pound. Serve a six-ounce tenderloin instead, and you’ve got an extra $3.20 to add something else to the plate that excites the eyes and wows the palate.

Photo courtesy Hilton Waikoloa Village

Local and seasonal are how savvy meeting planners save money. Take tuna in Hawaii: In the late fall through the holidays, ahi can cost more than $25 per pound. But in September it might be $5 per pound—the same fish, right out of the water. This would be great information to have if you’re planning a lovely sashimi appetizer! And speaking of fish, planners meeting on coasts should ask chefs for value choices among the local catch. On the Big Island of Hawaii, opah is a good example of a fish that is virtually unknown to the general public but is rich and flavorful, and plentiful enough in season to be reasonably priced. A bonus with local proteins and produce is that they add to your attendees’ overall experience—they leave knowing a little more about the destination, and having something interesting to talk about.

Photo courtesy Hilton Waikoloa Village

If a bottle of wine contains about five drinks and costs $20, that’s $4 per glass. If a bottle of Ketel One vodka contains 20 drinks and costs $25, that’s about $1.25 per glass. “We get planners who say, ‘We just want wine and beer, to keep the costs down,’” says one chef. “Maybe that keeps your cost down a little, but it isn’t helping our business.” That’s because drinks are more profitable for hotels. The win-win solution: signature cocktails (and mocktails). They add a special, exciting element to your event, which adds value, while giving the hotel a better profit margin.

Photo courtesy Hilton Waikoloa Village

There are secondary cuts that attendees would never know cost $6 less per pound than tenderloin, says one chef. “There are many things we can do to circumvent some of those high-priced proteins,” says Chef Charles Charbonneau, “and if it’s cooked right, it actually tastes better. Behind the scenes, there’s so much we can do with the center of the plate.” Another example: Instead of a giant lobster tail for each guest, consider a recipe that uses some delicate chunks of lobster meat instead. Your culinary partners will use their talents to make it look great on the plate.

That is, don’t stick with the rigid choices offered on the banquet menu. These days, those menus are more likely to have been created as guidelines or samplings of what the kitchen can do. However, do ask if the venue has created seasonal banquet menus. These can help you choose items that will taste best and cost least when your group is on site.

Still planning that traditional shrimp cocktail in a pile on ice? Don’t do it! You’ve always got the attendees who will get the largest plate they can find and fill it with shrimp, leaving you to worry about running out. A better option is individual servings—say, two shrimp with sauce and herbs in a martini glass. You still may have the attendee who scarfs down three of them, but it may at least make them pause and think. And it’ll save you money. Individual portions in buffets is an overall trend, in fact, whether placed on separate plates or set up in chafing dishes as individual entrees.

Last fall, strawberry prices spiked after an extended cold snap in California and before the season had started in Florida, noted Chef Hubert Des Marais. In fact, strawberries became much more expensive than raspberries—very unusual, but something executive chefs will always have their eyes on. Ask about any out of the ordinary pricing that might prompt a menu shift.

If you can overcome your natural desire to set the exact menu months in advance, you can take advantage of the chef having his ear to the ground in the local market. For example, there may be an unexpected surplus of an optimal ingredient that the chef discovers a month out from your event. If you’re flexible enough, you could get a wow presentation (and a wow in your budget). This is also where “menu-matching” can come into play. Maybe a large local catering event ends up booked around the same time as your meeting—if you can piggyback on the menu of that event, you might save money by having the hotel order more of an item it’s buying anyway.

Anticipating a conference that would bring 2,000 attendees to the Hilton Waikoloa Village, catering executives started talking about the piles of dishes that would be required for all the meal functions. The staff and meeting planners got together to consider different varieties of compostable plates and flatware instead. Not only did it save a ton on labor, but attendees appreciated the ease of the lightweight palm and bamboo dinnerware as well.

Planners should no longer assume that a buffet will be less expensive than a plated dinner, mainly because of the popularity of chef’s stations, which add labor costs. “For almost every non-plated event I do, people want chef’s stations,” says Chef Hubert Des Marais. “It’s fresher food; it’s more cooked to order.” Creativity can come into play here. For example, in some locations, local vendors or farmers might be willing to do buffet stations or demos. Another idea, says Chef Hubert, is to bring in food-truck props, allowing you to serve a lot more variety, including vegetarian dishes, which are not only more popular than ever but also less expensive.

So how should planners approach a chef? “If you are looking for a specific language to reduce costs, we probably don’t all speak it,” says Chef Charles Charbonneau. “The way I would approach it is to look at what actually costs money on your plate. It’s your proteins. And prices for those things are only going to go up. The language you want is, ‘I don’t think we need to have that huge center of the plate.’ It’s not really healthy for you anyway.” So what is the alternative to the “huge center of the plate”? One idea is to spread out the total amount of food into several impressive courses. For example, says Jacques Monteil, the first course could be a papaya basket with lobster tail meat that’s 2.5 ounces, followed by another appetizer/entrée of three or four ounces, followed by an entrée of six or seven ounces including vegetables, and then a small dessert. It’s an experience, it’s cost-effective—and anyway, it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you’re full!