Arizona’s Second Largest Catering Company Expands, Eyes Rapid Growth

Arizona’s second-largest catering company, Atlasta Catering has rebranded with a new parent company, Steve Short Culinary Team (SSCT), to better represent the wide variety of industry-leading services it offers as it continues to thoughtfully grow and expand after 45 years. Founded in 1979 in Phoenix and led by second-generation Chef/COO, Steve Short and his wife and CEO, Kristine Short, Atlasta now proudly hosts more than 600 events a year with nearly $9M in gross sales and clients ranging from Starbucks, SRP and Amazon to the President of the United States. But that’s just a soupçon of the Steve Short Culinary Team’s six divisions, from casual workplace catering to restaurant and bar operations and consulting, including innovative yet time-tested sustainability techniques as a zero-waste company for nearly a decade.

“After more than four decades operating with Atlasta as the public face of our company, we launched the Steve Short Culinary Team to differentiate for those who only know us as a full-service catering company,” says Kristine Short. “People might not realize we also own and operate restaurants, manage liquor licenses, offer casual delivered catering, consulting services and more.” Most important, she says, “the philosophy, values and standards are consistent across all brands.”

And while the SSCT name is new, Kristine says the expansion and diversification started almost immediately after they took over the company in 1998 as a $600K a year operation. “In 2002 we partnered with Arizona State University to expand into campus venue management.” Now known as Campus Provisions, “it’s become our biggest growth segment, managing multiple restaurants, dining outlets and liquor contracts for venues, including the Tempe Center for the Arts and the Mesa Art Center.”

Another fast-growing division is Casual Catering, delivering chef-crafted and ready-to-serve food in fully recyclable containers to boardrooms, ballrooms and anywhere people are craving an amazing meal. That said, the most innovative is undoubtedly Clear Stock Consulting, which grew out of Steve Short’s year-long efforts to reorganize all aspects of the company to create both zero-waste kitchens and events. Now a featured expert at national sustainability conferences, and former member of the ASU Wellness Committee and the Sustainable Food Task Force, Steve consults with culinary clients nationwide looking for time-tested technique to improve sustainability.

But even as the company grows, and seeks out new opportunities, the Steve Short Culinary Team has one very obvious limiting factor. “Our commitment is to always be hands-on,” Kristine Short says. “From only hiring full-time staff for every event so we can train them to meet our standards, to Steve liking to be onsite at every event possible, we’re committed to upholding the same standards that have made Atlasta Catering the top company in town for 45 years.”