Erle Dardick believes the multi-unit restaurant industry is leaving billions of dollars on the table. So he outlined a clear solution for food businesses struggling to stay afloat or to grow during the recession in his new book, Get Catering and Grow Sales! A Strategic Perspective for the Multi-Unit Restaurant Executive.

"I believe the fastest-growing source of revenue for restaurants will be catering," asserts Dardick, a serial entrepreneur, "and I have no doubt it will be their most important revenue source during the next decade."

Dardick, the CEO of MonkeyMedia Software, a food industry consulting and software company, has helped his firm's clients grow their revenue by embracing a catering strategy. Catering, which can be supplied to corporations, organizations or private individuals, can include off-premise drop-off catering with or without set-up services, or off-premise catering for pick-up. One's catering strategy may even include altering menu selection, portion sizes, and the creation of a proprietary beverage. Many pitfalls and opportunities await those brands ready to incorporate a catering strategy.

"This is a book about driving new and incremental sales for our community's brands," writes Dardick. "It's about getting out a roadmap for the future of how our industry can come together as a group and use Get Catering and Grow Sales! as a compass for innovating as a community. It's about leveraging our assets to maximize catering as a substantial revenue channel in the multi-unit restaurant environment."

All net proceeds of the audiobook's sale are being donated to Share Our Strength, a charity dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America.