Carl Dean Hedin
Director of Sales & Marketing
About Carl
Carl Hedin is the Director of Sales & Marketing at Thomas Preti Events. Over the past 3 decades, he has managed the Sales Teams from three leading New York Catering firms. During his 9 years at Tentation, Potel & Chabot, Carl subtly transformed traditional French corporate catering philosophy to be more competitive in the contemporary New York marketplace. Carl harnessed the 200-year tradition of European quality and service excellence and applied it to American innovation and creativity. His collaborative catering partnerships include work with Chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Daniel Boulud, Rocco Dispirito and Tom Collichio.
Carl’s next role was at Abigail Kirsch, where he oversaw events for New York’s social, corporate, and political elites, including Presidents Obama, Clinton and Bush. He also lent his creative skills to rebrand Kirsch’s corporate identity, logo, website, marketing materials and developed a custom magazine.
Most do not know that Carl actually started his career with Thomas Preti selling events and developing business in the 90’s. Carl returned to the family in 2017 and has been busy developing business, managing and supporting the sales team, and sharing his years of experience. In May 2020, Carl and team launched the Preti, Set, Go! line of packaged meals and experiential food kits to meet their clients’ needs. Preti, Set, Go! is a modern evolution of the classic Thomas Preti experience personalized, packaged, and brought perfectly to you in a timely fashion.
Carl sits on the Board of the Boys & Girls Club of the Bellport Area. He enjoys entertaining friends, creating culinary adventures and sunrise walks with his Cairn Terrier (Mickey).
Traditional catering services have taken a great pivot into offering gourmet boxed meals, which seem to be all the rage. Thomas Preti Catering recently launched this new branch of business, called Preti, Set, Go! What were the most important factors that your team considered when devising how to create this new dining experience?
Our team started research and development this past April when it appeared traditional catering as we knew it would not be returning for some time. At that time, our primary goal was to create a unique and elevated catered experience, delivered safely in a “one of a kind” personalized package to fill the need for in-office grab-and-go meals, virtual meetings, social events and not-for-profit virtual galas.
The PSG Breakfast and PSG Lunch menus provide more straightforward options. Our PSG three-course “Set Meal” suggests an elevated dining experience with formal printed menu and multiple courses. All three menu options can be completely branded with your event’s or company’s logo, details, etc. We can also add interactive elements like custom QR codes to enhance the experience with personalized video or digital content.
How do your chefs curate each seasonal menu? Is it possible to design a custom box?
For our Preti, Set Go! meals, our culinary team has curated rotating weekly menus for breakfast, lunch, and our signature three-course “Set Meal.” The weekly cycle of seasonal menus can be viewed on our website. We’ve made it incredibly quick and easy to see what menu selections will be offered for the date of your event. And, yes of course, we can also create a custom menu at our client’s request.
Once the menus are selected and the order is placed, how exactly does Preti, Set, Go! work?
So many of our clients have used the word “gift” to describe their Preti, Set, Go! experience. The personalization of each bespoke package together with the exquisite food make for a uniquely memorable experience. These meals can be easily delivered to the office or event site. This obviously keeps costs down and minimizes the staff required (for social distancing purposes).
If our client prefers, we’re happy to provide all the front of house service one would typically expect at a catered event (to handle the meals, beverage service, coat check, sanitation, and clean up as well).
Is there a specific type of event, gatherings or other purpose that these boxes are best suited for?
With the complete personalization and customization Preti, Set, Go! offers, we feel that we have created excellent options for every occasion. To name a few: engagement parties, “micro-weddings”, corporate board luncheons, welcome back breakfasts, Kiddush meal, wine pairing dinners, Thanksgiving dinner, video conference meetings, and virtual galas.
What do you envision for the future of Preti, Set, Go!?
Earlier this year, we introduced Preti, Set, Go! as a “bridge” to meet the needs of our clients and partners until we could all gather together again. Pretty soon after, though, this concept really struck a chord and has taken on a life of its own!
Just this past week we launched Preti, Set, Go! Experiential Kits. Most of these new offerings are mailable and can be fully branded with your company’s logo, messaging, details, etc. We can also add interactive elements like custom QR codes to enhance the experience with personalized video or digital content. Here is an overview: Cocktails & Conversation box, Bubbles & Bites Box, Cheese and Wine Pairing, Harvest Time, Cookies and Cocoa Box.
If you were to leave us with something to think about, what would it be?
I so look forward to the time in the near future where we all will be together once again collaborating face to face… how fantastic!
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