Good food can change the whole feel of an event.
People might remember the venue, the music and the decorations, but there is a very good chance they will also remember what they ate. Especially if it involves a huge portion of loaded fries, slow cooked pulled pork or a burger that requires both hands and a sensible amount of concentration.
That is exactly the sort of food Hungry Hog has built its name around.
Based in Hampshire, Hungry Hog is a small family run catering business covering weddings, parties, corporate events, festivals, school fetes, charity events, sports events and plenty more.
The business was started in 2020 by Aaron and his family, with the aim of bringing good quality street food and event catering to customers across the south of England.
Today, the menu stretches from hog roasts and loaded fries to BBQ food, gourmet burgers, charcuterie boards, meat platters and even roast dinners. There are also vegetarian options available, while menus can be adapted around the needs of each event.
The team covers Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Dorset, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Kent, while travelling further for the right event is also possible.
Here are three reasons why Hungry Hog could be well worth speaking to when planning your next event.
Food that people actually want to eat
An event menu does not need to be complicated.
Sometimes people simply want generous portions of food that taste good, fill them up and make them quietly consider going back for seconds before they have even finished the first plate.
That is where Hungry Hog comes into its own.
Aaron has been cooking since he was young and has developed a particular passion for American style street food, BBQ dishes and hog roasts. He is also apparently rather handy when it comes to a roast dinner, which is not a bad skill to have in the catering world.
The menu gives customers plenty of choice.
There are standard cheeseburgers, Wagyu cheeseburgers, pulled pork rolls, hotdogs and halloumi burgers, alongside some much bigger creations.
The Hog Special combines a burger, cheese and pulled pork. The King Special adds beef brisket to a cheeseburger. Then there is The Hog Father, featuring a burger, halloumi and pulled pork.
Loaded fries are another big part of the menu, with choices including pulled pork, beef brisket, cheeseburger toppings, bacon, onions, cheese and salt and chilli seasoning.
But Hungry Hog is not limited to street food.
The team can also provide full hog roasts, BBQs, meat platters, charcuterie boards and roast dinners. That makes it much easier to choose food that suits the style of the event rather than trying to force one fixed catering package into every occasion.
Ingredients are locally sourced wherever possible and the family has a simple rule when it comes to quality. They would not serve something they would not be happy eating themselves.
That is a straightforward approach, but it says plenty.
Gluten free food is taken seriously
One of the most important parts of the Hungry Hog story is also one of the reasons the business exists in the first place.
Aaron was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2017.
After his diagnosis, eating out became frustrating. Finding food he could safely eat was difficult enough, but finding genuinely enjoyable food was even harder.
After a few years of planning, that experience helped inspire the creation of Hungry Hog.
Aaron wanted to build a street food business where people who needed gluten free food were not treated as an afterthought. Instead of being left with one token option while everyone else worked through a huge menu, customers could still have proper street food.
Most of the food offered by Hungry Hog can be made gluten free on request, with the business also placing a strong focus on avoiding cross contamination.
For anyone living with coeliac disease, that extra understanding can make a big difference.
And because Aaron has experienced those problems himself, the approach comes from personal experience rather than simply adding a couple of gluten free dishes to a menu because customers might ask for them.
Seeing people realise how much choice they have is something Aaron takes real pride in.
There are vegetarian options available too, and the team can discuss other requirements when planning an event.
When catering for a wedding, company event, festival or large party, guests will often have different dietary needs. Having a caterer willing to work around those requirements can make organising the food considerably easier.
A family team that can adapt to your event
There is a proper family feel behind Hungry Hog, and it goes well beyond the name.
Aaron is joined by his wife Chrissy and their son Josh, with each member of the family having their own part to play.
Chrissy brings more than 25 years of customer service experience and handles plenty of the customer facing side of the business. She also gets stuck into the preparation behind the scenes, including cooking, emails and the rather serious task of shredding huge quantities of meat.
Some weeks, that can involve more than 150 kilos of pork and beef brisket.
Josh has also been around cooking from a young age and now works across the business, particularly with grills and fryers. He has even created dishes that have gone on to become some of the most popular items on the menu.
It means customers are dealing with a small family business where the people organising the event, preparing the food and serving guests genuinely care about how everything goes.
There is plenty of flexibility too.
Hungry Hog caters for everything from smaller gatherings to corporate events involving hundreds of people. Previous corporate bookings have ranged from around 50 members of staff to events with approximately 450 attendees.
The team can come directly to a workplace or chosen venue, and there is also a mobile bar service available thanks to the company’s bar licence.
That can be particularly useful for weddings, company celebrations and private parties where keeping several different suppliers organised can become a job in itself.
The business also supports charities throughout the year, working with selected causes and running dedicated charity days at different venues.
Ultimately, Hungry Hog feels like the sort of catering company that understands events are rarely one size fits all.
Some customers might want a full hog roast. Others might want loaded fries, burgers and a mobile bar. A company event might need food for several hundred people, while a family party could call for something much smaller and more relaxed.
The food, setup and menu can be discussed around what actually suits the occasion.
And when the people behind the business are clearly as interested in feeding people properly as they are in running the company, that makes the whole experience feel a little more personal.
If good food, generous portions and a friendly family team sound like the right fit for your event, Hungry Hog is certainly worth having a chat with.