The questions caterers actually ask at 4pm.
Quantities, plate costs, staffing ratios, what belongs on a BEO, and what to do when the guest count moves two days out. Real numbers, written by people who have had to get the food out.
How much food per person for catering
The numbers I actually plan against, plus the five things that move them more than the guest count does.
Read itCosting
How to price a catering event so you actually make money
Most caterers price the food and absorb everything else. Here is the whole calculation, with the numbers filled in.
11 minFood cost percentage for caterers, and what to do when it is wrong
The restaurant answer is 28-32%. For caterers it is a different number, calculated a different way, and the fix is almost never the menu.
8 min
Operations
How many staff for a catering event
The ratios by service style, plus the three factors that break them and the arithmetic for what a crew really costs.
8 minWhat goes on a BEO that the kitchen actually reads
A BEO is not a contract and it is not a menu. It is the single sheet that answers every question your crew will have at 4pm.
9 minCatering deposits and payment terms that protect your cash flow
You are financing every event you cater. Here is the payment schedule that stops you doing it out of your own pocket.
7 minThe client changed the guest count 48 hours out. Now what?
A checklist for the phone call every caterer gets on a Thursday, and the contract clause that makes it survivable.
6 min
Buying software
Working with AI
Thinking about switching software?
Cancel your catering software and you lose the recipes. We wrote down the eleven things to pull out before you give notice, in order, with the three that never export cleanly flagged. It is useful even if you never speak to us again.
Get the Switch Kit