Booking office catering without the right questions is how you end up with lukewarm sandwiches, a no-show delivery, and 40 hungry employees staring at an empty conference table. A solid office catering checklist — covering what to ask before you sign anything — saves you from all of it. Here's exactly what to ask every caterer before you commit.
Confirm the Basics: Capacity and Availability
Before anything else, verify the caterer can actually handle your event. Ask:
- What's your minimum and maximum headcount? Many corporate caterers have a 15–20 person minimum. If you're feeding 200, confirm they can scale without outsourcing to a third party.
- Are you available on our date and time? Sounds obvious, but good caterers book 3–6 weeks out for recurring office lunches and 8–12 weeks out for large corporate events.
- Do you handle same-day or recurring weekly orders? If you need standing Thursday lunches, not just a one-off, you need a caterer set up for repeat scheduling.
Understand the Menu and Dietary Coverage
Generic "sandwich and salad" packages rarely cut it for modern offices. Ask specific questions:
- Can you accommodate vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and common allergens (nuts, dairy, shellfish)? Get this in writing, not just a verbal yes.
- Is the menu fixed or can we customize? A good caterer should offer tiered options — not just a prix-fixe package that doesn't fit your team.
- Can we see a sample menu for our budget range? Ask for menus at your actual per-head budget. Typical office catering runs $15–$35 per person for lunch; dinner or full-service events can reach $75–$150+.
- How do you label dishes for allergens on the day of delivery? Clear labeling matters when 40 people are serving themselves simultaneously.
Dig Into Logistics and Delivery
The food can be great and the event can still fail on logistics. These questions matter:
- Who delivers and sets up? Some caterers drop food at the lobby; others bring it fully set up on chafing dishes with serving utensils. Know which you're getting.
- What's your on-time guarantee and what happens if you're late? Ask for their track record explicitly — a reputable caterer should be able to cite their on-time delivery rate.
- Do you handle breakdown and cleanup? Not all packages include post-event cleanup. If your office doesn't have extra staff, factor this in upfront.
- What's your contingency plan if something goes wrong? Equipment failure, driver issues, a sudden headcount change — how they answer this tells you everything about their reliability.
Get Clear on Pricing and What's Included
Hidden costs are the number-one complaint in corporate catering. Ask line by line:
- What's included in the per-person price? Clarify whether disposable plates, napkins, serving equipment, and condiments are included or billed separately.
- Are there delivery fees, setup fees, or minimum order thresholds? Many caterers charge $50–$150 delivery fees for orders under a certain total, or add a service charge (typically 18–22%) on top of the food cost.
- What's the cancellation and change policy? Office meetings shift constantly. You need to know if you can reduce headcount by 10 two days before the event without a penalty.
- Do you require a deposit? Standard deposits range from 25–50% at booking, with the balance due on delivery or net-30 for established accounts.
Check References and Credentials
You're trusting this vendor to represent your company in front of clients or staff. Do the due diligence:
- Can you provide references from similar corporate accounts? Ask for two or three companies of similar size and event type — not just glowing testimonials from their website.
- Are you licensed, insured, and certified in food handling? Any credible commercial caterer should carry general liability insurance and current food handler certifications for their staff.
- How long have you been doing corporate catering specifically? Corporate catering is different from wedding or event catering — ask about their experience with office environments, building access logistics, and professional timelines.
Make Comparing Easier
If you're evaluating multiple caterers at once — which you should be — keeping track of all these answers across different providers quickly gets messy. Mercoly lets you compare and find trusted corporate and office catering providers in one place, so you can line up your options side by side instead of juggling five separate email threads.
One Final Check Before You Sign
Once you've worked through the questions above, ask the caterer to send a written proposal that itemizes everything — menu, headcount, delivery time, setup details, fees, and cancellation terms. If they hesitate or hand you a vague one-page quote, that's your answer.
Start comparing office catering providers on Mercoly today and book with confidence before your next team event.