A platter nobody knew about
The office manager at a firm down the road emails on Monday: a breakfast platter and two coffee flasks for twelve on Thursday, and could one be gluten-free? It sits in the shared inbox under a supplier invoice. On Wednesday afternoon she texts the owner's phone to change the numbers to fifteen. On Thursday at 8:30 she arrives to collect, and nothing has been made.
Another week, an order for sandwiches for twenty arrives by phone while the till is busy. It is written on the back of a receipt. The invoice is never sent, because the receipt went in the bin at close.
Catering is good business for a cafe near offices. It fills the quiet mid-morning with prep work and brings in larger orders than the counter ever does. But every order is handled differently, and the admin falls to whoever picks up the phone, usually the owner, usually in the middle of the lunch rush.
Why catering orders go wrong
- Orders arrive by email, phone, text and in person, with no single place to record them.
- Changes to numbers and dietary needs come late and through a different channel from the order.
- Orders are not on the kitchen's prep list, so they are made in a rush or forgotten.
- Office customers want invoices on account, which means someone has to remember to raise them.
- Repeat customers order the same thing every week but still have to ask each time.
What the chaos costs
Catering orders are usually larger than a walk-in sale, and office customers order again if it goes well. A missed or wrong order often loses the customer for good. Orders not invoiced are simply unpaid. And the owner ends up doing the catering admin in the evening, working through messages to make sure nothing is missed.
How we build catering ordering
- We build an online catering form on your website: platters, sandwich selections, drinks and flasks, with quantities, dietary notes and collection or delivery time.
- Cut-off times are built in, such as orders by 2pm the day before, with late orders sent to you to accept or decline.
- Customers can pay by card through Stripe, or regular office customers can order on account.
- Each order and any change goes to one list, and the kitchen gets a daily catering sheet with quantities, dietary notes and collection times.
- Account orders create an invoice in Xero or QuickBooks automatically when the order is marked as collected or delivered.
- Repeat customers can reorder with one click, or set a standing weekly order they can change up to the cut-off.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Orders in inbox, texts and receipts | One list of catering orders |
| Late changes by text | Changes made in the order up to cut-off |
| Kitchen told on the day | Daily catering sheet the day before |
| Invoices forgotten | Invoice raised when order is completed |
Dietary requests are passed to the kitchen as the customer wrote them. How you handle allergens in catering follows your own food safety process.
Thursday morning, done right
The office manager orders on your website on Monday, then updates the number to fifteen on Wednesday before the cut-off. On Wednesday afternoon the kitchen sheet shows the platter, the gluten-free option and the collection time. The order is ready at 8:30, and the invoice lands in her inbox after collection. Next month she sets it as a weekly standing order.
Is catering causing you headaches?
- Catering orders arrive through many channels.
- Changes come by text on the day.
- An order has been forgotten or made wrong.
- Invoices for account customers are sometimes missed.
- You handle catering admin in the evenings.