Pricing guide
Corporate catering minimums, delivery, and headcounts
The corporate account that reorders weekly is the best customer in catering — and the fastest way to lose money if the terms are loose. Minimums, delivery, and headcount rules are not fine print; they are the difference between a profitable route and a busy one.
The worked number
Food-cost percentage
34%
Margin after labor & overhead
54%
What the portion really costs, loaded
$7.43
A boxed office lunch that costs $5.50 in ingredients, priced at $16.00, with labor at 20% and overhead at 15% of ingredient cost.
Set a minimum, protect the drive
Every delivery has a fixed cost — the drive, the packaging, the setup — that does not shrink with the order. A ten-person lunch at your per-head price may not clear that fixed cost at all. A stated order minimum (in dollars or headcount) makes sure the smallest order you accept still pays for the trip.
Delivery is a line item, not a favor
Free delivery is never free; it is just hidden in a higher per-head price that makes you look expensive on the food. Break it out. A clear delivery fee lets the food price stay competitive and lets you charge honestly for distance, timing, and the setup a client actually asked for.
Headcounts, guarantees, and the last-minute add
Corporate headcounts move. Quote against a guaranteed count the client confirms by a cutoff, price the inevitable day-of additions at a higher rush rate, and put both on the quote with an expiry date so a number you gave in January cannot be held to in June. The terms live on the quote, not in a memory of a phone call.
Get exact costs from YOUR recipes
These are market ranges. CaterKit photographs your menu, costs every recipe from your ingredients, and prices the quote at your margin — free to start.