Considering launching a meal program at your company or shopping around for a new corporate catering partner? One of the first questions our team recieves from new customers is "how much will catering cost?" Understandably, this is the first guardrail puts in place when considering a corporate catering program.
So, to better answer that question, CaterCow reviewed more than 50,000 catering orders to deliver you the facts on corporate catering costs.
Typical Corporate Catering Costs by Meal (All-In)
Corporate catering customers are usually more interested in the 'all-in' cost per person for their meal programs. No one likes to be 'nickle and dimed' with hidden fees and surcharges, so CaterCow is happy to provide all-in prices.
Unsurprisingly, the more substantial a meal, the more expensive it is:
- Dinner Catering Cost per Person: $21
- Lunch Catering Cost per Person: $20
- Happy Hour Catering Cost per Person: $19
- Breakfast Catering Cost per Person: $17
- Snack Catering Cost per Person: $16
- Dessert Catering Cost per Person: $8
Cuisine Impact Price
If you are interested in affordable corporate catering, crafty account managers (like the ones at CaterCow) can help tailor your order to a cuisine appropriate for your budget.
Want cheap breakfast catering? Our analysis revealed that budget-conscious orderers can save more than 10% per person with bagel platters, pastries and baked goods, or smoothies.
For affordable lunch catering, pizza catering and sandwich platters will be the cheapest on average.
For more variety that won't break the bank, you can also find good savings by ordering lebanese catering or salvadoran catering.
When we get a request for budget lunch catering, we typically can find tasty meals at the lower end of the price spectrum with specific Americanized Chinese and Thai caterers - Sean Li, CaterCow CEO
When it comes to all-day office snacks or fun appetizers for a company happy hour, latin american catering tends to shine. Empanadas, pupusas, arepas are all great hand-held options with low costs per person.
Buffets Are Not The Cheapest Catering Option
First-time corporate catering customers often mistakenly believe buffet style will be cheaper than individually boxed meals. CaterCow data suggests that buffets are typically 11% more expensive per person.
Often, restaurants will provide more food with family style orders because they know that once in a buffet line, hungry eaters will pile food high. CaterCow's experience shows that an employee will eat 50% more protein in a buffet setup than they otherwise would if it was individually-boxed. After all, who wouldn't want an extra scoop of butter chicken when confronted with a delightful indian buffet?
This higher food cost more than offsets the higher labor cost associated with individual boxes where caterers must individually package and label the food.
Bulk Discounts are Common Misperception
A common misconception is that when you order more food, the cost per person will be cheaper and there will be a bulk discount.
While a a crafty account manager may be able to negotiate a a bulk discount, this is certainly not the standard. From the restaurant perspective, they are a tiny player to their meat supplier, so buying 100 case of chicken versus 91 cases of chicken won't make a difference in their supply pricing.
Restaurants desire big orders because they are large, not because it is margin enhancing. In fact, the margins are likely worse on huge orders because they will need to hire extra staff to even come in early, pay for overtime, and potentially rent a larger delivery vehicle instead of just relying on their staff and delivery fleet. They might even have to buy special packaging to accomodate sizes of 200+.
Catering Prices Vary by City and State
The problem with averages is that it hides the extremes. Corporate catering has a fairly large spread of prices depending on where you are ordering to.
In Boston, Boulder, and Houston you can find great lunch catering options for under $18 per person (all-in).
New York City, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Austin lunch catering all come $20-21 on average.
Group Ordering and Account Management Expertise Drives Down Costs
One of the biggest budget wasters is over-ordering. Most office admins have anxiety about leaving a team member hungry, one hangry employee can really spoil an experience.
Unfortunately, most catering platforms provide little-to-no guidance on this front. CaterCow always puts the corporate customer first--one of CaterCow's core strengths. The CaterCow account management team has initimate knowledge of portion sizes for each restaurant and the restaurant team is constantly monitoring feedback to triangulate the perfect order size.
Group ordering, where employees' names are labeled on individually packaged boxes saves a lot of money, prevents food waste, and reduces administrative headaches.
Catering Platform Rewards Drive Down Costs
Some corporate catering programs offer rewards in the form of future discount or Amazon gift cards on every order.
For example, CaterCow's CaterCoins program can return as much as 5% back to the orderer.
You are free to use these CaterCoins how you'd like--get cashback on your next order, purchase some new office stationary, or put it toward any amazon order.
Don't Forget The Tip - How Much Should You Leave As A Corporate Catering Tip?
On small lunch delivery orders, consumers are accustomed to leaving pretty generous tips of 15% or more.
On catering orders, corporate clientele tends to be a bit more tight-fisted. The average corporate catering tip is 4-5% of the total order price.
Tips tend to be higher when there is on-site service for large groups. In fact, we've seen some tips greater than $1000!