Per head, per person, per plate: reading a catering quote properly

Catering is usually the largest single cost and the hardest to compare between suppliers, because no two quotes are built the same way. The per-head figure at the top is not the number you will pay.

Find out what the per-head actually covers

Ask explicitly whether it includes:

• Staff, and for how many hours
• Crockery, cutlery, glassware and linen
• Kitchen hire or equipment, if the venue has no kitchen
• Delivery, setup and pack down
• GST

Two quotes that both say $145 a head can differ by forty dollars once those are answered. Staffing in particular is often a separate line, and it is substantial.

The service style changes the cost more than the menu

Alternate drop is the cheapest seated option — two dishes alternated, guests take what arrives. Plated choice costs more, because the kitchen prepares to order and waste rises. Shared or family style sits between, and needs more table space. A grazing or roving format can be cheaper per head but usually needs more staff.

Changing the style is a far larger lever than changing the dishes.

The lines that arrive later

• Supplier meals — typically a reduced rate, but twelve to eighteen of them.
• Cakeage — a per-head charge to cut and serve a cake you supplied.
• Overtime — staff hours past the contracted finish, per person, per hour.
• Dietary meals — sometimes included, sometimes a surcharge.
• Public holiday loading — significant, and easy to miss when choosing a date.

Tasting terms are worth asking about

Is there a tasting, is it charged, and is it credited if you book? Do you taste the actual menu or a set selection? Can you change the menu after tasting, and by when?

Ask about the kitchen, not just the food

If your venue has no commercial kitchen — a marquee, a warehouse, a private property — the caterer needs a temporary one, and that is power, water, refrigeration and space. It is a real cost and it belongs in the quote, not in a conversation three weeks out.

Compare on the total, per guest

Take each quote, add every line including staff, hire, supplier meals and a realistic overtime allowance, then divide by your guest number. That figure is comparable. The headline per-head is not.

Four years working alongside caterers is where this list comes from — almost every one of these items has surprised somebody at least once.