Take, quote, plan and deliver catering orders with one calm, written method
For restaurants, cafes, bakeries, cloud kitchens and small caterers who want catering to run on a system: true-cost quotes, allergens in writing, production planned backwards from service time, and invoices that get paid.
- A 18-sheet Catering Orders Workbook: enquiries, quote builder, orders with a daily capacity check, allergen register, production plan, packing, staffing, invoices, post-event review and dashboards
- A per-head quote and quantity calculator, 4 fillable PDF forms (14 pages) and 6 Word templates with brand-ready headers
- 61 client messages and scripts, 29 AI prompts with a human check on each, and a worked example of one real-feeling week
- A floor-ready print pack (5 pages): loading checklist, briefing cards, allergen station poster, allergen meal labels and who-to-call cards
The Catering and Event Orders Kit · Bodhih Pro Kits · 238 by Bodhih Training, trainers to 2,000+ companies since 2008.
How do you run catering orders in a small food business?
Run every order through eight steps: take the enquiry, decide on capacity, distance, margin, risk and fit, quote from true costs, confirm in writing with a deposit and final-numbers deadline, capture allergens, back-schedule production, deliver from a run sheet, then invoice and review. The Catering and Event Orders Kit from Bodhih Training gives you a tool for each step.
Want the full free guide first? Read How to Price Catering Per Person: A Step-by-Step Method.
You already feel the problem. Here is what it is costing you.
Quotes that look profitable and are not
Food cost times three works in a dining room. In catering, labour, staff, packaging, hire, transport and waste can swallow the margin, and you only find out after the event.
Guest numbers that move after you have bought the food
Without a final-numbers deadline in writing, every change becomes a negotiation on the phone, and the invoice rarely matches the food you made.
Allergy details that live in an email thread
Information passes through the organiser, the kitchen, the packer, the driver and the server. Each hand-over is a chance for it to drop.
Event days run on adrenaline
Late vans, missing spoons, a venue with one power socket. Without a run sheet and a first move decided in advance, small problems turn into big ones.
Invoices nobody chases
Deposits that never arrive, balances paid late, account invoices stuck for want of a PO number. Cash leaks quietly while the kitchen is busy.
Picture the next few weeks with the kit open beside you.
Imagine Monday morning when an office client emails to add eighteen guests after the deadline. You open the Orders sheet, see the day's total against your capacity, check your supplier and the extra kitchen hours, and reply with the late-increase message before your coffee goes cold. The order value updates itself.
As you fill in the dietary form for Saturday's party, each requirement gets a label code. The head chef checks the recipes against today's labels, the allergen meals are made first on a clean station, and two people check each label. On the night, the sealed meals go into the right hands, not onto the buffet.
When you build your next quote in the Quote Builder, you see the cost per head, the floor price and the margin before you type a price. Whether you start with the workbook tonight or print the loading checklist tomorrow morning, the method is the same: one step, one file, written down.
And on Friday afternoon, after the weekly money hour, you look at the Dashboard and know which orders earned their keep, which deposits are in, and which clients are ready for a regular account.
20 files that do the work for you
The e-book shows you how. The tools make it happen. Here is exactly what you download.
The Catering and Event Orders Kit (e-book, PDF)
The guide: methods, worked examples, scripts and exercises
Start here: catering orders map
The whole order-to-delivery job in eight steps with the file to open at each, your first hour, 'Brand it in five minutes', your first week and a 30/60/90 day plan.
Catering Orders Workbook
18-sheet workbook: settings, package price list, enquiry pipeline, quote builder with true costs and margin, orders with daily capacity check, allergen register, back-scheduled production plan, packing list, staffing, deposits and invoices, post-event review, corporate accounts, monthly and order-type views and three dashboards.
Per-head quote and quantity calculator
7-sheet calculator: guest count to quantities to buy, platters, staff on site, floor price per head for your target margin, and what a guest count change does to cost and margin.
Enquiry intake and order confirmation form
Four-page fillable form that travels with each order: the enquiry call, the accept-or-decline check, the confirmation checklist and the change log for guest numbers and menu changes.
Dietary and allergen capture form
Three-page fillable form: the client's guest-by-guest dietary and allergy list, the kitchen's dish-by-dish allergen check, and the sign-off that carries every requirement through to the labelled meal.
Production and packing checklist
Three-page fillable checklist for the kitchen: the back-scheduled production timeline, cooling and holding checks against your own food safety plan, and the packing and loading list with vehicle checks.
Event-day run sheet and post-event review
Four-page fillable form: the minute-by-minute run sheet, on-site set-up, service and breakdown checks, the what-can-go-wrong plan with an incident log, and the post-event review of actual against quoted.
Client message library
61 ready-to-edit client messages and call scripts in 10 groups, from first enquiry to final payment, with brand-ready placeholders.
Catering proposal, menu and terms template
Brand-ready proposal with menu, pricing table, inclusions and key dates (Part 1), and a plain-words catering terms and cancellation policy discussion draft for your lawyer to review (Part 2).
On-site staff briefing template
One- to two-page brief for every staffed event: the event at a glance, timeline, roles, menu with allergens, allergen meal hand-overs, service standards, what to do if something goes wrong, contacts and breakdown.
Corporate catering account welcome pack
Brand-ready welcome pack for a new office or institutional account: how to order, cut-offs, menu rotation, dietary and allergen process, delivery, invoicing and POs, service commitments, reviews and contacts.
Worked example pack: an office lunch and a private party in one week
The kit's main forms and sheets completed for one composite case: a cloud kitchen quotes and delivers a 120-person office lunch that becomes 138 after the deadline, and a 60-guest birthday buffet with three allergen meals, in the same week.
AI prompt pack for catering orders
29 tool-agnostic prompts in 8 groups, from enquiry to collections, each with what to paste in and what to check before you use the output.
Accept-or-decline decision card and mistakes to avoid
The five-gate order check, 14 'if this, do this' rows for capacity, distance, margin, allergens, numbers, weather and platforms, and 20 catering mistakes with what to do instead.
Numbers that matter: catering KPI card
The 13 numbers a catering line runs on: plain-words definition, exact formula, where each lives in the workbook and what to do if it moves.
Catering rules and country notes (October 2026)
Dated orientation on food authorities, holding rules, allergen lists, remote-order allergen information and consumer cancellation rules for the UK, EU, US, India, Australia and New Zealand, Singapore, UAE and others.
Catering set-up, season and order countdown calendar
47 events over 90 days: a first-week set-up, weekly reviews, final-numbers checks and collections, season planning, and a T-21 to T+7 countdown for one example order to copy for every order.
Catering task board
36 set-up and routine tasks with area, list, owner, timing and the file to use, ready to import into Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner or Jira.
Event-day print pack
5 floor-ready pages to print and laminate: the loading and equipment checklist poster, two on-site briefing cards, the allergen meal station poster, cut-out allergen meal labels and two who-to-call cards.
Chapter by chapter
Each chapter opens with a real situation, gives you a method and ends with something to do today, using the tools in your kit.
- Format
- PDF e-book + XLSX + fillable PDF + DOCX + printable PDF + ICS + CSV
- Files
- 20 files plus a one-click ZIP
- E-book
- 59 pages
- Works with
- Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, Word, Google Docs, Acrobat Reader, Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, Trello, Asana, Notion
- Best for
- Restaurants, cafes, bakeries, cloud kitchens and small caterers running catering and large food orders
The Order That Looked Easy
Why catering needs its own method, and the eight-step order loop on one page.
Choosing the Orders You Accept
Five gates (capacity, distance, margin, risk and fit) for deciding which orders to accept, adapt or decline.
The Enquiry Call That Qualifies
The ten-minute qualifying call: the event, the venue, the style, the money and the people.
Menus and Packages That Travel
Catering packages built for time, travel and self-service, costed from standard recipes with real yields.
Quoting With True Costs
Quoting from nine cost lines, the floor price per head and order margin, with a worked office-lunch quote.
Proposals, Deposits, Terms and Final Numbers
Proposals, terms in plain words, deposits, final-numbers deadlines and handling late guest-count changes.
Allergens and Dietary Needs in Writing
Six checks that carry every allergen and dietary need from the client's form to a labelled meal in the right hands.
The Production Plan
Back-scheduling production from service time, batching, food safety principles, packing and the second check.
Transport, Set-Up and Service
Transport, set-up, the ten-minute staff briefing, five service standards and breakdown.
Event Day and What Can Go Wrong
The run sheet, the first move for eight common problems, and the post-event review of quote accuracy and waste.
Accounts, Platforms and Getting Paid
Corporate accounts, platforms and marketplaces, a weekly money hour, feedback and AI with a human check.
A Catering Line That Runs on a Method
How the method turns a chaotic Monday into a list of known tasks, and where to start.
The Order Countdown Checklist
The order countdown checklist from confirmation to final payment.
Not just reading. Tools you will actually open again.
E-book
- The Catering and Event Orders Kit e-book: about 9,700 words, ten chapters, six diagrams, a worked case and the order countdown checklist
Start here
- 00-Start-Here-Catering-Orders-Map: the job in eight steps with the file for each, your first hour, Brand it in five minutes, your first week and a 30/60/90 day plan
Workbooks
- Catering Orders Workbook (18 sheets): settings, packages, enquiries, quote builder, orders with capacity check, allergens, production plan, packing list, staffing, invoices, post-event review, accounts, monthly and order-type views, three dashboards
- Per-head quote and quantity calculator (7 sheets): portions and ingredients to buy, platters, staffing by style, floor price and verdict, guest count change
Fillable PDF forms
- Enquiry intake and order confirmation form (4 pages)
- Dietary and allergen capture form (3 pages)
- Production and packing checklist (3 pages)
- Event-day run sheet and post-event review (4 pages)
Word templates
- Client message library (61 messages and scripts)
- Catering proposal, menu and terms template (proposal plus a terms and cancellation policy discussion draft for your lawyer)
- On-site staff briefing template
- Corporate catering account welcome pack
- Worked example pack: an office lunch and a private party in one week
- AI prompt pack for catering orders (29 prompts)
Cheat sheets
- Accept-or-decline decision card and mistakes to avoid (14 situations, 20 mistakes)
- Numbers that matter: catering KPI card (13 numbers with exact formulas)
- Catering rules and country notes, dated October 2026
Print pack
- Event-day print pack (5 pages): loading and equipment checklist poster, two briefing cards, allergen station poster, eight allergen meal labels, two who-to-call cards
Calendar and import
- Catering set-up, season and order countdown calendar (47 events, ICS)
- Catering task board (36 tasks, CSV for Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner or Jira)
When you have worked through it, you will be able to…
Every outcome is practised with a worked example and a tool, not just described.
- Decide in ten minutes whether to accept, adapt or decline an order, using capacity, distance, margin, risk and fit
- Build a quote from every real cost and see the floor price per head before you send it
- Confirm orders with a proposal, terms, a deposit and a final-numbers deadline in writing
- Carry every allergen and dietary need from the client's form to a sealed, labelled meal in the right hands
- Plan production backwards from service time and pack with a second check
- Run event days from a run sheet with the first move for common problems already decided
- Compare actual cost with the quote after every event and know your margin by order type
- Chase deposits and invoices on a weekly rhythm and set up regular corporate accounts
Know your starting point. Prove your progress.
People who measure before and after improve faster and can show it. AssessAll, our sister assessment platform, has AI-graded assessments that pair with this kit. Take one now, work through the kit, then re-take it.
Task Prioritisation & Planning
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentCommercial Terms and Contract Reading
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentFood Safety & Hygiene Judgment Certification
Take the assessment →JobularyHow a Jobulary development plan works
Make it a growth plan →A taste of Chapter 6
In a restaurant, a guest tells the server about an allergy and the kitchen cooks one plate. In catering, the information passes through several hands before the event: an organiser collects it from guests, forwards it to you, you plan a menu, a cook prepares meals days or hours ahead, someone packs them, a driver delivers them, and a server on site hands them over. Every hand-over is a chance for the information to drop. Supplier recipes also change: the sauce that was safe last month may have a new ingredient this month. Countries list the allergens a food business must declare differently. The UK and EU use a list of 14, the United States names nine major food allergens, and other countries have their own lists and labelling rules. Rules also differ for food sold at a distance, such as catering ordered by email or phone. The specifics, with the authority for each country, are in the dated rules sheet.
The honest comparison
| Free templates and typical advice | This kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Food cost times three | Nine cost lines, floor price per head and order margin in a Quote Builder |
| Allergens | A note in the email | A capture form, a register with Ready status and six checks to a labelled meal |
| Guest count changes | Argued on the phone | A written deadline, a change log, a calculator and the exact messages |
| Production | Start cooking after lunch | Tasks back-scheduled from service time with start and finish calculated |
| Event day | Adrenaline | Run sheet, briefing card, loading checklist and who-to-call card |
| Getting paid | Invoices in the inbox | Deposits, balances and account invoices with overdue flags and reminder stages |
| Country rules | US-only or none | A dated sheet naming the authority in the UK, EU, US, India, Australia and New Zealand, Singapore, UAE and others |
Made for you if…
- Owners and managers of independent restaurants, cafes, bakeries and quick-service outlets adding or running catering
- Cloud and dark kitchens with one or several delivery brands taking office and party orders
- Small caterers, tiffin and meal services, and food trucks doing private and corporate events
- Head chefs and kitchen managers who plan production and allergen meals for large orders
- Food franchisees whose brand allows local catering
- Anyone who quotes catering from food cost alone and wants to see the true margin
Probably not for you if…
- Event planners running whole events (venues, suppliers, programmes): the event professionals' kits cover that
- Someone planning their own party at home: The Party and Celebration Planner is the consumer version
- Anyone looking for a food safety certificate or a compliance guarantee: this kit is educational and points you to your local food authority
Built by trainers, tested in real rooms.
Bodhih Training has designed and delivered corporate programmes since 2008. Bodhih Pro Kits package what works in those workshops into a guide plus the exact tools we use, so you can apply it the same day without a facilitator in the room.
From here to using it in three steps
- STEP 1
Tap Get the kit
Name, email and country. UPI, card or netbanking in India; international cards everywhere else. No account to create.
- STEP 2
Download instantly
Your download page opens at once, with every file and a one-click ZIP. A permanent link lands in your inbox too.
- STEP 3
Open the first tool
Start with the quick-start chapter, then the main spreadsheet or planner. Most buyers use something from the kit the same day.
Make your next catering order the calm one
Open the Start-here map, type your Settings and build your next quote from true costs. Whether you begin with the Quote Builder tonight or the allergen form tomorrow morning, every step from enquiry to final payment has a file waiting for it.
Personal licence for the buyer's own use (and use with your own team or clients where the kit says so). Please don't share or resell the files. Team and company licences: solutions@bodhih.com.
What buyers say
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The Bodhih family, when you are ready for more
The Restaurant and Cloud Kitchen Opening Kit
Open a restaurant, cafe or cloud kitchen with a plan.
The Menu Costing and Engineering System
Cost every dish, price for dine-in and delivery apps, engineer the menu with real sales da.
The Kitchen Operations and Food Safety System
Run a safe, organised kitchen every shift.
AssessAll
250+ AI-graded assessments to measure skills and earn verified credentials.
Jobulary
Individual development plans that start from evidence and stay yours.
Bodhih Training
Run this topic as a live workshop for your team, in person or online.
Pewple
Book a vetted coach for career, leadership or communication. Pay per session.
Bodhih.org pathways
Certification pathways in Applied AI, Workplace English and management.
The Catering and Event Orders Kit: FAQs
Read the free guideAlready bought? Resend my linkHow do I price catering per person?
Add up every direct cost of the order (food, a waste allowance, kitchen labour, packaging, equipment hire, service staff, transport and a small contingency), divide by the number of guests to get the cost per head, then set a price that leaves your target margin to cover overheads. The Quote Builder does this for every quote and shows the floor price per head.
Can I use this with my staff?
Yes, within your own business under the personal licence: share the run sheets, briefing cards, checklists and print pack with your kitchen and event team. For company-wide or multi-site use, ask about team and company licences at solutions@bodhih.com.
Does it work in my country?
The method works anywhere and every workbook takes your currency, tax rate placeholder and units. The dated rules sheet names the food authority and key points for the UK, EU, US, India, Australia and New Zealand, Singapore and the UAE, with pointers for other countries. Food safety, allergen, consumer and tax rules need checking locally.
Is this food safety or legal advice?
No. It is educational and practical. It helps you organise catering orders and points you to your local food authority, lawyer and accountant. It does not make any business compliant, and its templates are starting points for a professional to review.
How do I handle allergies for a catered event?
Capture every requirement in writing, call about severe allergies, check recipes against current supplier labels, make allergen meals first and separately, seal and label them with two checks, and hand them to the named person. If you cannot be sure, say so before the event.
What should a catering deposit and cancellation policy say?
How orders are confirmed, the deposit and when the balance is due, the final-numbers deadline, what happens with changes, cancellation stages and what applies at each, and your responsibilities. The kit gives you a plain-words discussion draft; consumer rules differ by country, so agree the wording with a lawyer.
I run a cloud kitchen. Does catering fit alongside delivery apps?
Yes. The workbook's daily capacity check and production plan help you see when a catering order competes with your delivery-app peaks, so you can decide before you accept.
Does the kit promise more orders or profit?
No. It gives you a method and tools to quote, plan and deliver catering well and to see your real margins. Results depend on your food, market and execution.
How can I measure my starting point?
AssessAll offers separate assessments that fit this job: Task Prioritisation & Planning, Commercial Terms and Contract Reading, and Food Safety & Hygiene Judgment Certification. They are optional and sold separately at assessall.com.
How do I turn this into a development plan for my team?
Use the 30/60/90 day plan on the Start-here map, then see how a Jobulary development plan works at jobulary.com/how-it-works to turn the skills into a plan for you or your team.
How much does The Catering and Event Orders Kit cost?
₹999 including 18% GST for buyers in India, or $29 for buyers outside India. One-time payment, no subscription, with an automatic invoice.
How do I get the files after paying?
Instantly. Your download page opens the moment payment succeeds, and a permanent download link is emailed to you. Download each file separately or everything in one ZIP.
What software do I need?
Any of the usual tools: Excel or Google Sheets for spreadsheets, Word or Google Docs for templates, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview, Xodo or GoodNotes for the fillable PDFs, and Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar for the calendar plan.
Can I get a refund?
Because it is a digital download, kits are not refundable once downloaded. We always refund a duplicate charge or a failed delivery, and if a file is corrupted and we cannot fix it within 3 working days. Full terms: bodhih.org/refunds.
Can my company buy this for a team?
Yes. Team and company licences, and workshops on this topic run by Bodhih Training, are available. Write to solutions@bodhih.com or call +91 99000 11601.
