Catering maths: how much
food per person, honestly

Every quote starts with the same maths. Get portions wrong one way and guests leave hungry. Get them wrong the other way and you are paying to compost your own budget.

Here is how we actually count it, format by format. Steal these numbers; they took nine years to calibrate.

Standing receptions

Canapes: eight pieces per guest for a two-hour drinking crowd, ten to twelve if the event covers a meal hour. Each piece runs 35 to 50 grams, so you are looking at roughly 300 to 600 grams of food per head depending on whether dinner comes after.

The mistake everyone makes: counting pieces without looking at when the event runs. A 5:30 to 7:30 pm slot is a dinner-hour event, no matter what the invitation calls it.

Buffets and grazing

Buffet: 550 to 650 grams per person total, broken roughly 45% protein and mains, 35% sides, 20% dessert. Grazing tables run lighter on protein, heavier on cheese and bread, so we drop mains weight and add 80 grams of cheese per head.

The buffer rule: we over-cater 5% and no more. More than that is not generosity, it is a waste bill with your name on it.

Over-catering is not generosity. It is a waste bill wearing a nice outfit.

Seated dinners

Plated: entree 110 grams, main 180 to 200 grams of protein plus sides, dessert 100 grams. Add bread service and nobody leaves hungry. Conference lunches run lighter: 400 to 450 grams because afternoon sessions punish heavy eating.

Kids and light-eating tables change the maths downward. Board lunches for twelve eat more per head than a gala for 400, because nobody grazes before a board lunch.

Drinks, roughly

Standard pour maths: one drink per person per hour for the first two hours, half that after. Sparkling outsells everything 3:1 at corporate events. Coffee consumption doubles at morning events and halves after 3 pm.

Numbers are a starting point, not scripture. Send us the crowd profile and we sharpen them: younger crowds drink more and eat less, board crowds the reverse.