What does catering cost? Prices per person, with worked examples

What does catering cost per person?

At Chef de Parties, catering costs €44.50 to €56.50 per person for a full dinner, €20 per person for a drinks reception with luxury bites and €12 per person for a round of bites before dinner. Those amounts are excl. 9% VAT, and the chefs, waiting staff and tableware are included. There is no single price for catering in general. We charge each concept in the unit that suits it: a Walking Dinner per person, luxury bites per bite and foodstands per stand.

Which concept suits your evening is covered in which catering concept suits your event. This is about what it costs. The table sets out the four ways you can book with us side by side, with the unit each is priced in and the minimum that goes with it.

Why do prices online vary so widely?

Because very different things fall under catering. A buffet delivered cold, a sandwich lunch at the office and a dinner that chefs finish and serve at your venue are all called catering. An average across the three says little about what your own evening will cost, because it lumps together products that have nothing to do with each other.

The second difference is what is in the price. One caterer quotes a price per person for the food alone and charges the staff by the hour, the tableware per piece and the washing-up as a separate line. Another quotes one figure with all of that in it. On paper the first looks cheaper; the comparison only holds once you add the separate lines back in.

The third is VAT. Prices for businesses are usually quoted excluding VAT, while a private client pays including it. So compare excl. with excl., or incl. with incl. How a buffet compares with a served dinner beyond the price is covered in Walking Dinner or buffet.

What is included in the price at Chef de Parties?

Chefs, waiting staff, tableware and cutlery are in every price we quote. We arrive well before your guests, set up, cook on site, serve, clear away and leave the venue clean; that is included too. No line for service, plates or washing-up is added afterwards.

We do not charge by the hour either. An hourly rate says little about what an evening costs, because the number of guests and courses decides the work, not the clock. That is why the quote carries one figure, and that figure is also the one on the invoice.

With foodstands you pay per stand, with the chef and the dressing of the stand included. We work with 2 stands as standard. For larger parties the quantities go up, and with them the price per stand.

The worked examples below cover only the food, with everything that goes with it. The venue, the drinks and any further decoration or entertainment you want are budgeted separately. Ask every caterer which of those items are in the quote.

Worked example: catering for 40 guests

A 6-course Walking Dinner for 40 guests costs € 1,780 excl. VAT: 40 times €44.50. Including 9% VAT that is € 1,940.20. With 7 courses it becomes € 1,980, and with 8 courses from the Prestige menu € 2,260.

If it is a drinks reception of an hour or two rather than a dinner, allow 5 luxury bites per person: 200 bites at €4, € 800 in total. If you want both, a round of bites on arrival followed by dinner, allow 3 bites per person for that round; the minimum for bites on their own then falls away. How many bites go with which kind of reception is covered in how many bites per person.

Worked example: a party for 80 guests

A party for 80 guests costs from € 1,500 excl. VAT at Chef de Parties with 2 foodstands, € 1,600 excl. VAT as a drinks reception and € 3,960 excl. VAT as a 7-course Walking Dinner. Which of the three fits depends on how your guests arrive and whether this is their dinner.

If your guests do not all arrive at once, foodstands work well: everyone eats something hot, at the moment they are there. With 2 stands at €750 each, it starts at € 1,500 excl. VAT, € 1,635 including VAT. Add a round of 3 bites per person on arrival and it becomes € 2,460 excl. VAT.

If everyone arrives together and this is dinner, a Walking Dinner is the format: € 3,960 excl. VAT for 7 courses. If your guests go on to eat elsewhere afterwards, a drinks reception with 5 bites per person is enough, at € 1,600 excl. VAT. Which of the two you need is also the main decision when you organise office Christmas drinks.

How does VAT work on catering?

In Dutch hospitality, food and soft drinks carry 9% VAT and alcoholic drinks 21%. That is how the Belastingdienst, the Dutch tax authority, sets it out, and it applies even when food and drink are in one all-in price. A quote that includes alcohol therefore carries two VAT rates.

Our prices are quoted excluding VAT, and we charge 9% on the whole amount, staff and tableware included. A Walking Dinner at €44.50 per person costs €48.51 including VAT, and a luxury bite €4.36.

If you are a private client, the amount including VAT is what you pay; if you are booking catering for a corporate event, you will usually budget excluding it. The calculator on the menus overview switches between the two, so every amount appears in the same form as your budget.

What makes catering more or less expensive?

The format weighs most. For 80 guests a drinks reception costs € 1,600 and a 7-course Walking Dinner € 3,960, both excl. VAT: the difference between bites with the drinks and a dinner that fills the evening. So decide first whether this is your guests' dinner. If the reception replaces dinner, don't count in bites: from 12 bites per person a Walking Dinner is cheaper, and your guests then also get a menu with a build-up rather than a string of separate moments. Let the evening decide the format, not the price per piece.

Next come the number of courses and the menu. Going from 6 to 8 courses on the Signature menu adds €9 per person, and at 7 courses the Prestige menu costs €3 per person more than Signature. For 40 guests, the step from 6 to 7 courses costs € 200.

Finally, the minimum. Bites on their own are booked from 200 pieces; combine them with a Walking Dinner or foodstands and that minimum falls away, so you pay only for what you order. For a small party that is the difference between paying a minimum and paying for what your guests eat.

What does catering cost for a small group?

Below 25 guests there is no fixed price per person; our set menus start at €44.50 per person excl. VAT, and for a smaller party we put together a tailored proposal. We cater a Walking Dinner from 25 guests. Below that you choose private dining or a private chef at home with your own menu, and there is no minimum number of guests for those: we also cook for a table of two.

The price then depends on the number of courses, the number of guests and the ingredients; a lobster course simply prices differently from one built on celeriac. We estimate a fully bespoke menu from our set menus. For designing it we ask a contribution in advance, which you get back as a discount on the final invoice.

A small group costs more per person because an evening has fixed costs. Two chefs, a day of preparation and an evening on location cost the same whether there are ten of you or twenty-five. With a hundred guests those costs disappear into the price per person; with a table of eight they do not.

What to look for when comparing catering quotes

Only put quotes side by side once they cover the same things. Ask every caterer five questions. Is the price excluding or including VAT, and at which rate? Are the staff in the price, or is an hourly rate added? Are tableware, cutlery and washing-up included? Are setting up and clearing down in the quote? And what is the minimum, in guests or in money?

With us the answer to the first four is always the same: the price is excl. 9% VAT, and staff, tableware, cutlery, washing-up, setting up and clearing down are all included. The minimums per concept are in the table at the top.

To see it worked out for your own evening, request a proposal. You will hear back within one working day, with the menu, staff and planning worked out to one figure you can put in your budget.