Catering software for New Zealand caterers: platters, weddings and the food control plan

Platters, grazing tables and the order that changes on the day

A typical week mixes office platters ordered the afternoon before, a grazing table for a product launch and a wedding dinner on Saturday. The platter orders are small but unforgiving on timing. The wedding is large and full of detail. Both need an order record that holds the delivery address, access notes, contact on the day and the final count.

Changes are where things go wrong. A client emails at 7am to add six vegetarian lunches, the office manager calls at 9am to move delivery to 12:30, and the driver arrives with the old order. Good catering software keeps one current version of the order and shows what changed and when, so the person packing the van works from the same information as the person who took the call.

Food Act 2014: your plan, your registration and your records

Under the Food Act 2014, most caterers operate under a food control plan. MPI publishes a template, Simply Safe and Suitable, for food service and catering businesses, which the operator tailors to become their own plan. Some businesses use a custom plan instead, which needs more work to register.

Where you register depends on where you operate. A template plan business based in one council area registers with that council. A business operating in more than one council area can register each site with each council or register everything with MPI. Verification visits then check that you are following your plan.

• Template food control plan: tailored from MPI's Simply Safe and Suitable template.
• One council area: register with the council. Several areas: each council, or MPI for all sites.
• Keep the records your plan requires, such as temperature checks and cleaning.

Sample catering order a New Zealand system should produce

Long table wedding dinner for 110 guests in a marquee on a farm near Matakana

• Illustrative prices before GST, not a rate card.
• Over NZ$1,000, so the buyer's details are included in the taxable supply information.
• If alcohol is sold at the marquee, a special licence may be needed; check with the local council early.

What to test in a demo before choosing catering software in New Zealand

What booking software can and cannot do for food safety

Catering software is not your food control plan and should not pretend to be. Its job is to make sure the right people know what is being cooked, for how many, where it is going and how long it will be held before service. A kitchen sheet that shows 120 covers of hot food for a marquee 40 minutes away tells the person in charge to plan transport and holding temperatures before the day, not during it.

Ask any vendor how dietary and allergen notes flow from the client to the kitchen sheet. If they are typed into a free text box on the quote and never reach the chef, the software has made the job harder, not easier.

GST at 15% on catering, delivery and staff

Catering supplied by a GST registered business carries GST at 15%, along with delivery charges, staff hours and equipment hire on the same order. Registration is compulsory once turnover reaches NZ$60,000 over 12 months, a line many growing caterers cross in their second year.

Taxable supply information replaced tax invoices from 1 April 2023. For supplies over NZ$1,000 the buyer's details must be included, which covers most weddings and corporate events. Set your invoice template to pull the client's name and address from the order automatically, and keep records for seven years.

December, end of year functions and quoting fast

For many New Zealand caterers, November and December carry a large share of the year's corporate work: end of year functions, client thank yous and team lunches, often on the same few Fridays. Enquiries arrive in a rush, and the caterer who replies first with a clear price often wins.

Quick quoting depends on preparation. Keep your seasonal packages saved as templates with menus, per head prices, staffing and travel bands already set, so a new enquiry becomes a quote in a few minutes from a phone. Put a hold on the date as soon as you send the quote, with an expiry, so you know which Fridays are genuinely still available.

When the same Friday has four enquiries, the calendar should show it at a glance. That lets you decide early which jobs fit the kitchen and the vans, rather than accepting everything in October and scrambling for staff in December.

Enquiries from email, phone and social messages in one list

Smaller caterers often take enquiries through Instagram or Facebook messages as much as through a website form. Those messages are easy to miss and hard to search later. Whatever channel the enquiry arrives on, log it as one record with the date, guest count, budget and source, then follow up from that record.

After a season you will know which channel brings the work that pays, which is worth more than any amount of guessing about marketing.

Where Venura fits for a New Zealand caterer

The Venura catering app holds orders and events, menus, guest counts and dietary notes in one record, then produces quotes, invoices with GST at 15% per line, receipts and kitchen sheets from it. Deposits and part payments sit against each order, staff roles control who sees costs, and documents go out by email or WhatsApp.

It runs on the web, Android and iOS, the first 30 days are free, and pricing for New Zealand caterers is quoted on request. Venura does not replace your food control plan records or connect to Xero, so keep those systems for what they do well.

Price per head, per platter and per kilometre

New Zealand caterers often price three ways at once: per platter for offices, per head for events, and a travel charge for venues outside town. A wedding at a high country station two hours from the kitchen costs more in fuel, staff time and van hire than the same menu in the city.

Save travel bands as standard items in your software so every quote applies them the same way. It stops the friendly discount on a long drive becoming a loss, and it shows clients the charge clearly rather than hiding it in the per head price.

Catering software questions from New Zealand