How do you sell catering to offices?

An office order is bigger than a dinner check. It also tends to repeat. ezCater runs a catering marketplace for workplaces. Its average order rose to $420, for 25 people on average.

The order is large. Many offices order on a schedule. And the people who eat your food become guests on their own time. Toast’s survey asked 755 restaurant decision-makers. Every one of them ran 16 or fewer locations. That is the size of group this guide is for. And catering sales need no extra seats in your dining room.

Check with your franchisor before you sell catering. Many brands already run a catering program. Some run it through a national ordering site. Before you print a menu, find out what yours allows.

Keep the answers in writing. If the brand menu exists, your job is the local part. That means the offices near your store, the sample trays and the reorders.

Office buyers choose fast. Give them three or four packages, each with a clear headcount. ChowNow, an online ordering company, sees the same shape in its catering research. Many catering orders are everyday group meals for 20 to 50 people. They are often booked less than a week ahead.

Print the rules on the menu itself. Show the smallest order you take, the lead time, the delivery area and the delivery fee. Say what comes with every order: plates, napkins, utensils and serving tools. Mark allergens on every item. A buyer who sees all of this can order without calling you.

Office buyers think in heads, so price per person. ezCater’s averages work out to about $16.80 a person. Treat that as a check on your number, not a target. Your own food cost and delivery run set the real floor.

Then set a smallest order that covers the delivery run. Charge a delivery fee by distance, or build it into that order size. Send an itemized receipt after each order. Office buyers often need one to claim the expense.

Start close. Draw a short drive around your store and list the offices inside it. ChowNow suggests places that already order food, such as medical offices, law firms, schools and dealerships. Add banks, real estate offices and companies that host training days.

Then pick your day. Offices are fullest midweek. Kastle Systems publishes a weekly office occupancy barometer. In one week of December 2025, it measured average office occupancy at 56.3%. That was its highest weekly average since early 2020. Tuesday was the peak day, at 66.0%.

A full office orders more lunch. So plan your sample visits and your delivery staff around midweek.

A sample tray beats a cold email. It puts your food in front of the person who decides. Keep it small, and make every visit the same.

Bring food that holds well at room temperature. Cookies, pastries and wrapped sandwiches travel well. Put a label on the tray with the time it was made. The FDA says to discard perishable food left out for more than 2 hours.

The office remembers the drop-off more than the menu. Your driver is often the only person from your store they meet. Many office buildings also make drivers check in at security first. Plan for that time.

Keep food at safe temperatures on the way and on the table. The FDA’s buffet guidance says to hold hot food at 140 °F or warmer. Cold food should stay at 40 °F or colder. Pack hot items in insulated carriers, and cold items on ice.

The second order is where catering pays. Ask for it while the first one is fresh. ChowNow suggests a short note to past catering buyers before busy seasons. It also suggests a reorder card inside each catering order.

Ask for a review after a good delivery. ChowNow notes that reviews mentioning on-time delivery reassure the next office buyer. Our guide on getting more Google reviews shows how to ask without pressure.

Sample trays reach the offices you choose. Other channels reach the buyers who search on their own. To set up the search ads, see Google Ads for one restaurant location.

Office managers like to see an order before they place one. A food creator can film your team loading a lunch route. CreatoRain’s in-house team books creators from its food-creator network for weekday clips like that. You pay $300 a video, and the creator gets paid from that amount.

Keep one simple sheet per store. Review it each month with your managers.

The reorder count matters most. A store with a handful of standing lunches has steady weekday sales. If first orders come in but reorders do not, check the delivery routine before you spend more on trays.