Questions to ask a caterer before you book

Most bad catering experiences don’t come from bad caterers. They come from unanswered questions — things that seemed fine to assume at the time and turned out to be genuinely important on the day.

Here are the ones we think are worth asking before you pay a deposit. None of them are aggressive. A good caterer will welcome every single one.

1. What’s actually included in the price you’ve quoted?

Ask for the full breakdown: ingredients, labour, travel, equipment hire, staff, service, and VAT. “£45 per head” can easily become £75 once delivery, staff, and service charges are added. Not every caterer hides this — but not every caterer volunteers it either.

2. Who will actually be cooking and serving on the day?

Especially for smaller caterers. It’s common to be sold by the head chef and served by someone you’ve never spoken to. Ask directly whether the person you’re speaking to will be there, and if not, who will lead.

3. How much of the food will be prepared in our kitchen?

This matters more than people think. If you’re hosting at home, a caterer who does most of the prep off-site will leave your kitchen in better shape than one who needs to use every surface you own. If you’re at a venue without a proper kitchen, you need to know whether the menu they’ve proposed is actually achievable on the equipment available.

4. What equipment are you bringing, and what do I need to provide?

Get this in writing. Missing equipment — a proper hob, enough fridge space, a working oven at the right temperature — is the single most common cause of a catering disaster. If the caterer hasn’t asked detailed questions about your kitchen, that’s a flag in itself.

5. How do you handle dietary requirements?

The answer you want is “we ask for them two weeks in advance, and we design full alternative dishes rather than just removing things.” The answer you don’t want is “we’ll sort something on the day.” Guests with coeliac disease or serious allergies deserve to eat something they’re looking forward to, not a plain grilled chicken breast while everyone else has the proper menu.

6. What’s your cancellation and weather policy?

For outdoor events particularly. Ask what happens if you have to postpone because of weather, illness, or something genuinely unavoidable. Deposits that are entirely non-refundable with no flexibility are a reasonable caterer policy but a terrible one to discover after a crisis.

7. Are you insured, and can you show me the certificate?

Public liability, employer’s liability if they have staff, and food safety registration with the local council. Every legitimate UK caterer has these. Asking for evidence is standard and should take thirty seconds to produce.

8. Can I speak to two or three recent clients?

References are more useful than reviews, because you can ask follow-up questions. The specific ones to ask a reference: “Did anything go wrong, and how was it handled?” and “Would you book them again?” Those two tell you more than any five-star rating.

9. What’s your contingency plan if something goes wrong on the day?

Fire alarm at the venue, main supplier fails to deliver, chef falls ill two hours before service. A caterer who’s been doing it long enough will have a calm, specific answer. A caterer who’s thrown by the question is one who hasn’t had anything go wrong yet — which is a matter of time, not skill.

10. What’s the one thing you’d change about our brief?

This is the most useful question in the list, and almost nobody asks it. A good caterer has opinions. If they say “nothing, it’s perfect,” they either mean it (unlikely) or they’re afraid to tell you. If they say “honestly, I’d drop one of the starter courses and put that effort into the main” — listen carefully. That’s where the real expertise lives.

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Ask these at the initial enquiry stage, before you’ve committed to a preferred supplier. You’ll learn more from how they answer than from what they answer — which is exactly the point.