Operations
What Is Corporate Catering (and What Isn't)
Catering, an operated canteen and institutional food service are not the same thing. What each term means, and which one your company needs.
By SAVIA Team
"Corporate catering" is the term most people type into a search engine, so it's the term we use to be found. But it doesn't describe one single service: it covers things as different as a two-hour coffee break and a canteen that runs every working day of the year. Before you request a quote, it's worth knowing which of the three you actually need.
The three services hiding under one name
Event catering. A one-off service: a conference, a coffee break, a corporate banquet. Priced per event, with no ongoing relationship — it ends when the event does.
Operated canteen, or contracted daily food service. An operator sets up in or near your company and serves food every working day under a mid- or long-term contract. This is the answer to "I need to feed my people every day," not "I need catering for one event."
On-demand meal delivery, no contract. Executive lunch boxes delivered to your office when you order them, with no procurement committee and no contract involved. It solves meetings, visits, or the day a full canteen isn't the right answer.
Why mixing them up gets expensive
A supplier that's excellent at banquets doesn't necessarily have the shift logistics, cold chain and fixed staffing an industrial plant needs 365 days a year — and the reverse is just as true: a canteen operator isn't built for a 200-guest cocktail event with live cooking stations. Requesting three quotes without first deciding which of the three services you're asking for means comparing proposals that don't describe the same thing, and that's exactly where a decision ends up costing more than it looked like it would.
What to ask yourself before requesting a quote
- Is this a single-date event, or food service that repeats every working day?
- How many people eat, how often, and across how many sites?
- Do you need a contract with sanitary documentation and a pilot period before committing, or does a one-off order solve it?
- Is the problem a single day, or a cost that repeats every month?
If the answer is daily, recurring food service, the next read is how to choose a canteen operator without getting it wrong — the documents to request before you even compare prices. If you already know you need contracted food service in Cartagena, the five service lines are one door further.