You can win busy quotes and still lose money. That is the reality of U.S. catering when food, payroll, and driving costs move faster than your price sheet.
This guide gives you a clean quoting structure you can use for corporate lunches, weddings, and private events without guessing.
Quick Summary
- Build quotes from full event cost, not food cost alone.
- Separate variable costs (food, labor, travel) from fixed event overhead.
- Use a minimum event spend for small headcounts.
- Review prices monthly when ingredient and labor costs shift.
Why Catering Quotes Break
Most margin leaks come from the same pattern: the menu is costed, but prep hours, setup time, and transport are not. On paper the quote looks profitable. After payroll and cleanup, the job is break-even.
A practical quote needs five blocks:
- Food and beverages
- Disposables or rentals
- Labor (prep, service, teardown)
- Allocated overhead (insurance, commissary, admin)
- Travel and delivery
The Formula You Can Reuse
Use this order every time:
Event total cost
= Food + Disposables/Rentals + Labor + Allocated overhead + Travel
Base per-person cost
= Event total cost / Guest count
Final per-person price
= Base per-person cost / (1 - Target margin)If guest count is low, add a minimum event spend so fixed setup time does not erase profit.
Worked Example (U.S. Corporate Lunch)
Scenario:
- 80 guests
- Austin weekday office lunch
- 24-mile round trip
- Target margin: 20%
1) Food and disposables
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Food and drinks | $576.00 |
| Disposable serviceware | $68.00 |
| Subtotal | $644.00 |
2) Labor
| Role | Hours x Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Lead cook | 8 x $32 | $256.00 |
| Prep assistant | 6 x $20 | $120.00 |
| 2 event staff | 4 x $22 x 2 | $176.00 |
| Labor subtotal | $552.00 |
3) Overhead + travel
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Allocated event overhead | $180.00 |
| Travel (24 miles x $0.725 IRS 2026 standard) | $17.40 |
| Subtotal | $197.40 |
4) Price calculation
Event total cost = 644.00 + 552.00 + 197.40 = 1,393.40
Base per-person cost = 1,393.40 / 80 = 17.42
Final per-person price (20% margin) = 17.42 / 0.80 = 21.78Quote at $21.95 per person (or a clean package price).
Local Quoting Patterns That Help
1) Small office drops (20-35 guests)
In cities like Dallas or Phoenix, setup time is often a bigger cost driver than food. Protect margin with a minimum spend instead of overinflating the per-person rate.
2) Wedding buffet weekends (100+ guests)
For weekend weddings in markets like Chicago, add planning and coordination hours explicitly. If tastings and timeline meetings are included, they need to be priced as labor.
3) Long-distance suburban jobs
For events outside your core radius, quote travel separately so clients can compare options clearly. A transparent travel line item prevents silent margin erosion.
Monthly Review Routine
- Reprice top-selling menus with current ingredient costs.
- Review labor assumptions from recent events (prep and teardown usually drift first).
- Refresh travel assumptions and mileage policy.
- Compare quoted vs. actual event margin and fix recurring leaks.
If you keep this rhythm, price updates feel incremental instead of one large increase that clients resist.
Do This Now
- Pick one event format (office lunch, wedding buffet, or private party) and rebuild the quote from full-cost blocks.
- Set a minimum event spend for low-guest jobs.
- Add a visible travel line item and align it to your mileage policy.
- Schedule a monthly re-cost review for your top 10 menus.
Related Guides
- How to Calculate Recipe Cost
- Catering Cost Guide
- Food Cost Percentage Guide
- Margin vs Markup
- Prime Cost Guide
KitchenCost helps you update menu costs, labor assumptions, and quote targets as supplier prices change. If you want to quote faster with cleaner margin control, try KitchenCost.