Last updated: September 2026. Catering is not one business. The five main types differ in equipment, staffing, cash flow and risk, and choosing between them is the most important decision you will make, because the setup for one does not transfer easily to another. Before any of it, understand that preparing food for sale requires a Certificate of Acceptability from your municipality, and a home kitchen generally will not qualify.
1. Event and function catering
Weddings, parties, conferences and celebrations. Order values are high, dates are booked well ahead, and deposits fund the ingredients, which makes cash flow manageable.
The risks are seasonality and concentration. A quiet winter has to be survived on summer earnings, and one badly handled wedding damages a reputation that referrals depend on. Contracts with clear cancellation terms and deposits are essential rather than optional.
2. Corporate and contract catering
Staff canteens, daily office lunches, boardroom catering and site feeding. This is the most stable type because it is recurring: the same volume, the same days, invoiced monthly.
It is also the hardest to win. Corporate buyers require registration, tax compliance, food safety certification, insurance and often a track record. The trade is that once you are in, revenue is predictable, which makes the business fundable and sellable. The cash flow catch is that corporates pay on terms while you buy ingredients weekly, so you need working capital to bridge it.
3. Mobile catering and food trucks
Markets, festivals, business parks and roadside trading. Lower startup cost than premises, and you can move to where the customers are.
The vehicle or trailer is treated as your premises for health purposes, so it still needs a Certificate of Acceptability, and street trading is separately regulated by municipal by-laws with bays allocated by the municipality. Menus must be short and fast, because your takings during a lunch rush are limited by how quickly you can serve.
4. Meal prep and delivery
Weekly meal plans, diet-specific meals and family dinners delivered to homes. Subscription revenue makes this predictable, and you cook to confirmed orders rather than guessing demand, which cuts waste sharply.
The constraints are cold chain and delivery cost. Food has to reach customers at a safe temperature, and delivery within a tight radius is what keeps the cost per order viable. Growth here comes from density in one area rather than covering a wide one.
5. Private and specialist catering
Private chefs, small intimate functions, and specialist requirements such as halaal, kosher, vegan or allergen-specific catering. Margins are high, volumes are low, and the work comes through reputation and word of mouth.
Specialist certification, where required, is what gives you access to a market others cannot serve, and it is worth obtaining properly rather than claiming loosely.
What decides profitability in all five
Food cost as a percentage of the price you charge is the number that matters, and most new caterers get it wrong by not counting everything: ingredients, gas and electricity, packaging, transport, staff hours including preparation and cleaning, and waste.
Price from that full cost, not from what a competitor charges. Quoting per head without knowing your own cost per head is how caterers end up busy and unprofitable. Take deposits, invoice promptly and follow up late payment, because catering ties up cash in ingredients before any money arrives.
Compliance is not optional
Every type above needs a Certificate of Acceptability for the premises where food is handled, issued by your municipality’s environmental health department under regulations administered by the Department of Health. Most also need a business licence, and corporate clients will ask to see both.
Register the business and keep annual returns current with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission. Without that you cannot invoice corporate clients, which rules out the most stable segment of the market.
Frequently asked questions
Which type of catering is most stable?
Corporate and contract catering, because it recurs. It is also the hardest to win, requiring registration, certification, insurance and usually a track record.
Can I cater from my home kitchen?
Generally not lawfully. Food handled for sale needs premises with a Certificate of Acceptability, which a domestic kitchen usually cannot obtain.
What has the lowest startup cost?
Mobile catering, and small-scale event work using hired equipment. Both still require the health certificate and, for trading in public, municipal permission.
How should I price?
From your own full cost per head, including energy, packaging, transport, all staff hours and waste, rather than from what competitors charge.
What causes cash flow problems in catering?
Buying ingredients before being paid, especially on corporate terms. Deposits, prompt invoicing and working capital are what bridge it.
Do I need a business licence as well?
Usually yes, alongside the Certificate of Acceptability. Corporate and government clients will ask to see both before contracting.
