Catering a full-day workshop, planned in one sitting.
A training day means three breaks to feed, dietary requirements for a room of people you may not know, and a facilitator who needs every break to run on time. Here is a plan for the whole day, based on a year of our lunch and morning tea orders.
The day, break by break
Your times will differ. What matters is that each break has one job, and the food suits it.
Arrival, around 9
Coffee and tea ready as people arrive. Our air-pot service is delivered ready to serve, with milk, sugar and cups, for 20 to 35 people, and collected within four hours. For more than 35, we switch to a coffee machine rental with pods and tea bags, which needs a power point nearby.
Morning tea, around 10:30
Something people can eat standing up while the room resets: the morning tea assortment or large pastries, and a fruit platter.
Lunch, around 12:30
Keep it on the lighter side so the first session after lunch doesn’t drag: a baguettes and wraps platter or salad bowls.
Afternoon tea, around 3
The break that most needs a lift. The afternoon tea assortment brings mini pastries, cakes, slices or biscuits.
Price the whole workshop
Set your numbers and days, tick the breaks you need, and the planner prices each day and the full run from today’s menu.
Workshop catering planner
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One delivery or two?
Both work. The choice mostly comes down to fridge space.
Everything in the morning
One order, one delivery. Morning tea goes out, and lunch and afternoon tea go straight into the fridge until they’re served.
Simplest to organise. It needs a fridge with room for platters.
Split the delivery
At checkout, you can split one order across two or three delivery times, so lunch arrives closer to when it’s eaten.
Useful when fridge space is tight. Each delivery is priced as its own trip.
The NSW Food Authority’s 2-hour/4-hour rule is a good guide for chilled food: under 2 hours out, it can go back in the fridge; between 2 and 4 hours, use it but don’t refrigerate it again; after 4 hours, throw it out. Time out of the fridge adds up across the day.
Source: NSW Food Authority, managing potentially hazardous foods
Keeping day three from looking like day one
Rotate the lunch
Move between the baguettes and wraps platter, salad bowls and the platter with triangle sandwiches, so each day feels different.
Let the assortments vary
Our EASY assortments are chosen fresh each day by our bakery partners, so morning and afternoon tea tend to vary from day to day.
One order per day
Place each day as its own order with its own date, so a smaller group on day two simply means a smaller order.
A room of people you don’t know
For a workshop, you often don’t know who’s coming until registrations close. Ask once, early, and order individually packed items for anyone with a requirement.
Collect it automatically
DietSync emails each attendee a short form, follows up automatically and collects their requirements for you, free.
How DietSync worksShop by requirement
Gluten free, vegan, halal, dairy free and more, each in its own list for lunch and for morning tea.
Shop by dietary requirementKnow the differences
Coeliac or gluten intolerant, vegan or vegetarian, allergy or preference: our guide explains what each one needs.
Understanding dietary requirementsThe facilitator’s catering checklist
Tick them off as you go. Your ticks are saved in this browser, and you can print the list.
- Confirm numbers when registrations close.
- Collect dietary requirements and order an individually packed item for each person who needs one.
- Check there is fridge space for lunch and afternoon tea, or split the delivery.
- Choose a delivery window that lands before the first break.
- Put the level and room in the delivery address, and loading dock or security details under Delivery instructions.
- Add plates, serviettes and cutlery.
- Arrange water for the room.
- Decide where the food sits during sessions, ideally a side table away from the presenter.
- After each break, put what is left back in the fridge within 2 hours.
Workshop catering questions
Can the food come straight to our training room?
What if our numbers change?
Can one order cover several days?
How do I get sign-off before ordering?
One plan for the day, sorted in one sitting.
Choose each break’s food, set the delivery date and window, and you’re done. Need sign-off first? Save it as a quote.
About the numbers. Figures come from our orders placed between October 2025 and September 2026. Prices are read from our menu, include GST and use standard serves with one fruit platter for every 15 people; coffee and delivery are extra.