Catering is a different problem than à la carte orders
A boxed lunch order for 40 people isn't three clicks on a menu. It's a conversation about dietary needs, dropoff time, headcount fluctuations, and payment terms. Restaurant POS software isn't built for it. Wedding-planning software isn't built for it. A shared Google Doc is what most small caterers actually use — and it breaks the first time two clients want the same date.
disbatch is opinionated about the catering workflow: one person taking orders, deposits collected up front, pickup or dropoff scheduled to the minute, and a dashboard that consolidates it all into a real production plan.
Long lead times enforced automatically
Set your minimum advance notice per menu item — 5 days for standard catering trays, 2 weeks for corporate lunches, 4 weeks for weddings — and the storefront calendar refuses shorter bookings. Clients can't accidentally book you for tomorrow and force an awkward "I can't do this" reply.
Larger deposits, real protection
Catering deposits should protect the caterer's ingredient outlay and the client's slot on your calendar. disbatch supports percentage deposits (50% is a common catering standard) or fixed-amount deposits per order — collected via Stripe at checkout, refundable on your terms. Full breakdown on the deposits page.
Order questions built for events
Add custom questions to any item: headcount, dietary restrictions, delivery vs pickup, dropoff address, contact person, allergies. Everything a normal catering intake form covers, captured on the storefront in one flow instead of five back-and-forth emails.
Pickup or self-managed dropoff
disbatch handles pickup scheduling natively. For dropoff catering, use the pickup slot as the dropoff time and capture the address as an order question — the driver (you or a helper) has the full brief in the dashboard.
Payment terms that match how catering actually works
Most catering clients want to pay a deposit now and the balance closer to the event. disbatch supports deposit-at-checkout with a cash-at-pickup toggle for the balance, or full payment up front — your call per shop. All payment activity flows through Stripe, so refunds, disputes, and reconciliation are handled where you already do your books.
Menu items priced per person or per order
Price a menu item as "per person" (multiply by headcount at checkout) or as a flat order price. Add per-item minimums, package deals, or upgrade options via custom questions. If your catering menu has 12 items, they'll fit — and if it has 40, you'll want the Pro plan for unlimited items.
Dashboard that doubles as a production plan
Filter the dashboard by pickup date and you get a real production plan: total headcount across all bookings, aggregated item counts, delivery windows sorted chronologically, and per-order notes so nothing slips. It's the same view whether you have three orders on Saturday or thirteen.
Get started
14-day free trial on every plan, no card required. Small caterers usually start on Core and move to Pro when the menu grows past ten items.