Planning street food for a workplace event

Decide what the event needs to achieve

Explain whether the food supports a staff celebration, a product launch, a client gathering or a working event. Describe the atmosphere you want without letting the vehicle become the entire brief. Guests still need a suitable menu, a clear serving arrangement and enough usable time in their programme to enjoy the food.

If branding, presentations or entertainment are planned around the catering, include them on the run sheet. Identify which commitments are fixed and which are flexible. Ask Fables which menu and proposed vehicle can be discussed for the event rather than assuming a photograph from another corporate booking defines an available package.

Count the people by service and release time

A total workforce figure may be different from the people attending the meal. Separate invited visitors, staff groups, shifts and those whose attendance is uncertain. Give a clear count for each proposed service and explain whether groups arrive together or at different times. Ask Fables to agree the actual catering quantity.

Check the real break arrangements with the person responsible for the workplace schedule. Do not assume that dividing employees into groups creates a confirmed service plan. Share the proposed release and return times with Fables before telling teams when their food will be available. Keep one organiser responsible for changes to attendance.

Prepare the supplier access information

Identify the entrance suppliers should use, any reception or check-in process and the contact available during arrival. Explain restrictions affecting vehicles or the route to the proposed catering position. Give useful photographs or a labelled plan, and ask for the proposed vehicle’s dimensions and working requirements to be confirmed.

Include other workplace activity near the route and any delivery periods the site wants avoided. Keep the information practical: location, contact, route and operating restrictions. The catering team should not have to discover on arrival that the organiser is in a meeting or that the agreed entrance is unavailable.

Provide eating space and clear guest information

Mark where people collect food, wait and eat. Check the relationship with building entrances, work areas and other event activity with the venue or site contact. Some guests may want or need seats, so discuss the actual eating arrangement rather than assuming a casual menu means everyone will stand.

Once the menu and service plan are confirmed, communicate them clearly to attendees. Collect relevant food intolerance requirements for discussion without requesting personal medical histories. Fables caters for expressly agreed food intolerances only and does not cater for food allergies. An option or request should not be presented as suitable before it is confirmed.

Include clearing and the return to normal use

Agree who manages packaging, used tableware and the eating area during and after the event. If people are returning to work or the space must be handed back promptly, include that requirement in the quotation discussion. Confirm any waiting staff, furniture or extra hire separately rather than assuming they follow automatically from the food.

Prepare one final supplier brief with the agreed menu, counts, timetable, access information and named contacts. Tell Fables promptly if a meeting time, shift pattern or venue position changes. Keep the organiser who booked the food connected with the person supervising the event so both use the current arrangement.

Details to gather before enquiring

• Event purpose, venue postcode and available site contact
• Food guests counted by actual service and workplace group
• Break, shift or meeting times and fixed return commitments
• Supplier entrance, vehicle route and confirmed setup position
• Eating, communication and clearing tasks assigned to named providers

Questions to settle with your event team

Can food be planned around several shifts?

Describe the shifts, people counts and preferred periods so Fables can discuss the proposed service. Separate groups do not automatically confirm multiple services or a particular throughput.

Can we request bespoke street food for a launch?

The street food offer invites bespoke menu discussions. Share the idea, audience, budget and programme, then confirm the proposed menu and scope in the quotation.