Catering Agreement Defined
A catering agreement is a legal contract between two or more parties that establishes the expectation for service arrangements for a special event. The agreement correlates to, and abstracts from, traditional contractual arrangements that draw parties into an enforceable relationship. For example, the essential terms of your catering relationship involve the food and drink for your wedding reception, as well as the service aspects provided by the wait staff. Most importantly, a catering agreement defines the expectations of the client, or the person who is getting married, and the catering company, or the person supplying the goods and services. These expectations are clearly defined and subject to the terms outlined in the document.
Consider the following: you are in the process of planning your wedding reception and you’ve hired a catering company upon the recommendation of your friends. You check with the company about their services , you pay the contract price and then you expect your catering company to show up on your wedding day. However, a few days before the reception, your catering services contact calls you. He tells you that he was unable to get all of the necessary food ingredients/finger foods and that he won’t be able to provide you with the finger foods you had ordered. He adds that he may be able to supply you with a similar type of food, but nothing calls it. You express your concern that you did not separately contract for this type of food and you relied upon the catering services contract for the food quality. The catering services representative tells you that it will cost more to deliver the replacement items and so you will need to pay additional money. At this point, you get upset. This is exactly the type of problem that can be avoided by having a comprehensive catering agreement in advance of the wedding day.
Catering Agreement Essentials
The two most important parts of any contract are what do you get (the service), and how much do you have to pay for it (the fee). For any lawyer worth their salt, this is a no-brainer – if it’s not in writing, it doesn’t exist. So the first thing you need to consider is what you’re purchasing and what you’re offering in return. Obviously, as a caterer, you’re going to have several services on offer. Because there is typically a variety of services available, it’s important that your client knows what they are requesting. Not all clients will be familiar with the catering industry, so using terms that they are familiar with in regard to their event will alleviate any confusion. Defining a buffet service as, "dinner served on a buffet line" will make more sense to your client than catering jargon such as, "served family style." You will also have to provide specific details about the services being offered. This may include things like: Specifics are critical in catering agreements. If the client thinks to themselves that one of the items being offered isn’t specifically included in the price, but in fact is, then a much larger problem can arise. Stipulating in a contract that the buffet will be kept full and replenished at all times will help to cover you should a problem arise where you are required to provide food in a timely manner where there was no food on the buffet to begin with. Clients will look at the wording and either, a) see the agreement was broken or b) see that the contract wasn’t worded to protect you. With sufficient details provided, the understanding of what was agreed to by both parties will be established, and enforced. This will also allow you to clearly and easily see what is expected of you as the service provider. A client will expect that your services will fulfil the requirements of the event, whether it is a lunch break or a wedding. For example, if the client is hosting a wedding, they might allocate $100 per plate for their guests. This kind of expenditure is typically reserved for the best food and service available. Clients expect extravagant cocktails and meals, with a fine attention to detail and service. By explaining in detail what you will provide for a client, and how do you this will fulfil their expectations, a blanket statement leaves too much room for error. This is similar to what a buffet service will include, except may relate more to individual serving styles – i.e. will everyone receive the same portion? How big will the helpings be? What size are the plates, bowls, and glasses? We all know that when someone uses the term "payable upon booking", you think that they are being cheeky, because what you’ve seen is more of a deposit and a deposit is payable right now. A payment schedule basically outlines that the payment will be fulfilled before the services are provided. An initial outlay of 10% when the booking is made, another 10% when the menu is finalised, and the remaining 80% a week before the date of the event. While it’s not really typical that a caterer would be paid the entire fee before the event, it’s simply an example of a payment schedule. That the payment will be fulfilled before the services are provided is what is relevant here. These are three important components of any catering agreement. There are clearly many other aspects to catering – equipment hire, drinks services, specifically requested dietary needs, waiting staff etc. – however, these are so unique to each person that they are not considered necessary for defining in a contract. With a small number of details that are critical to any catering contract, it’s important to make an assessment of your own business and what you should offer. But also remember: if you don’t offer it, don’t put it in written contract form.
Preparing a Catering Agreement
For those seeking to enter into a contract for the provision of catering services, the first step is to draft a catering agreement form (an example of such form is provided on this website) which can be used for the Parties long after the contract is signed, and indeed even after its expiration. It is generally advisable to make the form as comprehensive and explicit as is possible because the form will be used for many future contracts, after all, and it is important that the form contract contain in it all that will be necessary for subsequent contracts.
As a general proposition, when negotiating a catering contract, you want to see it all, you want to control the process, and you should seek to limit the rights of the other party as necessary to achieve that goal. It is also vital that the contract protects you or your business from its own employees or independent contractors, especially your independent contractors, as it is very important that you retain control of your business in that regard. By this it is meant that your business should not be liable or exposed because you have given your employee or independent contractor the right to bind you with their own acts or omissions. The contract should ensure that the death, disappearance, incapacity, insanity or other problems with your employee or independent contractor will not jeopardize your company or your business. That is one of the aspects of the contract or agreement that you should work on being particularly careful and controlling.
In addition, you want to see anything and everything you are paying for spelled out explicitly in the contract. Payments to independent contractors should be spelled out specifically, not left to the imagination, and the like. Above all, you want to eliminate all risk of misunderstanding so that there is no disagreement between you and the other party tomorrow or in the future. So, you want to see it all spelled out in full. Now, if your counter-party is seeking to conform the agreement to its agenda, such concern should be handled by negotiating the deal by countering asking for a reciprocal concession. You should reserve all rights in your favor, and make the other party give you something in return for your conceding anything to it (if at all).
That said, in negotiating the deal strain for control and reciprocity in your favor as much as possible. You want everything spelled out expressly in your favor (especially for exclusive rights of use, etc.) and you want to see in there limiting language that protects your rights and preserves your rights in your business even where your independent contractors screw up, or your employees screw up, and the like.
Advantages of a Catering Agreement PDF
The convenience of having a catering agreement in portable document format extends beyond the temptations of the "save paper, save the planet" movement. One of the biggest advantages of having a catering agreement in PDF format is that it is suitable for distribution in virtually any way. Want to send out thousands of agreements to clients? Put them on the cloud. Want to post them on your website for download? Easy! The only obstacle relevant to distributing catering agreements in PDF format would be the storage space and bandwidth of the device you’re using to access the cloud.
When creating a catering agreement in any other format, such as a word processor or bitmapped graphics, the only way to transfer it to another device would be to first copy or move it to a disk image file. And while images have their place in catering agreements (specifically, in logos and menu images), word processors are notoriously difficult to navigate and run the risk of being corrupted when opened on an unfamiliar device. A catering agreement in PDF format, on the other hand, can be viewed on just about any device, whether it is a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer.
Another major benefit of catering agreements in PDF format is the security they offer. First, let’s address the elephant in the room: Yes, we’ve all experienced the horror of a corrupted or non-working catering agreement. These frustrating occurrences are often caused by an error in the formatting of a file. Catering agreement PDFs, though, are organized in such a way that you can view your files across many different operating systems without any issues.
Next, many digital signature applications work best when you have documents in portable document format. This is handy because it makes the experience of adding and viewing digital signatures on a catering agreement easier.
Third, many modern PDF editors offer at least some encryption capabilities that help prevent unauthorized access to catering agreements. Many allow you to add security protocols ranging from password-protection to editing and printing restrictions. This is especially useful for firms that deal with legal documents that need to remain secret under a non-disclosure agreement.
Finally, many PDF editors offer a variety of features that allow you to add additional features to a catering agreement. One such example is the ability to add annotations or comments to a document. This is particularly useful in the event that you need to explain an addition to or change in a catering agreement. PDF Editors allow you to both add notes to a catering agreement as well as to easily remove or export such notes should you decide that they are no longer applicable.
Mistakes to Avoid
Also, I’ve seen lots of mistakes with catering agreements. Here are things that you should review on your catering agreement to make it enforceable: Most companies with a legal budget will always want a custom catering agreement. Also , ingredients subject to change? You can’t change things after the fact without both parties consenting. Some other things to look out for are: 1) check in policies 2) no deposit 3) too many chefs 4) service timeline 5) no tasting provision 6) no menu pre-selection policy and 7) venue guidelines.
Sample Catering Agreement PDF
Template catering agreements in PDF format to be utilized as a sample contract are available online for download and can be easily customized to meet the specific needs of any event. Using these sample contracts the parties are able to enter the event date, names and contact information for all parties involved in the contract, as well as the venue information if applicable, and the pre-selected terms. When completing the agreement, it is important to use the proper legal verbiage to ensure that all the events and terms of the catering agreement are clearly stated. This is crucial in the case that legal action is required; there is a clear record of the responsibilities of both parties.
Important points to include in the catering agreement are:
-Complete contact information for all the parties involved
-Address of the event and all relevant contact information for the venue
-Specific details of the event being catered including time, date and location
-Description of food and/or beverage service provided
-Detailed breakdown of the cost for the catering service
-Cancellation policy
-Detailed breakdown of any and all additional services and costs associated with the event such as decorations or a bar service
-Terms of payment
-Rules and regulations of the venue
-A description of where the food will be served including any rules and regulations associated with serving food
-Health codes and safety rules associated with preparing and serving food
-What happens to the excess food following the event
-If alcohol will be served at the event, a provision must be made for who will serve, how it will be served and the hours that alcohol will be served
-Provisions for cleaning up the event post-party including the removal of equipment rented from outside vendors
-The expectations and responsibilities of all the parties going ahead of time allows for a successful event.
Legalities
Like any contract, a catering contract must conform to the principles of contract law. For most jurisdictions, the basic contract formation elements are an offer, an acceptance, and consideration. The offer is the initial proposal from either the caterer or the party seeking catering services. The acceptance is the other party’s agreement to the terms of the offer. And, the consideration is typically in the form of payment from the party seeking services to the caterer.
If the parties desire to enter into a binding contract, the contract must indicate the intent of the parties. If the parties are not careful, lack of mutuality of intent can lead to both parties believing that a contract is in place even when one party thinks the other hasn’t followed through to the "acceptance" stage .
Especially if the subject matter for the proposed contract is complex, multiple meetings may be necessary as the parties clarify their understanding of the terms of the proposal. It would be wise, however, to have the parties indicate by their signatures their intent to be bound by the terms contained in the contract template.
Another important consideration when negotiating a catering contract is jurisdiction. If the parties are from different states or countries this may be a factor. Generally, a contract valid under the laws of the state where it was executed will be upheld. However, if the home jurisdiction has substantially more contact with one contracting party than the other, then perhaps the jurisdiction with closer ties to the parties should be the selected jurisdiction.