How Much Does Catering Cost Per Person in Melbourne? (2026 Prices)
Every catering guide you'll find answers this question with a range so wide it's useless — "$15 to $120 per person, depending on your event". That's not a budget. That's a shrug.
So here are our actual numbers. Every price below is a current 2026 Brisk Catering menu price, in Australian dollars, including GST, with no service fee on top. Where a package serves ten people, we've divided by ten and shown you the per-head figure. You can budget from this page and be right.
The short answer
For a Melbourne office, per head:
- Breakfast: $12.50 – $19.80 per person
- Morning or afternoon tea: $17.40 per person
- Working lunch (platters to share): $18.70 – $20.80 per person
- Individual lunch boxes: $18.10 – $29.50 each
- Finger food: roughly $5 – $7 per piece, so $20 – $50 per person depending on how many pieces you serve
- Hot buffet: $36.50 – $41 per person
If someone quotes you $15 per head for a corporate lunch, look closely at what's actually on the platter. If they quote you $60, ask what you're getting that a $20 working lunch doesn't give you.
Every format, with the real per-head price
| Format | What's in it | Price | Per head |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast — The Traditional | Pastries, fruit, the standard morning spread | $12.50 pp | $12.50 |
| Breakfast — The Spread | A fuller breakfast table | $17.70 pp | $17.70 |
| Breakfast — The Unconventional | The interesting one, for a team that's bored of croissants | $19.80 pp | $19.80 |
| The Brisk Morning Tea | Our set morning tea package | $17.40 pp | $17.40 |
| Working Lunch B | 10 baguettes, 10 beef sausage rolls, 10 iced doughnuts. Serves 10 | $187 | $18.70 |
| Working Lunch C | 10 wraps, 10 mini beef burgers, 10 mini muffins. Serves 10 | $197.50 | $19.75 |
| Working Lunch A | 10 point sandwiches, 10 mini banh mi, 10 brownies. Serves 10 | $208 | $20.80 |
| Regular Gourmet Sandwich Platter | 10 gourmet sandwiches | $104 | $10.40 per sandwich |
| The Little Lunch Box | Individual, boxed, labelled | $18.10 each | $18.10 |
| The Lunch Box / The Sandwich Box | Individual, boxed, labelled | $27 each | $27 |
| The Banh Mi Box | Individual, boxed, labelled | $29.50 each | $29.50 |
| The American Platter | 30 pieces — mini hot dogs, sliders, mac and cheese croquettes | $156 | $5.20 per piece |
| Charcuterie and Nibbles Platter | Cured meats, cheese, pickles, bread, crackers. Regular serves 6–8 | $84 | $10.50 – $14 |
| Brisk Classic Buffet | Hot buffet, mains and sides | $36.50 pp | $36.50 |
| Brisk Feast Buffet | The bigger hot buffet | $41 pp | $41 |
Two things to notice. First, the gap between the cheapest working lunch and the dearest is $2.10 a head — for ten people, that's the price of a coffee round. Choose on what your team will actually eat, not on the price. Second, the jump from a shared platter lunch to a hot buffet roughly doubles the per-head cost. That's the real budget decision, and it's a decision about the occasion, not the food.
What it costs to feed 10, 20, 50 and 100
Catering maths is simple once you have a per-head number. Here's a working lunch, priced with Working Lunch B at $18.70 a head:
| Headcount | What to order | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 × Working Lunch package | $187 |
| 20 | 2 × Working Lunch packages | $374 |
| 50 | 5 × Working Lunch packages | $935 |
| 100 | 10 × Working Lunch packages | $1,870 |
Same exercise for breakfast at $12.50 a head: $125 for ten, $625 for fifty, $1,250 for a hundred. For a hot buffet at $36.50: $365 for ten, $1,825 for fifty.
That $935 figure for fifty people is worth sitting with, because "catering for 50 people in Melbourne" is the search that sends most people looking for a number. Fifty people, properly fed a shared lunch, is under a thousand dollars. Fifty people at a hot buffet is closer to two.
For finger food, the per-head cost depends entirely on how many pieces you serve. Our rule of thumb after thirty years of doing this:
- 3–4 pieces per person — something to graze on during a meeting. Roughly $18–$25 a head.
- 6–8 pieces per person — replaces a light lunch. Roughly $32–$50 a head.
- 10–12 pieces per person — replaces dinner, for a function running two to three hours. $55 a head and up.
Standing guests eat more than seated ones, and they eat for the whole event. Under-order finger food and you'll notice within forty minutes.
Working out a budget for something specific? Send us the headcount and the date and we'll come back with a real quote, not a range — get a quote, or browse the menu and prices and build it yourself.
The costs that aren't on the menu
This is where quotes diverge from invoices. Ours, in full:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Minimum order (within 15 km of the CBD) | $80 |
| Minimum order (beyond 15 km) | $200 |
| Delivery within 5 km of the Melbourne CBD | Free |
| Delivery beyond that radius | Fee applies, quoted before you order |
| Napkins | Free on request |
| Eco-friendly plates | $0.35 each |
| Eco-friendly cutlery | $0.40 each |
| Cutlery, knife and napkin set | $0.60 each |
| Disposable cups | $0.40 each |
| Tea and coffee station, with disposables | $4.85 per person |
| Juices | $6.10 |
| Sparkling mineral water | $4.75 |
| Service fee | None |
| Deposit (invoices over $4,000) | 50%, within 7 days |
| Staff and equipment hire | Quoted separately |
Two you should plan around. If your office is outside the free zone — Box Hill, Clayton, Tullamarine and similar — factor in a delivery fee, and check whether the $200 minimum applies. And if you're catering a weekend event, we take those above $1,000 by quote only, so a Saturday morning tea for eight isn't something we can do.
You can see the free CBD delivery zone and the full suburb list on our FAQs page.
Does dietary catering cost more?
Barely, and this surprises people.
Gluten-free swaps at Brisk cost between nothing and $1.90 more per item. Gluten-free sandwiches are $11.40 — exactly the same as sourdough. The Gluten Free Lunch Box and Sandwich Box are both $27, identical to the standard versions. Gluten-free wraps are 30 cents more than standard wraps. The Little Lunch Box is the biggest gap at $1.90.
Vegetarian isn't a surcharge at all — 15% vegetarian is built into every sandwich product as standard. All special dietary items are labelled and packed separately to minimise cross-contamination, at no extra cost. See the gluten free range for what's available.
If a caterer is charging you a meaningful premium for dietary requirements in 2026, that's a pricing decision, not a cost one.
When you have to order, and what changing your mind costs
Lead time is the other hidden cost — a late order limits your options, and a late cancellation costs real money.
| What | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Standard order for next-day delivery | 3pm the business day before |
| Last-minute or same-day order | Call 1300 322 240 — 8 out of 10 get through, subject to stock and drivers |
| Changes to a booking | In writing, at least 48 hours before |
| Cancel — up to 20 people | 4pm the business day before |
| Cancel — 20 to 50 people | 2 business days before |
| Cancel — 50 or more | 5 business days before |
| Cancel after the deadline | 50% of the invoiced total |
| Delivery window | From 7am, Monday to Friday |
Book the big ones early. A fifty-person event confirmed on the Monday for the Friday gives you five business days of flexibility. Confirmed on the Wednesday, it doesn't.
How to spend less without it looking like you did
- Shared platters beat individual boxes on price. A working lunch is $18.70 a head; the equivalent individual box is $27. Boxes are worth it for hybrid teams, offsites and complicated dietaries — not for a room full of people who'll happily share a table.
- Breakfast is the cheapest way to feed a team well. $12.50 a head buys a genuinely good morning. The same money at lunch buys much less.
- Don't over-order finger food for a seated meeting. Three or four pieces each is plenty when people are sitting down and there's an agenda.
- Skip the disposables if there's a kitchen. Plates and cutlery add about $1 a head. Most offices already have both.
- Order by 3pm the day before. Last-minute works most of the time, but it narrows what's available — and the narrowest menus are rarely the cheapest.
Our guide to how much food to order goes deeper on portioning if you're still unsure of quantities.
FAQ
How much does catering cost per person in Melbourne? For corporate catering, $12.50 to $41 per person covers almost everything — $12.50–$19.80 for breakfast, $18.70–$20.80 for a shared working lunch, and $36.50–$41 for a hot buffet. Finger food is priced per piece, roughly $5–$7, so the per-head cost depends on how many pieces you serve.
How much does it cost to cater for 50 people in Melbourne? A shared working lunch for fifty is $935. Breakfast for fifty is from $625. A hot buffet for fifty is from $1,825. All inclusive of GST, with free delivery inside the CBD zone.
Is there a minimum order for office catering? Yes — $80 within 15 km of the Melbourne CBD, and $200 beyond that.
Is delivery included in the price? Delivery is free within 5 km of the Melbourne CBD, which covers the CBD, Southbank, Docklands, Richmond, Cremorne, Collingwood, South Melbourne, Carlton, Fitzroy and the rest of the inner ring. Outside that radius a delivery fee applies and we'll quote it before you order.
Do catering prices include GST? Yes. Every price on our menu and on this page is GST inclusive, and there's no service fee added at checkout.
How far in advance do I need to book catering? 3pm the business day before for next-day delivery. For groups over fifty, book earlier — your cancellation deadline is five business days out, so an early booking is what buys you flexibility.
Can I get catering the same day in Melbourne? Often, yes. Eight out of ten last-minute orders get through, depending on stock and driver availability. Call 1300 322 240 rather than emailing — a same-day request sitting in an inbox helps nobody.
Can I pay by invoice? Yes. We invoice ten minutes after delivery, and you can pay by credit card or EFT up to 14 days later. Invoices over $4,000 need a 50% deposit within 7 days to secure the booking.
Does gluten-free or vegan catering cost extra? Almost never. Gluten-free items run from the same price to $1.90 more. Vegetarian is included as standard — 15% of every sandwich order.
Ready to put a number on it?
You now have every price we charge. If you want it turned into an actual order, tell us your headcount and date and we'll quote it, or go straight to the full menu with prices and build it yourself — order by 3pm and it arrives from 7am tomorrow.
Thirty years, 2,000 active clients, 250 deliveries a day across Melbourne, and an on-time-or-your-money-back guarantee. Same prices for everyone, published on this page.
Related reading: office Christmas party catering prices, our working lunch packages, finger food catering, buffet catering and individual lunch boxes.
