How Much Finger Food Per Person? Quantities for Work Functions
For a work function, order 3 to 4 pieces of finger food per person for a meeting, 6 to 8 when it's lunch or after-work drinks, and 10 to 12 when it replaces dinner at an event of two to three hours. Those are the numbers we use when we quote, and the rest of this guide is about which band you're in and what moves you up or down it.
Pieces per person by type of event
| Event | Length | Pieces per person | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting or workshop, seated | Under 2 hours | 3 to 4 | Something to pick at. People have eaten or will eat soon |
| Drinks before a dinner booking | About 1 hour | 3 to 4 | Keep it light, dinner is the meal |
| Working lunch | 1 hour | 6 to 8 | Finger food is the lunch |
| After-work drinks | 1 to 2 hours, finishing by 6pm | 6 to 8 | Most people eat dinner at home afterwards |
| End-of-year party or launch | 2 to 3 hours, into the evening | 10 to 12 | This is dinner for most of the room |
| Function over 3 hours | 3 hours plus | 12 or more | Add a second round of hot food later on |
If you're stuck between two bands, go with the higher one. You can send leftovers home with people, but you can't fix running out halfway through.
How many pieces to order for your headcount
Multiply the headcount by the pieces per person.
| Headcount | Meeting (3 to 4 each) | Lunch or short drinks (6 to 8 each) | Replaces dinner (10 to 12 each) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 30 to 40 | 60 to 80 | 100 to 120 |
| 20 | 60 to 80 | 120 to 160 | 200 to 240 |
| 30 | 90 to 120 | 180 to 240 | 300 to 360 |
| 50 | 150 to 200 | 300 to 400 | 500 to 600 |
| 100 | 300 to 400 | 600 to 800 | 1,000 to 1,200 |
Brisk finger food is priced by the piece, from $2.95 for sushi to $8.10 for soft shell tacos, and our four packages come in at $4.89 to $5.85 a piece. The finger food catering page turns these counts into priced orders for 15, 20, 40 and 60 people.
If you'd rather not do the maths, send us the date, the headcount and the start and finish times, and we'll come back with a costed order. Get a quote.
What pushes the number up or down
Standing or sitting
A standing crowd eats more than a seated one, and keeps eating for as long as the event runs. A seated meeting with an agenda barely touches the platter after the first ten minutes.
Time of day
Anything that runs past 6pm is dinner for most of the room, whatever the invitation says. A 3pm afternoon tea is not.
Length
People pick at food all the way through an event, so a two-hour function needs noticeably more than a one-hour one. If yours goes past three hours, hold some hot food back for the second half.
Alcohol
If the bar is open for the whole event, order at the top of your band.
Other food on the table
A grazing platter, a cheese board or a dessert tray takes pressure off the finger food. Drop one or two pieces per person from the count if one is going out.
The weather
On a hot Melbourne day appetites drop and the cold items go first. In winter, the pies and sausage rolls disappear.
How many different items to order
You need fewer different items than you'd expect. Four or five is plenty for a group of 20, and six to eight covers a party of 50 or more.
On our order site every item has a minimum of six pieces, and salad cups ten. Order each item in a quantity of at least half your headcount so it doesn't vanish in the first round. For 20 people at 7 pieces each, that's 140 pieces split across four or five items of around 30 each. Ordering ten different items of 14 each means most people never see half of them.
Packages handle this for you, since each one is five items in tens or a fixed slider mix. Two or three packages make a well-spread order for most office functions.
Hot, cold and sweet
Put the hot food out first, as people arrive, while it's at its best. Hot items travel in insulated bags and boxes and our delivery window on hot food is 15 minutes, so plan for it to land close to your start time.
Cold items such as rice paper rolls, sushi, blinis and salad cups carry the second half of a longer event. They also suit a hot day or an office without a good bench to serve from.
For anything longer than an hour, add something sweet near the end. One or two pieces per person is enough. Chocolate brownies are $3.70 each and chocolate dipped strawberries $3.15. They count on top of the savoury numbers above, not as part of them.
Dietary requirements
Every guest needs the full count, not a token plate. If three vegan guests are staying two hours at 7 pieces each, that's 21 vegan pieces, which means two or three vegan items rather than one bowl of falafels.
These items are tagged on our order site:
| Need | Items |
|---|---|
| Vegan and gluten free | Smashed pea falafels ($4.20), shitake mushroom dumplings ($4.95), scorched corn fritters ($5.50), sweet potato and chickpea fritters ($6.30), sweet potato and thyme sausage rolls ($6.85) |
| Gluten free | Arancini ($5.15), chicken laksa skewers ($5.50), salmon rosti bites ($5.60), gluten free mini gourmet pies ($6.60) |
| Halal | Arancini, chicken laksa skewers, sliders, beef sausage rolls, mini quiches, empanadas, Peking duck pancakes and bao buns |
Put names and requirements in the order notes and those items arrive labelled. Tell us about allergies when you order. More options are on the gluten free catering page.
A worked example: farewell drinks for 25
Farewell drinks for 25 in the office from 4pm to 6pm, with two vegan guests and most people heading home for dinner afterwards. That's the 6 to 8 band, so aim for about 8 pieces each.
| Item | Pieces | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| The Wholesome Box × 2 (arancini, sausage rolls, empanadas, mini quiches, mini beef pies) | 100 | $489 |
| Asian Fusion Platter (rice paper rolls, sushi, Peking duck pancakes, banh mi, bao buns) | 50 | $286 |
| The American Platter (mini hot dogs, sliders, mac and cheese croquettes) | 30 | $156 |
| Smashed pea falafels, for the vegan guests | 12 | $50.40 |
| Chocolate brownies | 25 | $92.50 |
| Chocolate dipped strawberries | 25 | $78.75 |
| Total | 242 | $1,152.65 |
That's 192 savoury pieces, or about 7.7 a head, plus two sweet pieces each, for $46.11 a head including GST. If both vegan guests are staying the full two hours, swap the falafels for two vegan items of six to give them more than one thing to eat.
Leftovers and food safety
Food Standards Australia New Zealand's 2-hour/4-hour rule is the one to follow. Ready-to-eat food that has been out of the fridge for less than two hours can go back in the fridge. Between two and four hours, eat it, don't put it back. After four hours, throw it out. The clock includes delivery time, so a platter that arrived at 3pm and sat out until 7pm is done.
If you expect leftovers, put the cold items out in two rounds. The second round stays in the fridge until it's needed, which keeps its clock short.
Finger food quantity questions
How many canapés per person for a two-hour event? 6 to 8 if it finishes by about 6pm and people go home to dinner, and 10 to 12 if it runs into the evening and replaces dinner.
How much finger food do I need for 50 people? 150 to 200 pieces for a meeting, 300 to 400 for lunch or short drinks, and 500 to 600 if it replaces dinner.
How much finger food for 100 people? 600 to 800 pieces for lunch or after-work drinks, and 1,000 to 1,200 for an evening function that replaces dinner.
How many different types of finger food should I order? Four or five for 20 people, six to eight for 50 or more. Order each in a quantity of at least half the headcount.
Is finger food cheaper than a buffet? Not always. At 6 to 8 pieces a head our finger food comes to about $38 to $42 a person, and a hot buffet is $36.50 to $41. Finger food wins when people are standing and mingling, and a buffet wins when they're sitting down to eat. The catering cost per person guide has the full comparison.
How far ahead should I order finger food? By 3pm the business day before for delivery from 7am. For December parties, book as early as you can. Groups over 50 have a five-business-day cancellation window.
Order finger food
Order by 3pm for delivery tomorrow. Order finger food packages online, or get a quote with your headcount and times and we'll put the order together. Planning a December party? Our office Christmas party catering guide compares finger food with the buffet and lunch box options.
