Caterers on WhatsApp: answer every event enquiry and keep allergies with the chef

Why catering enquiries are slow to answer

Most catering enquiries start with a question you cannot answer yet. "How much for a party?" depends on the number of guests, the style of food, the venue, the date and whether you are staffing it. So the first few messages are always the same questions going back and forth, often over a day or two, while the customer asks two other caterers the same thing.

An AI agent can ask those questions straight away, in a friendly order, and keep going until it has the full picture. It can give a guide price from your menus, such as "our buffet menus start from £18 a head", so the customer knows whether you are in their budget. Then it hands you a tidy summary to quote from. You spend your time on the quote, not on the questions.

Allergies: the line the agent never crosses

Food allergies can be life-threatening, and in the UK caterers must be able to tell customers about the allergens in their food. That information comes from your kitchen, recipe by recipe, not from an AI agent's guess. The agent should collect dietary needs and allergies clearly, write them into the summary for the chef, and never say that a dish is safe for an allergy.

If a customer asks "is the chicken dish nut-free?", the agent says the chef will confirm allergens for their event and passes the question over. It can share your general wording, such as that you cook in a kitchen that handles nuts, if you have written it in the note. It never tells someone with an allergy that something will be fine.

What customers ask on WhatsApp

• How much for a buffet for 40 on Saturday 18th?
• Do you do vegan and gluten-free options?
• Can you deliver and set up at the village hall?
• Do you provide staff and crockery?
• Can we add six more guests to our order?
• My nephew has a severe nut allergy, is the menu safe?
• When do you need final numbers by?

An example conversation

This illustration shows a party enquiry turning into a summary for the owner to quote. Names, prices and details are examples.

What the agent answers

• Collecting the date, time, venue, headcount, style of food and service needed.
• Guide prices from your menus, given as "from" a head.
• What each menu includes, and which dishes are vegetarian or vegan.
• Delivery areas, set-up times, staff, crockery and equipment hire, from your note.
• When you need final numbers and dietary details, and reminders before that date.
• Whether a date looks free, from the diary dates you list.

What it always hands to you

• Every allergy question, and confirming allergens for any dish.
• Final quotes, discounts and anything outside your menus.
• Deposits, payments and bank details.
• Changes close to the event, such as numbers or menu changes after your deadline.
• Weddings and large corporate events that need a tasting or a call.
• Complaints, refunds and anything about food safety.

Send the chef a summary, not a scroll

The value of the agent is that you open one tidy summary instead of scrolling through twenty messages. Ask it to finish every enquiry with the same short block: name, date, time, venue, headcount, style, service, dietary needs and allergies, budget if given. Put allergies on their own line so they can never be missed. You quote from that block, and the customer gets an answer the same day.

The WhatsApp limits that matter here

A reply to someone who wrote in is never held back by the daily limits, so customers get answers from the first day. Only messages that are not replies to someone who wrote in count toward the messages a day, which rise each week of the warm-up.

Set it up in an afternoon

1. Write a catering note: your menus with "from" prices, what each includes, delivery areas, staff and hire, your final numbers deadline, the dates you are booked and the topics that always go to you. There is an example below.
2. Connect the business WhatsApp number in Spaces. You scan a QR code with the phone that has the number, the same way you would link WhatsApp on a computer. The phone keeps working as normal.
3. Connect your AI agent using the steps on our agents page. Chat apps such as Claude or ChatGPT reply when you ask them in a chat, so for replies around the clock use an always-on agent such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw or Hermes. Give it the catering note. Spaces does not connect to diaries or quoting software, so you write quotes as usual and the agent handles the messages around them.
4. Agree how fast you reply to a finished summary. Within one working day is a good rule, because customers often ask more than one caterer.
5. Set up a reminder a few days before your final numbers deadline for every confirmed event, in your wording. A scheduled message works well for this.
6. Ask your AI agent to hold replies as drafts for the first week, and nothing goes out until you approve it. Once the answers read the way you would write them, switch drafts off for the everyday questions.
7. After a month, read the summaries and add any question that keeps coming up, such as "can you do a hog roast?", to the note.

A sample catering note

Keep the menus short and the rules clear. Here is the shape of one, with example details.

BUSINESS: Fork & Field Catering. Owner and chef: Ellie.
AREA: deliver within 20 miles of Oakford. Further on request.

MENUS (say "from", Ellie quotes):
- Finger buffet from £14 a head.
- Hot fork buffet from £18 a head (two mains, sides, one dessert).
- Afternoon tea from £16 a head.
- Wedding and formal dining: hand to Ellie for a call.
Vegetarian and vegan options on every menu. Gluten-free on request.

SERVICE: delivery and set-up included. Staff £20 an hour each.
Crockery and linen hire available.
MINIMUM: 20 guests. FINAL NUMBERS: 7 days before the event.

BOOKED: 4 Apr, 11 Apr, 25 Apr. Other dates look free.

ALLERGIES: always collect them, put them on their own line,
never say a dish is safe. "Ellie will confirm allergens for your event."
Our kitchen handles nuts, gluten, dairy and eggs.

ALWAYS TO ELLIE: allergies, quotes, discounts, payments, late changes,
weddings, complaints, food safety.

SUMMARY: name / date / time / venue / guests / style / service /
dietary / ALLERGIES / budget.

Final numbers and late changes

Final numbers are where caterers lose money. A party that grows by ten guests the day before, or drops by fifteen, changes your shopping, your staffing and your margin. Put your deadline in the note and let the agent remind confirmed customers a few days before it, kindly and in your words.

Before the deadline, the agent can note changes and pass them on. After it, every change goes to you. You decide whether you can add six more guests on Friday afternoon, and what it costs. The agent should never say "no problem" to a late change it cannot see the kitchen for.

Before and after: the first reply

A guide price in the first reply is the single change that keeps most enquiries going. It does not commit you to anything, because the final quote still comes from you.

Common mistakes caterers make

• Letting the agent say a dish is "nut-free" or "safe" for an allergy. Allergens always come from the kitchen.
• Quoting final prices from the agent instead of from you.
• Agreeing late changes without checking with the kitchen.
• Sending bank details or taking deposits in a chat run by an AI agent.
• Messaging every past customer about Christmas menus. Keep messages to people who asked.

Who you message

In short

For a caterer, an AI agent on WhatsApp turns "how much for a party?" into a full summary with a guide price, the same day, and reminds customers about final numbers. Allergies, quotes, payments and late changes always come to you.

Write the menus with "from" prices, put allergies on their own line and keep the booked dates current. Spaces paces every message and keeps the number inside safe limits, but no tool can promise WhatsApp will never restrict an account, so keep the agent to customers who message you and customers who asked to hear from you.

Pricing

Plans from $19 a month

Can the agent quote for an event?

It can give a guide price from your menus and collect everything you need to quote. The final quote comes from you, because only you know the true cost of a particular event.

What does it do with allergies?

It collects them clearly, puts them on their own line in the summary and tells the customer the chef will confirm allergens. It never says a dish is safe for an allergy.

Can it remind customers about final numbers?

Yes. Use a scheduled message a few days before your deadline for each confirmed event, in your wording. Those customers are expecting to hear from you, which suits WhatsApp's rules.

Can it take deposits?

It should not send bank details or ask for money. You send the invoice or payment link yourself, which also protects customers from fake payment requests.

Does it know which dates we are free?

It knows the booked dates you list in its note, and says other dates look free. Spaces does not connect to diaries, so update the note when you take a booking.

Can we message past customers about Christmas menus?

Message past customers who asked to hear from you, one at a time. Spaces does not send broadcasts, and it limits how many people get the same text.

Can I still reply from my phone?

Yes. The number stays yours. When you reply in a chat, the agent stays out of it until you hand it back.

Should the agent say it is an AI?

Yes. A first line such as "I'm the caterer's AI agent, and the chef reads every chat" is honest and helps customers trust the allergy process.