QR codes for caterers

Codes are per event, not per business

A restaurant prints one menu code and keeps it for a year. A caterer's menu changes with every booking, which makes catering a batch-generation business: one spreadsheet per event — station name, menu URL — one run of the bulk generator, one set of station cards.

Code	Where	Why
Menu and allergens	Tent card at each serving station	Full ingredients and the detail a printed card cannot fit
Feedback	Coffee station, end of service	Captured while the event is still happening
vCard	Quotes, tasting packs	The planner saves your contact in one scan

The allergen rule: the code is the supplement, not the disclosure

Food law is specific here. The EU Food Information to Consumers regulation lists 14 allergens whose presence must be actively available to the customer, and the UK's Natasha's Law (October 2021) requires full ingredient labelling on food prepacked for direct sale. A QR code does not satisfy either by itself — a guest must not need a phone to learn a dish contains nuts. The compliant pattern: allergens named on the printed station card, with a full ingredients code alongside for guests who need detail, such as may-contain warnings and dietary breakdowns.

Station card numbers

• Guests read a station card from queue distance, 50–80 cm → 5–8 cm code, larger than the table-tent sizing used at seated events.
• Matt card, never gloss — marquees and function rooms mean downlights and fairy lights, all of which reflect.
• Print a small event code on the back of each card too. When cards from three summer weddings come back in the same crate, you can tell whose is whose.

Tastings are lead capture

A tasting is the one moment prospects hold your food and their phone at the same time. A feedback code on the tasting menu — three questions, no login — captures reactions and contact permission while the flavour is still present, instead of a follow-up email a week later.

What goes wrong

• Allergen information available only through the code — a compliance failure, not a design choice.
• Last year's station cards reused with a URL that now 404s; verify each event's set with a scan check before it ships.
• Cards sized for tables used at standing stations, unreadable from the queue.

FAQ

Can allergen information be provided only by QR code?

No. UK and EU rules require allergen information to be actively available with the food — on the label or the printed card. The QR code is for depth: full ingredient lists, may-contain warnings and dietary detail beyond the printed minimum.

How do caterers make QR codes for every event?

From a spreadsheet: one row per station with its menu URL, run through a bulk generator. The set for a full wedding takes minutes, and regenerating for the next event is a re-run with new URLs, not new design work.

What size should a serving-station QR code be?

Guests scan from queue distance, roughly 50–80 cm, so print the code at 5–8 cm — noticeably larger than a seated table tent. Use matt stock, and test one card under the venue's actual lighting before service.