WhatsApp AI agent for caterers: menus, per-head prices, minimum orders and event details captured before the chef stops cooking
Catering enquiries arrive during service, when the kitchen cannot answer, and they need six facts before a quote: date, pax, venue, menu, dietary, budget. An AI agent collects them from the first message, quotes standard packages per head, and hands the custom event to the person who can price it.
Quick answer
Put a WhatsApp AI agent on your catering number with menus and packages per head, minimum orders, dietary and halal information, delivery areas and lead times as knowledge. It answers questions, quotes standard packages, collects event date, pax, venue, dietary needs and budget, takes standard orders for the team to invoice, and hands custom menus and large events to staff. ReplyKit does this from $29 a month.
What the agent handles
Automate
- Menus and packages with per-head prices, minimum pax, what is included: setup, service staff, cutlery.
- Dietary and halal information from your written list, allergen notes by dish.
- Lead times, delivery areas and fees, setup and collection times.
- Event details: date, pax, venue, time, dietary needs, budget, saved to the lead's card.
- Standard orders and meal-prep subscriptions: items, quantities, address, delivery days, for the team to invoice.
- Deposit and cancellation rules stated before confirming.
- Replies in the customer's language.
Keep with a person
- Custom menus, tastings and quotes for large events.
- Payment. The team sends the invoice.
- Changes to a confirmed event.
- Complaints about a delivered order.
Allergens and halal, only as written
Write allergens by dish and your halal certification status in exact words, and instruct the agent to hand over rather than guess for any dish not listed. A gap in your notes becomes a handover, not a risk. The same rule runs our restaurant guide.
Setup for a caterer
- Use a dedicated number. ReplyKit connects your number through Meta's official WhatsApp Business Platform: keep the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app and the agent works alongside it, or add a dedicated number. Personal WhatsApp numbers cannot be connected. Keep your long-standing number out of it; see Meta's messaging limits explained
- Upload menus with per-head prices and minimums; write dietary, delivery and lead-time rules as text.
- Instruct the event intake in order and the rule that custom events get a human quote.
- Keep a closed-dates note for peak weeks.
- Connect the number through Meta's sign-in and test with "buffet for 80 pax on the 20th, 10 vegetarian".
Frequently asked questions
Can the agent quote catering?
Standard packages per head from your menu, with minimums. Custom menus and large events are handed over with the details collected.
Does it handle dietary questions?
Only from your written allergen and halal notes; otherwise it hands over.
Can it take orders?
It collects standard order and subscription details for the team to invoice. Payment stays with you.
What details does it collect for events?
Date, pax, venue, time, dietary needs and budget, onto the lead's card.
How much does it cost?
From $29 a month for one number and 1,000 replies.
Capture the event during service
Menus per head, dietary notes, event intake, connect your number through Meta's sign-in. 7-day free trial.
Sources and further reading
- Harvard Business Review, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads (Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington, 2011) · firms that responded within an hour were about seven times more likely to qualify the lead
- ReplyKit Acceptable Use Policy · what we refuse to automate
- ReplyKit, Will WhatsApp ban my number for automation? · how Meta's messaging limits and quality rating work
ReplyKit is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta or WhatsApp. This article is general guidance for catering operations, not legal or food-safety advice.