Elevator pitch examples for caterers
An elevator pitch fails when it describes the business instead of giving the listener a reason to ask a second question. These end somewhere the other person can pick up.
Ten of them follow, written for caterers rather than filled in from a template. Your customer is someone hosting people they cannot afford to disappoint, and what they are weighing up before they get in touch is a guest with an allergy, and food that arrives cold.
The one-liner
We are caterers in [your town] — we cater weddings and private events and corporate catering for someone hosting people they cannot afford to disappoint.
Use this when you have one sentence and no idea who you are talking to.
Problem first
The thing people worry about with caterers is a guest with an allergy, and food that arrives cold. That is the part we deal with. We are caterers, and we agree the menu and do a tasting before anything is signed.
Use this where the problem is instantly recognisable and the service is not.
Names who it is for
We work for someone hosting people they cannot afford to disappoint. Mostly weddings and private events and corporate catering. If that is not you, you probably know someone.
Use this at an event where most people are not your customer, to find the ones who are.
Credential first
We are licensed, insured and food-safety certified. Licensed, insured and food-safety certified, with allergen handling taken seriously rather than disclaimed. We mostly do weddings and private events and corporate catering.
Use this in a room where qualification is the thing that buys attention.
The contrast
Most caterers [what the default does]. We are the one that takes the allergy question seriously. That is more or less the whole difference.
Use this when your market has a clear default and you are not it.
With a number in it
We are caterers — [number] years, [number] events, and we handle and document allergens properly.
Use this when you have a real number. Do not invent one.
The origin
We started because a guest with an allergy, and food that arrives cold was normal in this trade and it did not need to be. So that is the business: caterers where we agree the menu and do a tasting before anything is signed.
Use this when the reason you started is short and true.
Ten seconds
Caterer. Weddings and private events, mostly. [your town].
Use this when someone asks what you do and is already half-turned away.
Ends with the ask
We are caterers doing weddings and private events and corporate catering. If you ever hear someone say [the thing your customers say], that is us.
Use this when the point of the conversation is a referral, not a sale.
The warm version
[their question] — we are caterers. The part people usually ask about is taking the allergy question seriously.
Use this where the pitch would land badly and a conversation would not.
Writing for caterers: what actually matters
What should a caterer’s website say that a generic one does not?
Three things, in this order. That you are licensed, insured and food-safety certified. That you understand the thing people are actually worried about, which for caterers is a guest with an allergy, and food that arrives cold. And what happens next: a menu conversation and a tasting before anything is signed. Everything else on the page is decoration by comparison.
What does someone hosting people they cannot afford to disappoint check first?
The credential, then the proof. For caterers it sounds like this. We handle and document allergens properly. We do a tasting before you commit. We bring the equipment to serve hot food hot. Put at least one of those above the fold rather than on a separate page nobody opens.
What is the most common mistake on a caterer’s website?
Writing about the business instead of the customer. "We have been established since 1998" answers a question nobody asked. "We start with a menu conversation and a tasting before anything is signed" answers the one they are actually holding. If you only fix one thing, fix that.
How long should the copy be?
Shorter than you think, except where trust is being built. An About page of 120 well-chosen words beats 500 vague ones. The exception is anything explaining a guest with an allergy, and food that arrives cold — there, specifics earn their length.
Everything else for caterers
Elevator pitch for other trades
- Plumber
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- Roofer
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- Massage Therapist
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