5 Print Marketing Ideas That Sell More Catering
Marcus is our print marketing voice, built from the knowledge of our production team, with over 20 years in printing.
Catering print marketing is the advertising a planner can hold: a menu that lands in the right hands, an invite to a tasting and a branded van, because catering sells on trust and taste. Each of the five ideas below pairs one move with a piece you can print and hand over.
To sell more catering, put your food in front of decision-makers with five moves: personal menu mailers, tastings and open houses, fairs and farmers markets, press releases, and a branded catering vehicle. Each idea leans on a specific printed piece, from mailed menus and postcards to business cards, table tents, and vehicle magnets, so every effort leaves something tangible behind that wins the next booking. In print terms that is a short list: catering menus for the tasting table and the leave-behind, direct mail postcards for the offices and planners you want on your route, and car magnets so the van doing today's delivery is also tomorrow's advertising. Watch the catering menus video before you design yours.
Start here
Catering is sold in person, and print goes with you
Catering is sold face to face, so the pieces you carry matter. Business cards cost $17.57 for 100, and a car magnet on 30mil stock that stays on the van between jobs. The five ideas below each pair one move with the printed piece that carries it.
Catering advertising
Catering advertising you can order this week
Catering advertising in print rests on four pieces, each with its own size and run. Catering menus print in seven sizes from 4.25 x 11 to 11 x 25.5 inches on 100# Gloss Text or 70# Uncoated Text, flat, half fold or trifold, with 5 business days standard production. Catering business cards start at 100 for $17.57 with 3 business days standard. Direct mail postcards run in nine sizes from 4 x 6 to 6 x 11 inches on 14pt or 16pt cover, from 500 pieces. Car magnets come in 18 sizes from 9 x 9 to 24 x 36 inches. Upload a print ready PDF at the size you picked, and choose a Free Online Proof before the run goes to press.
1. Get personal with menu mailers
The offices, clinics, and event planners who book catering get more email than they can read. A printed menu mailed to their desk stands apart, because it is physical, it stays put, and it invites a second look days later. Lead with your best dishes, a few appetizing photos, and a clear way to book, then send it to a focused list of the clients you most want.
Direct mail does the heavy work here. A well-designed catering menu paired with a direct-mail postcard announcing a seasonal special lands in real hands at a known cost per piece. For the mechanics of mailing at scale, our guide on what EDDM is and whether it fits your business shows how to reach a whole neighborhood of offices at once. Before you pick one, compare EDDM vs targeted direct mail and which one wins your budget.
2. Host tastings and open houses
A tasting or open house lets a prospect eat your food and meet your staff before they book. Invite your best leads, plate a range of signature dishes, and set the room up like the events you cater, down to the table tents.
Print makes the tasting stick. Send printed invitations beforehand, mark each dish with a table tent so guests remember what they loved, and send everyone home with a menu and a catering business card so booking you is effortless. Browse the full menus category to match your tasting pieces to your brand.
3. Work fairs and farmers markets
Local fairs, farmers markets, and food festivals put you face to face with a lot of local people in a single day. A small booth with samples and a clear sign draws a crowd, and every conversation is a chance to hand over something they can act on later. Catering business cards come in runs from 100, so plan one run for each market day on your calendar.
Stock the booth with print. Keep a stack of catering business cards for every handshake, a banner or table cover so the booth reads at a glance, and a few take-home menus for the serious prospects. For ideas on where to spread printed pieces beyond the booth, our roundup of places to leave print flyers for local promotion is full of practical spots. The catering business cards story shows the card styles a booth can hand out.
4. Earn coverage with press releases
Local media is always hunting for food stories, and a catering business has plenty to offer: a new seasonal menu, a charity event you are catering, a milestone, or a local sourcing story. A concise, well-written press release sent to neighborhood papers, food bloggers, and event magazines can earn a mention in the places local planners read, and it costs nothing but the effort.
Back the pitch with print. Include a clean one-page menu or sell sheet so an editor can see your range at a glance, and keep printed menus ready to send to anyone who responds.
5. Brand your catering vehicle
If you drive to events, your vehicle is already a moving billboard, it just needs a message. A branded van or car works every mile it drives and every hour it sits parked at a venue, putting your name and number in front of the exact neighborhoods where people book catering. Car magnets print on 30mil magnet with a Hi Gloss UV Coating, and a pair at $47.50 keeps working for every job the van drives to.
You do not need a full wrap to start. A set of car magnets with your logo, service, and phone number turns any vehicle into an ad and comes off when you need it to, while custom car decals give a more permanent, polished look. Add your website and a QR code so a driver behind you at a light can find you in seconds.
Wally sells catering with something to hold
Menus, tastings, and a branded van
Wally never markets catering with an ad people scroll past. He mails menus to real desks, hosts tastings that send guests home with a card, works the local market with a stack of business cards, pitches the press with a one-page menu, and wraps his van in magnets. Every move leaves a printed piece behind, and 4OVER4 prints all of them.
Print your catering menus →Quick reference
5 catering ideas and the print that carries them
Match each move to its piece, then read the size and the first price before you plan the budget. The menu and the business card cover three of the five ideas on their own.
| Marketing idea | Printed piece | Print it at 4OVER4 | Sizes and starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal menu mailers | Mailed menus and postcards | direct-mail-postcards | Nine sizes from 4 x 6 to 6 x 11 in, 14pt or 16pt cover, mailed in runs from 500 |
| Tastings and open houses | Invites and take-home menus | catering-menus | Seven sizes from 4.25 x 11 to 11 x 25.5 in, flat, half fold or trifold, 50 for $57.11 at 4.25 x 11 in |
| Fairs and farmers markets | Business cards and table tents | catering-business-cards | Cards in four sizes, 100 for $17.57; table tents 4 x 6 in on 14pt Gloss Cover, from 250 |
| Press releases | One-page menus and sell sheets | menus | 8.5 x 11 in on 100# Gloss Text or 70# Uncoated Text, from 50 for $57.11 at the smallest 4.25 x 11 in size |
| Branded catering vehicle | Car magnets and decals | car-magnets | Magnets in 18 sizes from 9 x 9 to 24 x 36 in on 30mil magnet; decals up to 11 x 11 in |
The kit
The catering print marketing kit
Five pieces cover the whole catering print marketing job, from the cold mailer that opens an office to the van parked outside the venue.
- Catering menus, the piece that closes. Your packages, headcount tiers, and dietary notes on one sheet, flat for a tasting table or folded so it fits an envelope and a coat pocket. Pick 100# Gloss Text with High Gloss UV when it has to survive a service, and reprint the moment a price or a package changes, because a crossed-out menu costs you the booking. Print them at catering menus.
- Mailers, the piece that opens the door. A postcard aimed at office managers, event planners, and venues in your delivery radius. Three signature packages and one photo on the front, the full menu and your phone number on the back, mailed in small batches you can actually follow up on by phone. Print them at direct mail postcards, on 14pt or 16pt cover in nine sizes from 4 x 6 to 6 x 11 inches.
- Business cards, the piece you hand over. The one thing every guest at a tasting, fair, or open house leaves with. Keep the front simple, put your cuisine and minimum headcount on the back so nobody has to guess whether you cover their party, and carry more than you think you need at a market day. Catering business cards run on 73 stocks from 13pt to 80pt.
- Table tents, the piece on the tasting table. A folded card that names each dish and its package price at a tasting or a market stall, so guests read the menu while they eat. Table tents print at 4 x 6 inches on 14pt Gloss Cover, 250 for $554.39.
- Vehicle magnets, the piece that works while you drive. Name, cuisine, phone number, and nothing else, readable from a lane away and easy to peel off when the van is used privately. Every delivery run past an office park becomes an ad, and venue staff see the name every time you unload. Print them at car magnets.
Step by step
Turn a catering idea into bookings in 6 steps
- Pick your best-selling menu Lead with the three or four packages that sell, and keep the full catalog for the follow-up call.
- Design a menu that sells Photograph a few signature dishes, keep the layout clean, and put your contact details where they cannot be missed.
- Build a target list Gather the offices, event planners, and venues most likely to book, with addresses for the mailers.
- Mail menus to real desks Send printed menus and postcards straight to decision-makers so your food lands in their hands, not their spam folder.
- Host a tasting and hand out menus Invite prospects to taste the food, then send each guest home with a menu and a card so the booking follows.
- Brand your van and hand out cards Wrap the vehicle in magnets, keep business cards on you, and let every event and every mile market the business.
Specs and pricing
Catering menu specs and live pricing
The menu does the most selling, at 50 for $57.11 at 4.25 x 11 inches, which is $1.14 each.
| Quantity | Price Per Unit | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | $1.14 | $57.11 |
| 100 | 82.4¢ | $82.38 |
| 200 | 53.3¢ | $106.55 |
| 300 | 41.0¢ | $123.02 |
| 400 | 34.9¢ | $139.49 |
| 500 | 31.2¢ | $155.97 |
| 600 | 26.7¢ | $160.36 |
| 700 | 23.5¢ | $164.75 |
Print it
Print the pieces that win catering clients
Menus for the tasting table, direct mail postcards for the office list in runs from 500, and car magnets for the van in 18 sizes.
See it in use
Real catering print, produced in-house
These are menus customers sent to press, so you can see how food photos and package tiers read on the printed sheet.
%22%2F%3E%3Ccircle%20cx%3D%2249%22%20cy%3D%2220%22%20r%3D%2224%22%20fill%3D%22%232dd4bf%22%20opacity%3D%220.15%22%2F%3E%3Ccircle%20cx%3D%2254%22%20cy%3D%2227%22%20r%3D%22-3%22%20fill%3D%22%232dd4bf%22%20opacity%3D%220.1%22%2F%3E%3Crect%20x%3D%2279%22%20y%3D%22-9%22%20width%3D%2234%22%20height%3D%2220%22%20rx%3D%224%22%20fill%3D%22%232dd4bf%22%20opacity%3D%220.08%22%20transform%3D%22rotate(44%2080%2030)%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E)
Explore more
Where to go next
By the numbers
Catering print picked out of 1,000+ products
Common Questions
Common questions about marketing a catering business
What is the best way to start marketing a catering business?
Start where the effort converts fastest: personal menu mailers. Design a menu that leads with your best dishes and clear booking details, build a focused list of offices, planners, and venues, and mail printed menus and postcards straight to their desks. A physical menu stays put on a desk and invites a second look days later. Then add tastings and a branded vehicle as you grow.
What printed pieces do caterers need most?
Five pieces carry most catering marketing: a strong menu for mailers and leave-behinds, direct-mail postcards to announce specials, business cards for every handshake at events and markets, table tents to label dishes at tastings, and vehicle magnets or decals to turn your van into a rolling ad. Together they cover mail, in-person events, and everyday visibility, and they all match when you print them from one shop.
How much does catering marketing print cost and how are prices set?
Print price scales with size, stock, finish, and quantity, with larger runs lowering the unit cost. You set each option in the configurator and the total updates live as you adjust it, so you can see what a heavier menu stock or a bigger mailing does to the number before you commit. Ordering menus, postcards and cards together keeps every piece on brand.
What sizes and finishes work best for catering menus?
Catering menus print flat, half fold or trifold in seven sizes, on 100# Gloss Text for bright food photos or 70# Uncoated Text for a quieter, writable sheet. A High Gloss UV Coating adds shine and helps a menu survive handling at events. The live specs panel here and on the product page shows the current sizes, stocks, and finishes, and free samples let you feel the stock before printing a full run.
Get Started
Start with the menu, then the cards and the van
Print the menus, postcards, and cards that win bookings at 4OVER4.COM, then mail them, hand them out, and brand your van. Adjust every option and watch your price update live, so you can see what a tasting run of menus costs against a full mailing before you commit. If you want to feel the stock first, order free paper samples and hold the sheet your menu will be printed on.
Legal Disclaimer
Gold Standard guarantees apply to all standard orders placed through 4over4.com. Price match requires verifiable proof of a competitor's published price for an equivalent product with matching specifications and turnaround time. Satisfaction guarantee covers manufacturing defects and print quality issues. Contact support with order number and documentation.
