How catering works

1. Organisation level. For their users to be able to order catering to their meeting room bookings, organisations first define the following:
   1. If the catering feature should be available for the organisation at all and, if yes, to what user roles.
   2. Whether one or multiple catering orders can be added to space bookings.
   3. Whether catering orders must be approved by Catering Manager or not.
   4. How budgeting of catering orders should work, whether cost codes should be used for catering orders.
2. Operational team and kitchen level. This is where the operational team defines:
   1. What are kitchen operating times and catering items preparation times. This will impact what users can order depending on when they are ordering.
   2. What are available catering items and their cost, label them with allergens or other dietary restrictions for filtering.
3. User level. After all is set up organisation-wide, users with appropriate permissions can add catering orders to their confirmed space bookings. Create a booking for a space that allows catering service to be delivered.

Adding catering order to a booking

To add catering orders to the booking:

1. Click Catering in the booking confirmation popup or when modifying the booking (the Edit booking page). A catering order page opens. 

2. Review the summary of your booking: room, date, and time. You can edit your boking by clicking the View booking button in the top right corner.
3. See the cut-off time that is needed for meal preparation. After this time passes before you confirm your booking, some of the items may become unavailable.
4. Add one or more cost codes and their apportioning in percentage if applicable.
   ⚠️ Your default cost code(s) will be already added – listed on the right. To remove it, use arrows to move it to the left. Then, add other cost code(s).
   Read more about setting your default cost codes here, in the corresponding section: Settings in Flex.
   
5. Select the available menu from the drop-down.
   ⚠️ There may be several menus available for the space that you have booked. Select one menu to choose items from it. If you select items from one menu, and then switch to another, all previously selected items will be cleared.
    
6. You can filter by allergens for the relevant catering items to be excluded from the menu or filter out food that is, for example, marked as vegan, vegetarian, or kosher.
7. View catering items available on the menu in three tabs: BEVERAGES, SNACKS, and FOODS. 
   ⚠️ Mind that catering items have time-bound preparation and delivery times: some items can become unavailable if it's past the cut-off time for item preparation or kitchen operating hours. It means that depending on when in relation to your booking time you are trying to add or modify catering orders, you may see a different set of menu items available.
    
8. Expand the menu item to view its details if you need.
9. Edit quantity for menu items.
10. Add your allergies to notify the kitchen staff so that they can adjust accordingly.
11. Add notes if relevant.
12. See the service and clean-up times that are needed to support your order. By default the time set is the start and end time of your booking. You can define different times for delivering catering items and for clean-up.
13. Click Save Order.

Your order might need to be approved before it is processed by the kitchen depending on your organisation settings. Once it is approved, you'll receive a confirmation. If you don't need approval, your booking is set up.

You can add multiple catering orders to one space booking if this option is enabled for your user role by the API.Catering.MultipleOrders security right.

Adding multiple catering orders

You can also add multiple catering orders if you need them to be delivered and cleaned at different times during your meeting. For this, use the Add Further Orders button after you've added a catering order.

⚠️ To have this option available, admin of your organisation must grant the API.Catering.MultipleOrders permission to your role.

To add another catering order:

• Use the Add Further Orders button on the confirmation popup.

• Or click Add New Order on the catering order editing page.