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Catering > Order Policies page

Administrator

Written By Natalia Povrozniak (Administrator)

Updated on October 16th, 2026

Table of Contents

Adding an order policy Deleting an order policy

Applies to app version 2026.02 onwards

 

Here's where Order Policy is located within the catering-related dependencies:

  1. Dietary Terms
  2. Suppliers
  3. ✅ Order Policies
  4. Items
  5. Menus
  6. Templates
  7. Orders
  8. Pantry Timeline

For catering orders to properly function, there must be at least one order policy for your organisations' building. It is used to restrict time frames of when catering items can be served and any associated preparation time needed.

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Create separate policies for the catering item categories such as hot and cold meals, snacks and drinks to make sure that they are ordered with enough time in advance. Create a separate order policy for all-day items, another order policy could be for lunchtime menu items, and so on. Order policy makes the menu dynamic based on how far in advance the person books and what time of day they expect the order to be served.

On the Order Policies page, you can search for an existing order policy, export the existing policies, delete, edit, or add a new one.

Adding an order policy

To add a new order policy:

  1. Click +Add
  2. New page opens. Fill in the fields:
    1. Define Policy Name.
    2. (inactive field) Policy ID is assigned by the system after you save the order policy.
    3. Add Policy Description.
    4. Set Preparation Time in minutes. Consider these examples:
Current 
local time		 Booking time Food slot Preparation time Catering Item Availability (From - To) Result
10:30 any after 11:00 any 30 minutes 09:00 - 12:00 Can place an order after 11:00 but before 15:30 to allow for preparation
10:25 10:00 - 11:30 11:00 - 11:30 30 minutes 09:00 - 16:00 Can place an order to be delivered after 11:00
10:35 09:00 - 16:00
10:35 10:00 - 11:00 10:00 - 11:00 30 minutes 09:00 - 16:00 Can't place an order as there's not enough time for preparation
10:00 - 11:30 11:00 - 11:30 1 hour 09:00 - 16:00 Can place an order
12:00 - 13:30 12:30 - 13:00 1 hour 09:00 - 16:00 Can place an order for 12:30 due to food slot limitation
12:00 - 13:30 12:00 - 13:00 1 hour 09:00 - 16:00 Can place order for 12:00
16:00 - 17:30 16:00 - 17:30 1 hour 09:00 - 16:00 Can place order for 16:00 at the latest, when the item's availability ends
16:30 - 17:30 1 hour 09:00 - 16:00 Can't place an order as the item isn't available after 16:00
10:00 on November 21 09:00 - 12:00 on November 23 10:00 - 12:00 48 hours 09:00 - 16:00 Can place an order, but only for delivery after 10:00
11:00 on November 21 48 hours 09:00 - 16:00 Can't place an order as there are only 47 hours left until expected food delivery
13:00 on November 21 08:00 - 09:00 on November 24 08:00 - 09:00 48 hours 09:00 - 16:00 Can't place an order as the item isn't available before 09:00
  1. Define the Catering Item Availability (From and To). This can be used for items that have limited availability throughout the day. For example, for fresh pastry in the mornings.
  2. (required) Add your internal notice in plain text in the Advanced Notice field. The note is visible to internal teams only.
  3. Save your settings.

Deleting an order policy

To delete an order policy, first reassign a catering item attached to it. Do this in the popup that lists all related items that need to be sorted.

Click OK to confirm reassigning the order items, and then confirm all changes and deleting the order policy.

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