The most wonderful time of the year is fast approaching, and at Monkey Business Catering, we’re all set to make your Christmas celebrations truly unforgettable! Get ready to indulge in a culinary experience like no other with our specially curated Christmas catering offerings for 2023. From delectable main courses to irresistible desserts, we have everything you need to make your festive gathering a smashing success! Festive Buffet: A Feast Fit for Royalty Our Festive Buffet package is designed to cater to all your culinary desires. For just $29.50 per person, indulge in a lavish spread that i ..read more

Looking for budget-friendly Christmas catering options? The festive season nearly is upon us, and it’s time to start planning your Toowoomba Christmas party! We’ve begun roasting turkey, stocking up on rum (for cooking, of course), testing cherry shortbread recipes, and slicing leg ham. The first Christmas catering orders have already kicked off, and the juggling act has begun. So, how can you make your Toowoomba Christmas party easier, without breaking the bank, and ensure you and your guests have a joyful time together? We’ve got you covered with these top tips: 1. Venue matters Choosing the ..read more

“It’s not how many times you get knocked down that count, it’s how many times you get back up.” —George A. Custer 2020 From March to August 2020, we saw a near complete drying up of orders and cash flow.  Our catering business model was focused around the supply of food to gatherings of people … and no-one was gathering due to COVID. After an initial period of disbelief and worry, we spent this time well, working hard on business development and system upgrades. Thank you to the JobSeeker Government program, which paid for staff to work on these items. This transitioned us into the slow e ..read more

It has been four years since I last wrote about how to budget for office and conference catering and I am back with a revised pricing guide.  Why revised?  The past three years have resulted in huge shifts in our economic conditions: Supply changes have been impacted, particularly items that are shipped from overseas (think disposable packaging) Our fresh fruit and vegetables is typically picked by backpackers (cheap labour) and they haven’t been allowed into Australia increasing the base cost of those supplies Packaging requirements are now more restricted (the Queensland governmen ..read more

Running a family business can be both rewarding and challenging, especially when it involves working with your mother. In this article, we share some tips and insights on how to navigate this unique dynamic and make it a successful partnership for both the business and your relationship. Mothers were the only ones you could depend on to tell the whole, unvarnished truth.  – Margaret Dilloway When Monkey Business Catering started nine years ago, I (Amy aka the Head Monkey) was the one on the ground. Making day-to-day decisions on how the business ran.  Without me the business couldn ..read more

Looking for ways to get the most of our your non-profit charity fundraiser with food? Catering business owner and hospitality expert, Amy Thompson shares her top two tips. We love fundraises and charity events! It’s gorgeous to see our community alive with people who care for the places and people in it they have been broken through circumstances and bad luck. Money may not buy happiness, but giving it away can! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Monkey Business Catering (@monkeycatering) So if you are running a fundraising or charity event, how can you get the most out of the f ..read more

The most dangerous food is wedding cake. – Proverb Weddings … they make up the most fun part of our business and are also the most challenging. So much thought, diligent planning, deep emotion and multiple people involvement is invested in the preparation of weddings. This leads to unique dynamic. For corporate events we tend to deal with a single person in the planning stage. For weddings we deal with between two to six different people. From the very beginning of the business, I knew that we were going to specialise in very specific style of events. Our speciality is the not the extreme phen ..read more

What does a Catering Manager do? DEFINITION: Catering managers perform the planning and management of catered events.  Job descriptions are incredibly boring—they boil down complex, multifaceted work environments so that all inspiration and joy are stolen from you before you can make up your mind if you actually want the job! This is my very humble attempt to place you in the shoes of ‘a day in the life’ of a catering manager. To give you the real taste of what it takes, the highs and the lows. This blog is for you if you are curious or considering working in this role in the future but m ..read more

It has been three years since I last wrote about catering budget and I am back with a revised pricing guide.  Why revised?  The past three years have resulted in huge shifts in our economic conditions: supply changes have been impacted, particularly items that are shipped from overseas (think disposable packaging) our fresh fruit and vegetables is typically picked by backpackers (cheap labour) and they haven’t been allowed into Australia increasing the base cost of those supplies packaging requirements are now more restricted (the Queensland government is pushing through bans on sin ..read more

“It’s not how many times you get knocked down that count, it’s how many times you get back up.” —George A. Custer 2020 From March to August 2020, we saw a near complete drying up of orders and cash flow.  Our catering business model was focused around the supply of food to gatherings of people … and no-one was gathering due to COVID. After an initial period of disbelief and worry, we spent this time well, working hard on business development and system upgrades. Thank you to the JobSeeker Government program, which paid for staff to work on these items. This transitioned us into the slow e ..read more