FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

way.food is the direct-booking platform for event catering: enter date, location and guest count, instantly compare matching caterers at transparent prices, and book online with a protected deposit. No PDFs, no phone calls, no back-and-forth for weeks — your reservation is binding the moment the deposit is paid.

Three steps:

1. Pick a package on the provider profile or directly from the Discover results.
2. In the checkout drawer, confirm the address, guest count and event type, then pay the deposit securely with card, Klarna or PayPal.
3. You'll receive your booking confirmation by email immediately — with full details and how the balance is settled with the caterer.

If no listed package fits, you can negotiate a custom package through the chat (see below).

This line sits next to every price so you always see one total — no surprises. It bundles way.food's brokering and protection services: secure online payment, your deposit kept securely, clear cancellation tiers, dispute mediation. You pay exactly what you see — the caterer receives their share 1:1.

You pay a deposit of at least 20 % of the catering price when you book (some caterers set up to 50 % on certain packages). way.food keeps the deposit securely and only releases it to the caterer after the event. That keeps your money protected until the service is delivered — and the cancellation tiers apply transparently if plans change.

The balance (catering price minus deposit) is settled directly with the caterer — on-site on the event day or by bank transfer if agreed. Your confirmation email and the chat both show the balance explicitly so you and the caterer are on the same page. way.food does not collect this amount.

You can cancel free of charge within 24 hours of booking — 100 % back. After that, fixed tiers apply based on how far out the event is:

• more than 30 days before the event → full deposit refunded
• 14–30 days before the event → 70 % of the deposit refunded
• 7–14 days before the event → 40 % of the deposit refunded
• less than 7 days before the event → no refund

The cancellation flow always shows you one cancellation fee and one refund — clear, no small print.

For recognised force-majeure cases special rules apply instead of the regular cancellation tiers — e.g. 50 % refund + 50 % voucher on illness with doctor's note, 100 % refund on official bans, free re-booking when an outdoor event is hit by an official weather warning. You submit proof inside the cancellation flow and a way.food agent reviews the case manually.

If no listed package matches your event, you can request a custom package. Briefly describe what you're looking for in the chat — the caterer negotiates menu, scope and price with you and sends a binding offer as a card right in the chat. One click on "Accept & book" takes you to the regular checkout. During the negotiation the caterer stays bookable for others — whoever pays first gets the date. As soon as you accept the offer and pay the deposit, the date is firmly reserved for you.

The fastest path is the booking wizard at the top of the page — three steps: when, where, how many guests. The Discover page then shows all matching caterers with package prices, ratings and live availability. Filters (cuisine, prep style like vegan/halal, way.food styles) help refine. Premium providers are visually highlighted — verified by way.food and especially active.

Premium and Premium+ providers carry a visible badge on their card and profile. They are verified by way.food, particularly active, respond quickly, and rank higher on Discover. Premium+ gets an even more prominent card treatment. Free and Basic providers are fully bookable too — the tier badge signals extra engagement and service level.

With a free account you'll find all your bookings — including chat, invoices and status — in your dashboard. Without an account you receive an email with all details and a direct chat link after each booking, so an account isn't mandatory to book.

No. way.food is free for organisers — search, compare and book without limits. Service & platform protection are already included in the displayed total; there are no additional membership or booking fees from us for you.

Registration is free and takes under 5 minutes. Click Register for free and fill in the form. Then:

1. Confirm your email.
2. Set up your profile — photos, description, location.
3. Create packages and add-ons (or start with the automatic "Custom package" placeholder so you're bookable straight away).
4. Optional: pick a plan to unlock the public profile + map listing.

Without a plan you remain on the Free tier — fully bookable through Direct Booking, but without a public profile or map listing.

Four plans:

• Free — 0 € · 15 % service fee · no public profile, no map listing. Direct Booking works.
• Basic — from 29 €/month · 10 % service fee · public profile + map listing.
• Premium — from 49 €/month · 8 % service fee · Premium badge, better Discover visibility, extended media gallery.
• Premium+ — from 99 €/month · 5 % service fee · Premium+ badge, prominent card treatment, festival access.

The first catering job usually already covers the monthly fee. Important: the service fee is added on top of your catering price, never deducted from your earnings — you receive 100 % of your calculated package price (see next FAQ).

Yes — you receive 100 % of your calculated net package price.

The service fee (Free 15 % · Basic 10 % · Premium 8 % · Premium+ 5 %) and the platform-protection flat fee are added on top of your net price and are included in the displayed "incl. service & platform protection" total. They never pass through your payout and are never deducted from your earnings: on a net of, say, 2,000 € you receive exactly 2,000 € — no deductions.

The model works like Booking.com or Airbnb: one clear total displayed externally, your net stays 100 % with you.

For each booking the customer pays the deposit (20 % of your net package price by default) online. way.food keeps it securely and transfers it to your Stripe Connect account 14 days after the event date.

Tip: if your customer reviews you after the event, we release your payout right away (with a 24-hour safety window) — instead of waiting the full 14 days. So feel free to actively ask your customers for a review.

The balance you collect directly from the customer — on-site on the event day or by bank transfer if agreed. You keep full control and your money doesn't take a detour through the platform.

A dedicated "Your payout" block appears in the chat sidebar as soon as the deposit is paid — fully transparent per booking.

In the provider dashboard under "Packages" you set up structured packages: duration, service style (all-you-can-eat or portions), staff tiers by guest count, travel rate, vehicle rental and price per person. way.food then computes the booking total automatically.

You can list up to 10 packages and 15 add-ons per concept. Reorder packages by drag-and-drop — the top ones show first on your profile and in the checkout package picker.

If a customer cancels after the 24-hour window, you keep a share of the deposit depending on how close the event is — including 100 % of the deposit for a cancellation less than 7 days out. For cancellations within 14 days of the event, German § 648 BGB additionally entitles you to the remainder of the net catering price. way.food automatically forwards you the customer's invoice details in that case so you can pursue the claim directly.

Every provider gets an automatic "Custom package" placeholder that appears on Discover as "Price on request". When a customer requests it, a chat starts: you negotiate menu and scope, then use the same structured price form to send a binding offer with a total and a deposit. The customer clicks "Accept & book" and lands in the regular checkout. The offer is valid for 3 days. Your calendar stays open to others during the negotiation — whoever pays first gets the date, so follow up on your offers quickly and respond fast.

In your concept's calendar you set default opening hours and can block individual days. If you run multiple trucks or teams simultaneously, set the "Parallel slots per day" field accordingly — the calendar then tracks how many slots remain free per day. A booking consumes 1 slot; an active chat negotiation also reserves 1 slot for the duration of the negotiation so nobody books over you while you're still negotiating.

In the unpaid phase (before the booking is confirmed) do not exchange phone numbers, email addresses or external URLs. Our AI detects this content and blocks the message so the booking is processed cleanly through the platform. This protects everyone — the customer from shady off-platform paths, you from bypass attempts, and the platform from circumvention. After a successful booking, phone and email are visible in the chat's contact panel. Repeated violations trigger an automatic terms warning.

Free is fully bookable via Direct Booking — you can list packages, receive bookings and get paid out. You don't get a public profile page or a map listing, however. The service fee is also higher at 15 % (vs Basic 10 %, Premium 8 %, Premium+ 5 %). Free is ideal to try the platform without commitment — once you receive regular bookings, Basic/Premium almost always pays off.

The Premium badge signals to visitors that you're a verified Premium provider — vetted by way.food, particularly active, with extended profile and media gallery. Premium providers also rank higher on Discover. Premium+ providers get an extra prominent card treatment and access to festival slots.

If you run multiple concepts (e.g. foodtruck + catering, or several trucks) you set up a separate provider profile with its own subscription for each. That way organisers find you exactly under the category they're looking for, and each profile has its own calendar, packages and reviews. You manage all profiles from the same account.

As a partner you can choose between horizontal ads, square ads and mobile ads, placed prominently on provider profile pages. You also appear in the Partner area visible to all registered providers. Interested? Email us at [email protected].

Your ads are shown specifically to providers and organisers. Thanks to strategic placement on profile pages you reach exactly the people interested in food events — caterers, foodtruck operators, event planners and their customers.

As a partner you benefit from way.food's growing community. We offer various partnership packages tailored to your needs. Drop us a line at [email protected] if you're interested.

Premium partners gain additional visibility through preferred ad placement and can use multiple ad formats in parallel. They also benefit from exclusive analytics and priority support.