Corporate breakfast in Paris: the complete guide for office managers (packages, quantities, budget, dietary needs, ordering)

A corporate breakfast is a morning meal delivered to a team at its workplace, served between 8:30 and 9:30 am before a meeting. It is made up of mini pastries, something sweet, fruit, coffee, tea and juice, at a rate of two mini pastries per person, one 1-litre thermos for six people and one litre of juice for five. At L'Écrin Traiteur, a Paris corporate caterer, you order until 10 am the day before and delivery starts from 6:30 am, Monday to Friday, in Paris and across Île-de-France. This guide answers, in order, the questions of an office manager or an organiser: what to serve, how much, what budget, what time, what to do about dietary needs, and how to order without forgetting anything. All prices are in euros excluding VAT.

When should you organise a corporate breakfast?

You organise a corporate breakfast when a team meets early and nobody wants to start with a run to the bakery. Five occasions come up most often, each with its own format.

For the September restart, see the back-to-work breakfast; for a ritual, the weekly breakfast and its annual budget; for clients, the client meeting and the prestige format.

What does a good corporate breakfast contain?

A good corporate breakfast has five elements: mini pastries, something sweet, fruit, a hot drink and juice. Each answers a simple need and is counted per person.

• Mini pastries are the base: 2 per person, 3 up to 10 people. They are eaten with one hand, do not stain and can be eaten standing. See why mini pastries and how many per person.
• Something sweet completes it: one madeleine per person, or a cake of 5 to 6 slices beyond 20 people. See the cakes.
• Fruit lightens it: one fresh fruit skewer per person beyond 15 people.
• Coffee and tea are served from 1-litre thermoses, which keep the drink hot for 6 to 8 hours: one thermos for 6 people. See how many thermoses.
• Juice is planned at one 20 cl glass per person, that is 1 litre for 5 people (orange and apple).

Savoury is an extra, not a base: it is chosen for teams that prefer savoury, as brioche rolls or mini navettes. See the savoury breakfast and what a company breakfast is made of.

The four corporate breakfast packages

At L'Écrin Traiteur, a package is a complete box for 10 people, drinks included: pastries, something sweet, organic coffee, tea and juice. The headcount goes up by tens, from 10 to 300; for 35 guests, you take 30 or 40. Four packages, for four situations.

For a particular need (another composition, another headcount, no coffee), ask for a quote: we adjust. The detail and the basket are on the breakfast packages page.

How much should you plan per person?

If you compose it yourself or order à la carte, plan 2 mini pastries (3 up to 10 people), 1 sweet treat, one 20 cl glass of juice and 1 hot drink per person, with 1 fruit skewer beyond 15 people. A 1-litre thermos serves 6 people, with 1 thermos of tea for 4 of coffee. These are the rules we apply to every quote. The quantities of a package for 10 follow from them.

Mini pastries are sold à la carte in trays of 30, hence the gap between the pieces needed and the pieces delivered. Quantities vary with the time: a breakfast at 8 am is eaten more than at 9:30, when part of the team has already eaten. The detail by headcount is in the guides for 20, 30, 50 and 100 people, and in the quantity calculator.

How much does a corporate breakfast cost?

For 20 people, a complete corporate breakfast costs from €230 excl. VAT to €438 excl. VAT at L'Écrin Traiteur, delivery not included, drinks included, that is from €11.50 to €21.90 per person. The price of a package is that of the products it contains; it never exceeds that of the same items taken one by one on the site.

Prices exclude delivery. With the delivery of a package at €39 excl. VAT (Paris and nearby towns, thermos collection included), the delivered total becomes:

What the price includes: the products, organic coffee, tea and juice, napkins, cups, sugar and stirrers, delivery from 6:30 am and collection of the thermoses. What it does not include: on-site set-up, reusable or porcelain tableware, a tablecloth, flowers and a maître d'hôtel (€250 excl. VAT for 6 hours), which are quoted on request. The minimum order is €50 excl. VAT. To plan a year of ritual, see the budget of a team breakfast and ideas ranked by budget.

What time, how long, where to set up?

Serve breakfast between 8:30 and 9:30 am, 15 to 20 minutes before the meeting starts, and allow 30 to 45 minutes. It is late enough for everyone to have arrived, early enough not to eat into the working morning. Delivery starts at 6:30 am, Monday to Friday, at the time you set when you order; for a 9 am meeting, a delivery between 7:30 and 8 am leaves time to set the table.

• The table: a clear table, away from the traffic, with the mini pastries in the middle and the drinks on a separate table beyond 20 people, to avoid a queue.
• Hot drinks: coffee and tea are poured from the thermoses, which keep the drink hot for 6 to 8 hours. Open them at the last moment.
• The flow: beyond 25 people, plan two service points so that everyone is served in under ten minutes.
• Waste: a bin bag and paper towels near the table. Clear within the hour.
• Food safety: products served at room temperature are eaten within 2 hours; what has been on display is not handed out again.

To go further on the running order: how to make a company breakfast work, how long coffee stays hot and a breakfast for tomorrow morning.

Dietary needs and allergies: what to plan?

Ask for dietary needs and allergies in the invitation, then pass the number of people concerned to the caterer with the quote request, never on the day itself. An allergen table is attached to the quote and the delivery note.

See also the halal company breakfast, the gluten-free caterer, the healthy breakfast and the allergen obligations.

Equipment, consumables and service: what is included

The detailed list is in how to organise a company breakfast: the list of what not to forget. For the law on tableware, see disposable or reusable.

The timeline, from D-7 to D+1

How to order, with a quote request template

There are three ways to order a corporate breakfast from L'Écrin Traiteur: online, on quote, or by subscription.

• Online: choose a package and the headcount on the packages page, then pay or ask for a quote to have it approved by your management.
• On quote: for a particular need or a large headcount, the quote request gets a reply within 24 hours.
• By subscription: for a weekly ritual, the order repeats every week at the same price, with a reserved time slot, one invoice a month and no commitment.

Here is a quote request template to copy; eight pieces of information are enough for an accurate quote:

1. The date and the delivery time you want.
2. The address, the floor, the room name and a reachable contact at reception.
3. The confirmed headcount (and any margin).
4. The package or composition you want.
5. Dietary needs and allergies, with the number of people concerned.
6. Disposable or reusable tableware; tablecloth, flowers, maître d'hôtel if needed.
7. The invoicing address and the purchase order number, if there is one.
8. The budget, if you have one.

At L'Écrin Traiteur, the quote arrives within 24 hours, the invoice is a company invoice with VAT and a purchase order is accepted.

Mistakes that spoil a corporate breakfast

• Giving an approximate headcount instead of the confirmed one: the surplus is thrown away.
• Ordering too late: you can order until 10 am the day before, 48 hours ahead from 50 people.
• Forgetting the coffee: for 20 people you need 4 one-litre thermoses, not one.
• Serving too early: a breakfast set out an hour before the meeting loses its freshness.
• Giving no contact on site: the delivery person waits at reception.
• Discovering dietary needs and allergies on the day.
• Forgetting to say disposable or reusable: it is neither the same price nor the same collection.
• Not planning a clear table or a place to throw away the cups.
• Putting the drinks on the pastry table: the queue blocks everyone.
• Mistaking a snack for a meal: a meeting breakfast lasts 30 to 45 minutes, not half a day.

Special cases

• A large headcount (100 people and more): the order is firm 48 hours ahead, with a long enough drop table and several service points. See breakfast for 100 people and a seminar of 100 to 200 people.
• Several sites or several times: one delivery per site or per time; state the address, the time and a contact for each.
• A very early start (before 8 am): delivery starts at 6:30 am. State the access (entrance, loading bay, reception).
• A full day: a welcome breakfast, an individual lunch, an afternoon break. See organising a company seminar.
• A hybrid team: order for the days people are in and adjust the headcount the day before, before 10 am. See the return-to-office breakfast.
• A press day or a launch: see the press day and the welcome coffee of a launch.
• A year-end party: see the Christmas breakfast.

How to choose a corporate breakfast caterer?

Eight verifiable criteria let you compare two caterers without relying on a promise. Ask each for the answer in writing.

To go further: how to choose a breakfast caterer in Paris, which breakfast caterer in Paris, in La Défense and the questions to ask before signing.

Glossary of the corporate breakfast

Mini pastry (mini-viennoiserie)

A croissant, pain au chocolat or pain aux raisins in a small size, eaten in two bites. You need 2 per person (3 up to 10 people).

Sweet treat (mignardise)

A small sweet served as a complement: madeleine, slice of cake, choux puff.

Thermos

A 1-litre insulated bottle of coffee or tea that serves 6 people and keeps the drink hot for 6 to 8 hours.

Package (formule)

A complete box for 10 people, drinks included; the headcount goes up by tens.

Equipment collection

The caterer collects the thermoses or tableware lent; it is included in the delivery of a package.

Set-up (mise en place)

Installing the table and the service on site; not included in the delivery, provided by a maître d'hôtel on request.

Allergen table

A document showing, product by product, the presence of the 14 allergens that must be declared; attached to the quote and the delivery note.

Purchase order

A company's internal document authorising a purchase; its number is carried onto the invoice.

Frequently asked questions about the corporate breakfast

Sources and method

The quantities per person are L'Écrin Traiteur's quoting rules, based on the breakfasts we deliver. The prices and contents of the packages are those of the site on 10 November 2026; they are calculated from the catalogue and update with it. The obligation to inform about the 14 allergens comes from EU Regulation No 1169/2011; the rules on tableware come from the French AGEC law of 10 February 2020. The timing benchmarks (8:30 to 9:30 am, 30 to 45 minutes) are the ones we recommend; they adapt to your team. Guide written by the team at L'Écrin Traiteur, a corporate caterer in Paris and Île-de-France, updated on 10 November 2026.

Order a package or ask for a quote: reply within 24 hours, delivery from 6:30 am.