What to do with leftovers from a corporate buffet?

After a buffet, there are often pastries or canapés left over. Can you keep them, share them out, donate them? The answer depends on one simple question: was the dish displayed on the buffet?

What you can do, and what to avoid

The hygiene rules to know

• Cold chain: cold preparations are kept at +3 °C at most; hot dishes are held at +63 °C at least.
• Donation: only surplus protected from contamination, dated and kept without breaking the cold chain can be donated. Dishes already presented to guests should be excluded as a precaution.
• Consumption time: follow the caterer's. At L'Écrin, 4 hours after delivery for chilled products, 2 hours at most at room temperature.

Donating to a charity: what you need to know

For a company or a medium-sized caterer, donating is voluntary: the obligations to sign a donation agreement apply to supermarkets over 400 m² and to institutional catering serving more than 3,000 meals a day. If you wish to donate, contact a charity in advance: it will tell you what it accepts and how to collect it.

The simplest option: avoid leftovers

• Confirm the headcount two days before, with only a 10% margin.
• Adjust the day before: at L'Écrin, until 2 pm.
• Follow proven per-person quantities: 2 pastries at breakfast, 8 to 16 canapés at a cocktail reception depending on the format.
• Plan less for a late slot: a breakfast at 9:30 am is eaten less than one at 8 am.

Our quantities are detailed in the breakfast budget guide and the guide how many canapés per person.

Sources

• French Ministry of Agriculture, the laws against food waste (28 September 2026).
• Technical instruction DGAL/SDSSA/2017-551 on food donations; order of 21 December 2009, Annex I (temperatures).
• Mandatory sorting of food waste, info.gouv.fr.
• L'Écrin Traiteur storage conditions: terms and conditions of sale, article 4.

Frequently asked questions