Halal Catering: What We Can And Cannot Honestly Say

Being straight about this

Halal catering is a question we are asked constantly, particularly in Leicester, and it is one where a vague answer is worse than no answer.

So here is the honest position, in full.

What we do

We prepare halal portions separately, using halal-sourced meat, kept apart from other preparation, and we label them clearly so nobody has to ask across a room what is in something.

We do this every week. It is a routine part of how the kitchen works rather than a special request, and it costs no extra on a buffet. If a whole order needs to be halal (an office where most of the room requires it, a family gathering, a community event) we build the entire order that way from the start rather than adding a few plates at the end of a standard buffet.

Tell us numbers rather than proportions. “Twenty-two” is something a kitchen can work with. “About a third” is not.

What we are not

We are not a certified halal kitchen. We do not hold HMC, HFA or equivalent certification, and the kitchen prepares non-halal food alongside: pork is on the menu, and it is a single production site.

For a great many customers that is entirely fine: they want halal-sourced meat prepared separately and labelled, and that is exactly what they get. For others it is not sufficient, and they need a certified kitchen with no pork on the premises at all.

Both positions are completely reasonable, and only you know which one applies. What would not be reasonable is us being fuzzy about the difference in the hope of taking the booking.

Why we are saying it this plainly

Because the alternative is somebody discovering it on the day, and there is no version of that which ends well.

A page claiming “halal catering” without qualification would rank, and it would bring us enquiries from people whose requirement we cannot meet. Turning those down at the point of enquiry wastes their time; not turning them down would be considerably worse.

What this means in practice

If you need halal-sourced, separately prepared and clearly labelled: that is us, every week and you can order a buffet with confidence. Say so when you book and give us the numbers.

If you need certified halal with no pork in the building. We are not the right caterer and we will tell you so on the phone rather than after you have booked. We would rather you found somebody who is.

The same applies across the board

This is how we treat every dietary requirement. Vegetarian is 30% of every buffet before anybody asks. Vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free portions are prepared separately and labelled.

What we do not do is guess at an allergen or imply a standard we do not meet. A guessed allergen is the one mistake in this trade that can genuinely hurt somebody, and a certification claimed loosely is not far behind.

Got a question about it? Ring the office and ask directly, 0115 647 6903. You will get a straight answer, including the ones that lose us the booking.