How catering economics break for multi-unit operators

Catering tickets average 10x in-store tickets — so the channel is high-leverage. But three things go wrong at scale: (1) third-party catering platforms charge 15-18% in effective fees while Toast Catering charges 2-3%, (2) phone orders quoted to a regular get prepared but never invoiced, and (3) store-level deposit policy is inconsistent. The Catering Leak quick win renders per-store reconciliation gap and channel mix so the leak is obvious in one screen.