our story
Our Story
Nearly 10 years ago, The Social Platter Co. began with a simple idea — to bring people together over beautiful, handcrafted food.
What started as a small, homegrown platter business has grown into one of Canterbury’s most trusted names in catering. While the scale has changed, our values haven’t.
Where we are today
Today, our team of over 78 passionate staff — including chefs and bakers with more years of combined experience than we can count — we deliver catering across Christchurch, Canterbury, North Canterbury, Selwyn, Ashburton, and Methven.
Alongside our catering operations, we run multiple cafés and provide contract catering for major organisations, including KiwiRail — all while maintaining the same focus on consistency, quality, and ease.
How we work
From the beginning, our approach has been simple:
To make great food accessible.
To take the stress out of catering.
And to be easy to deal with.
We believe catering should feel straightforward, not intimidating — and that’s exactly how we operate.
Attention to detail
At the heart of the business are Paul and Manu — known to most as “The Boys”.
Detail-focused by nature, they believe that every element matters — from ingredient quality through to presentation. It’s a standard they apply to everything we do, because it’s what they would expect for their own guests.
Our food
We’re passionate about using fresh, locally sourced ingredients and making as much as possible in-house — from breads and spreads through to sweet and savoury elements.
It’s this hands-on approach that ensures consistency, quality, and a finished product we’re proud to put our name to.
And Betty
Keeping things grounded (and occasionally entertaining) is our much-loved CEO, Betty — a Shih Tzu cross Poodle.
While Betty doesn’t contribute in the kitchen, she does ensure we never take ourselves too seriously.
Proudly local. Always approachable.
Nearly 10 years ago, The Social Platter Co. began with a simple idea — to bring people together over beautiful, handcrafted food.
What started as a small, homegrown platter business has grown into one of Canterbury’s most trusted names in catering. While the scale has changed, our values haven’t.
Where we are today
Today, our team of over 78 passionate staff — including chefs and bakers with more years of combined experience than we can count — we deliver catering across Christchurch, Canterbury, North Canterbury, Selwyn, Ashburton, and Methven.
Alongside our catering operations, we run multiple cafés and provide contract catering for major organisations, including KiwiRail — all while maintaining the same focus on consistency, quality, and ease.
How we work
From the beginning, our approach has been simple:
To make great food accessible.
To take the stress out of catering.
And to be easy to deal with.
We believe catering should feel straightforward, not intimidating — and that’s exactly how we operate.
Attention to detail
At the heart of the business are Paul and Manu — known to most as “The Boys”.
Detail-focused by nature, they believe that every element matters — from ingredient quality through to presentation. It’s a standard they apply to everything we do, because it’s what they would expect for their own guests.
Our food
We’re passionate about using fresh, locally sourced ingredients and making as much as possible in-house — from breads and spreads through to sweet and savoury elements.
It’s this hands-on approach that ensures consistency, quality, and a finished product we’re proud to put our name to.
And Betty
Keeping things grounded (and occasionally entertaining) is our much-loved CEO, Betty — a Shih Tzu cross Poodle.
While Betty doesn’t contribute in the kitchen, she does ensure we never take ourselves too seriously.
Proudly local. Always approachable.
Meet Paul and Manu
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Meet our CEO Betty
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the social platter co. platters all set up and ready to eat
