Ditch EZ Cater Commissions–Do this Instead!

Hey there, restaurant owners! Aidan here with Catering Launch. Today's video is going to help any restaurant owner who uses EZ Cater and doesn't like paying the high 15% commission fees. There's a better way to run the catering side of your business–and I want to go through it quickly since I know restaurant owners are a busy bunch.

So, I hope you're using EZ Cater at your restaurant. It's an amazing platform for acquiring customers. But it’s not the best for re-orders. Every time an order comes through, we, as restaurant owners, have to pay their 15% commission. In this video, I’ll walk you through the exact process I used at my pizzeria to convince customers to switch to direct ordering instead.

A lot of corporate food buyers (the people in charge of catering budgets) use EZ Cater because it's super convenient. They can order from multiple restaurants all in one place. If you can make ordering directly through you even easier, they'll choose that option—especially if it means saving money and getting extra perks. My goal is for you, as a restaurant owner, to keep as much of your hard-earned profits as possible.

We're not in the business of making EZ Cater rich. We want to keep our money and build a successful, sustainable restaurant.

Before we dive in, let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Aidan Heninger. I owned a pizzeria in American Fork, Utah, from 2022 to the end of 2024. During that time, I focused entirely on catering, growing our program from almost nothing to $30,000 a month in sales. We set franchise records in every category.

Now, my company, Catering Launch, helps independent restaurant owners build their own catering programs. Our goal is simple: help your restaurant dominate catering in your area and make more money than ever before.

Let’s jump into the EZ Cater to direct-ordering process and discuss how much money you're losing to EZ Cater.

Let’s say you receive a $1,000 catering order. Your immediate costs? Food costs and commission fees. We won't bring labor cost into the equation, because your employees are already in the store working.

• My pizzeria had a 31% food cost—so for a $1,000 order, that was $310.

• EZ Cater’s 15% commission took $150.

• After those costs, I was left with $540.

If I had taken the order directly instead of through EZ Cater, I would have taken home $690—an extra $150 in profit.

Now, imagine that same customer orders $1,000 of food every month. That’s $12,000 in yearly sales. If you follow this strategy, you’ll go commission-free on 11 of those 12 orders, saving $1,650 per year on just one customer.

If you convert multiple EZ Cater customers to direct ordering, you could save tens of thousands of dollars annually—just by switching how orders are placed. Sounds pretty good, right?

So, this brings up the question: Should You Still Use EZ Cater?

Yes! We shouldn't hesitate to pay EZ Cater commissions for a new customer—they help bring in first-time buyers. But repeat customers should be on a text re-order program, where they simply text you their order, and you take care of everything else.

To do this, you need two things:

1. A way to track customer orders, so you can enter them into your system exactly as they like.

2. A secure way to save credit card information, allowing you to charge customers automatically when they text in an order.

Now, let’s talk about what to say to customers to get them to switch from EZ Cater to direct ordering.

After you've completed the order and set it up exactly the way the customer likes, that’s the perfect time to pitch them on the idea of direct ordering. Whether you do this face-to-face or via text later in the day, here’s a script that worked extremely well for me.

Let’s say the customer’s name is Lacey.

I would say something like: "Lacey! Hey I just wanted to let you know that in the future I could throw in some free cheesy breadsticks or dessert pizzas for your office if you text or call me with your order instead of ordering through EZ Cater.”

“EZ Cater is an awesome partner and way for me, as a restaurant owner, to meet amazing people at offices across town, but the one issue is that they take a significant chunk of every order. That's why I always tell my customers to order through me directly.”

“So, here's what I'll do. This afternoon, I'll send you a text, just following up on today's order and so you can save my phone number.”

“Then, the next time you need anything, just send me a text real quick. If you want to do a repeat of this order, then perfect. I can always see past orders done through EZ Cater, and I can put that in the system really easily. If you want something slightly different, then that’s great too.”

“Once the order's in the system, I can either send you a scan-to-pay receipt, or I can call and grab your credit card number, then save it in the system for future orders. I'll make sure to throw in those freebies so you're looking like a hero to the office."

By explaining your position face-to-face and offering an incentive, they’ll understand why ordering directly is better—for them and for you.

So, why does this work?

(1) You’re making their lives easier – All they have to do is send a quick text.

(2) You’re offering something extra – Free breadsticks or sodas cost you almost nothing but add value to the customer.

(3) You’re keeping more of your profits – You avoid EZ Cater’s 15% cut.

Now, there's another, alternate strategy if you don't want to give away free food with every direct order. What you have to do here is tie direct orders to a rewards program. At Catering Launch, I always encourage restaurant owners to offer their catering customers 10% back in gift cards for every order. That way, these catering customers can take their family and friends out for food outside of work—making them look like heroes in their personal lives.

You can set up a dual-tier rewards system, where EZ Cater orders qualify for 5% back in gift cards, but direct orders qualify for the full 10% back in gift cards.

By doubling the rewards for direct orders, you motivate customers to switch.

For this strategy, that’s it! It's pretty simple, but a really powerful way to to turn first-time EZ Cater customers into repeat, direct-order clients. The keys are: Personal connection, Adding value to catering customers, and creating an ordering process that is as simple as possible.

I hope you found this video valuable! If you have any catering questions or challenges, drop a comment below, or reach out to me and I’ll cover them in my next video.

To everyone out there, thanks for watching, and let's crush it with catering this week!