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Pilotiko for caterers
Three weddings on the same June Saturday, two office parties on a December Friday: a caterer lives by a handful of dates that count double.
Pilotiko helps a caterer plan events and crews: tasting appointments booked online, every event recorded with its address and length, cooks and service staff proposed based on their calendars and skills, and workload reports. Anything sent to a client waits for your approval, and automatic reminders aren't live yet.
In short
- In Quebec, preparing meals for sale, including from a home kitchen, counts as a restaurant activity that requires a permit [1].
- Operating without a valid permit posted on the premises is prohibited [1].
- The food establishment manager certificate takes 12 hours of training; the food handler certificate, 6 hours [2], [3].
- Pilotiko doesn't manage permits or recipes: it organizes people, dates and appointments.
What rules apply to a caterer in Quebec?
The Quebec government explains that restaurant activities aren't limited to restaurants: they cover preparing meals, snacks and drinks to eat on site or take away, and preparing meals for sale from a home kitchen counts as a restaurant activity [1]. An online tool helps determine the permit a catering service needs, and operating without a valid permit posted on the premises is prohibited [1].
Staff need the right certificates too. Food establishment manager training lasts 12 hours and food handler training 6 hours; in both cases the certificate is issued to the person, not the employer, and it's valid for life [2], [3]. When you build a crew for an event, who holds which certificate becomes scheduling data.
| Appointment | Who | Where | Plan for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tasting with an engaged couple | Chef or sales lead | Kitchen or tasting room | Weekday slots, often evenings |
| Venue walk-through | Event lead | Event venue | Address and loading dock access |
| Kitchen production | Cooks | Kitchen | Kitchen declared as a resource |
| On-site service | Servers and service captain | Event venue | Set-up, service, tear-down |
| Boxed lunch delivery | Driver | Client's office | Truck declared as a resource |
Why are June Saturdays and December Fridays so risky?
A caterer doesn't sell hours, it sells dates. Weddings bunch up on a few summer weekends, office parties on December Fridays and Saturdays. On those dates every server and cook is double-booked in somebody's head, and the conflict surfaces on Thursday night.
The rest of the year the problem flips: filling quiet weeks with business lunches, funeral receptions and tastings for next year's weddings.
How many people do three events on the same night need?
How does Pilotiko organize a catering business?
The virtual office shows the business as rooms: sales and tastings, kitchen, service, delivery. Every regular employee has a desk and a calendar, and an event that's short-staffed shows up as a task in the service room.
Prospective clients book a tasting online into the chef's genuinely open times. Each event carries its address and length, set-up and tear-down included.
To build an event crew, Pilotiko proposes people who are free that night, weighing their workload and declared skills: service captain, bartender, food handler certificate. A mismatch is refused unless someone explicitly overrides it.
- In October, an AI agent can list the corporate clients you served last December with an invitation to book; nothing goes out without your approval.
- Content agents draft posts about your holiday or wedding menus; you approve before publishing.
- Reports show events per week, hours scheduled per employee and booked revenue.
What doesn't Pilotiko offer yet?
What client and guest information should you keep?
For an event, keep the client's name, contact details, the address, the guest count and declared dietary restrictions without guest names. A named list of every guest's allergies is rarely needed for planning. Under Quebec's private-sector privacy act, the business is responsible for protecting the personal information it holds [4].
The same wedding Saturday often involves a photographer and sometimes a security agency, each with its own puzzle of staff to place on a single date.
While you set up the room, the hair salon and the esthetics studio are getting the bride ready: three schedules hanging on the same ceremony time.
Frequently asked questions
Does Pilotiko manage my MAPAQ permit?
No. Permits and certificates are MAPAQ matters. You can note in Pilotiko who holds a certificate so you can account for it when building crews.
Can clients book a tasting online?
Yes. They choose a genuinely open slot on the chef's or sales lead's calendar. You decide which days and times are offered.
Does Pilotiko stop a server being booked at two events the same night?
Yes. A person can't hold two overlapping bookings; the calendar refuses the conflict and you can pick someone else who's free.
Are automatic client reminders live?
Not yet. They're being commissioned: the confirmation and reminder code is ready, but the sending provider isn't connected.
Does Pilotiko work out food quantities?
No. Pilotiko isn't recipe or food-costing software. It organizes people, dates, appointments and reports.
Can we schedule on-call staff?
Yes, if each person has a desk and availability in Pilotiko. Proposed assignment accounts for their calendars, and you confirm each one.
Sources
- Gouvernement du Québec (MAPAQ), Permis pour préparation d'aliments, restauration ou vente au détail (accessed on October 15, 2026).
- Gouvernement du Québec (MAPAQ), Formation de gestionnaire d'établissement alimentaire (accessed on October 15, 2026).
- Gouvernement du Québec (MAPAQ), Formation de manipulateur d'aliments (accessed on October 15, 2026).
- LégisQuébec, Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (CQLR, c. P-39.1) (accessed on October 15, 2026).
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