Events & hospitality
How many buffet pans should I prepare for my guests?
Multiply guest count by cooked serving weight and add the percentage buffer. Divide the total kilograms by usable cooked weight per pan, then round up. Report only whole portions remaining after the buffer has been covered.
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Worked example
With the example inputs below, the calculator returns these results.
Food including buffer (kg) 18.29
- Guests taking this dish
- 95 guests
- Serving weight
- 175 g
- Extra food allowance
- 10 %
- Usable cooked food per pan
- 3.5 kg
Other results
- Full pans to prepare
- 6
- Whole portions above buffer
- 15
Use your own figures
Give the kitchen a pan count and the spare portions above the planned buffer. Open the worksheet, replace the example values, then copy or print the result.
Buffet pan planner →