09/20/2026
A well said statement from one catering company to their clients ❤️. With all love and respect.
A message from our Owner & Head Chef ❤️
A little reminder about supporting small businesses, as a few weeks of just a few people has left me disheartened and wondering what is happening to general respect and understanding.
For 11 years, 99% of our clients have been wonderful people who value our work, understand what goes into creating bespoke food in-house using high-quality ingredients, and appreciate that everything is prepared fresh to order, as well as giving respect to the cuisine they have chosen and understand the importance of using authentic products to ensure true flavour and presentation.
However, the past few weeks have felt like the most difficult period I’ve experienced in a while. For full transparency, our prices have not changed since April 2026, so I’m unsure why this has suddenly become a trend, and our work ethic has never changed.
This has included
repeated requests for discounts on many function enquiries , When we declined, in many cases it is not asked again and is respected. In other cases the requests continued, and constantly nudged at.
I would like to ask, would you go to your local shop or restaurant, buy a trolley load of food / multiple courses with many people, and then ask for a discount at the end, because of what you have bought. You will be told no, and expected to pay.
There have also been unclear and unreasonable demands and requests, with responses expected in less time than it took to write the original request to us.
Being yelled at on the phone when returning a phone call that I could not take, as I was in a function set up, and being told it's no excuse When I called back 20 minutes later (even though I popped a message saying I was unavailable to take a call, and will return the phone call ASAP) and than yelled at again because the date that was requested is in the month that we are fully booked.
Having a lady be rude to me, after requesting a date for a month away, When saying that I will need to check my diary for availability, the response I got was, why on earth would I need to give you more than 4 weeks notice?
Some people expecting delivery, service fees and equipment hire to be included for free, while also assuming that delivery fees were automatically included
Our prices on our menus reflect the planning, preparation, ingredients, labour, equipment, cleaning, administration, travel, skill and time behind every order. Chef’Lee is not a mass-production catering company — we are two qualified chefs who design and create everything in-house while working hard to keep our pricing fair and competitive.
Being a small business doesn’t mean unlimited discounts, free extras or working at a loss, just to make sure you get the client.
So, this isn’t a rant. ❤️ It’s simply a reminder that supporting a small business (any small business )means supporting real people, their time, skills, families and dreams. These people do not need to be disrespected or treated less than, cause the assumption is they can be bullied. There are many small local businesses that will bend to the client just to get the job, even if it means losing a large profit.
Every function, we treat with the same respect and attention to detail. no matter how big or small.
To every client , new and returning, who respects our boundaries, values our work and appreciates what goes into what we do, we appreciate you, and will always be ready to help you.
And to the people that don't understand this, simple; there is a reason we get fully booked.
Thank you.
You are genuinely appreciated. ❤️
With love,
Our Owner & business partner / husband
Stacey and Jeremy
