Clear and Cover a Table
Choose a sturdy table at least 1.8 m long, away from direct sun, and cover it with a cloth. Leave space at one end for plates and at the other for drinks.
Service Styles
Catering Delivery in Medellín
Medellin Elite Catering delivers ready-to-serve catering across Medellín and the southern Aburrá Valley: breakfast trays for a morning meeting, sandwich platters for a workshop, or a full hot buffet for a family Sunday. You get the same kitchen and recipes as our staffed events, without a team staying on site.
Drop-off orders suit offices in El Poblado and Ciudad del Río, expats hosting friends at home, and visiting groups staying in rented apartments or fincas. Our refrigerated van brings everything at an agreed time, and the driver leaves once the order is checked.
We have been cooking for Medellín events since 2019, and delivered orders have been part of our work from the first year. Experience with tower security desks, steep driveways and midday traffic is built into how we plan every route.
- Itemized quotes available
- Bilingual English and Spanish coordinators
Plan your event
Our Catering Delivery Service
Catering delivery means we cook, pack and drive your order to you, and you serve it yourself with no staff on site. The order covers food, packaging and transport, and the serving is up to you.
Most orders fall into three types: cold platters and boxed meals for offices, hot drop-off buffets for family meals at home, and breakfast or coffee-break service for morning meetings. Boxed lunches and sandwich platters are the most common office order, because they need no chafers or reheating.
Orders need 48 hours' notice so we can buy fresh ingredients for your menu. If you would rather drive over and collect the food, our catering pick-up service uses the same menu and kitchen.
Delivery Zones and Windows
Arrival planning depends on how far your address sits from our kitchen, and you choose a 30-minute arrival window when you order. We aim to arrive 30 to 45 minutes before you plan to eat, which leaves time to set out the food without rushing.
| Zone | Typical drive |
|---|---|
| Laureles, Estadio, Belén, central Medellín | 15 to 30 min |
| El Poblado | 20 to 35 min |
| Envigado, Itagüí | 30 to 45 min |
| Sabaneta, La Estrella | 35 to 50 min |
| Bello, Copacabana, Caldas | 40 to 60 min |
Delivery windows run Monday to Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. For Llanogrande, Rionegro and other towns in the east, we do not offer drop-off, because hot food would spend too long on the road; a staffed event works better there.
Routes to the Milla de Oro and Avenida Las Vegas slow down badly from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m., so evening orders for catering in El Poblado leave the kitchen earlier. Orders for catering in Sabaneta and La Estrella get the same buffer at lunchtime, and we schedule our van around pico y placa restrictions so your slot holds.
What Arrives at Your Door
Every delivery arrives ready to serve: hot dishes in insulated Cambro carriers, cold dishes in sealed containers inside a chilled box, and all the serving tools you need. Each container carries a label with the dish name, its allergens and the time it left our kitchen.
Hot orders include disposable wire chafing racks, foil water pans and fuel cans, so the food stays warm on your table. We add serving tongs and spoons for every tray, plus compostable plates, cutlery and napkins when you ask for them.
The driver carries the order to the table or counter you choose, checks the items against your order with you and explains how to light the chafers. On request we bring a small printed card with reheating times, useful when a delivery is for later in the day.
Setting Up a Drop-Off Order
Setting up a delivered order takes about 15 minutes when the table is cleared before the van arrives. Follow these steps and the food will look as good as it does on a staffed line.
Assemble the Chafers
Open each wire rack, set a foil water pan in it and pour in about 2 cm of hot tap water. Place the fuel cans underneath but do not light them until 10 minutes before serving.
Transfer the Hot Trays
Move the food pans from the carriers into the racks only when you are ready to eat, and keep the lids on. Food stays hotter in the closed carrier than on an unlit chafer.
Set Out Cold Food Last
Leave salads, fruit and desserts in the chilled box until the last moment. On a warm terrace a cold platter should go back in the fridge after two hours out.
Store Leftovers Quickly
Within an hour of the meal, pack leftovers into closed containers and refrigerate them below 5 °C. Our compostable packaging can go into your building's organic waste bin.
Delivery for Offices and Residential Towers
Most offices and residential buildings in Medellín register every delivery at the reception desk, so give us the full name of the person receiving the order. Under Ley 675 of 2001, building administrations set their own rules, and some require the van to use the service entrance or freight elevator.
For regular office meals, our corporate lunch catering offers weekly menus delivered on fixed days. For a single workshop or meeting, our sandwich platter catering is the most popular drop-off menu.
Questions and answers
Delivery FAQs
How long does hot food stay hot?
Closed Cambro carriers keep hot food above 60 °C for about 3 to 4 hours after it leaves our kitchen. Once you move it into disposable chafers, each fuel can holds the trays hot for about 2 hours. For food safety, serve hot dishes within 4 hours of delivery and chill or discard what remains.
Reserve your date
Book a Catering Delivery
Send your address, delivery time and headcount through the quote form, and we will reply with a menu and itemized quote within 24 hours. Our inbox, info@medellincatering.com, works just as well.
- Itemized quotes available
- Menus, staff, tableware, setup and cleanup in one quote
- Food-handler certified team and labeled allergens on every tray
- Monday to Saturday
- 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- Sunday
- Closed (events still run)