Caterer Manager vs Lab Event: catering platform or event-industry CRM?
Lab Event (Levallois-Perret) is a French CRM and ERP for the event industry, built for venues, seminar hotels, agencies and public bodies, which lists caterers among its suppliers. Caterer Manager is a platform built for a caterer’s kitchen, production and delivery, with public prices, built in Québec City and sold in France. Both handle the quote, the event and the invoice; they do not start from the same trade.
Updated October 4, 2026In short
- CM: from €125 excl. VAT per month, 1 seat, then €30 per seat, no mandatory onboarding fee; production, delivery and online ordering included.
- Lab Event: Start plan “from €99 excl. VAT per month”, Pro, Expert and Enterprise quoted, €500 excl. VAT account opening, one licence for the whole company, 5% to 20% discounts for 2- to 5-year commitments, 30-day trial, one-day training €1,200.
- For a venue or an agency that sells spaces and coordinates suppliers, Lab Event; for a caterer who produces and delivers what it sells, CM.
Side by side
| Criterion | Caterer Manager | Lab Event | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | CAD $199 / month, 1 seat (yearly); $239 monthly | Start “from €99 excl. VAT / month”; Pro, Expert and Enterprise not published | 1, 2 |
| Additional user | CAD $50 / month (Essential and Professional); unlimited on Enterprise | One licence covers every user of the company; per-user price not documented | 1, 2 |
| Setup fees | No mandatory fee; data migration and training optional, quoted | Account opening (onboarding and setup) €500 excl. VAT; one-day training €1,200 excl. VAT optional | 1, 2 |
| Trial and demo | 45-minute demo on request, with your own menus and events; no self-serve trial | 30-day free trial with no commitment, and a demo | 1, 2, 3 |
| Commitment | Yearly, or monthly (+20%); no deployment contract | Discounts from 5% (2 years) to 20% (5 years) depending on the commitment length | 1, 2 |
| Modules | 6 modules on Essentiel, 9 from Professionnel, CRM included | Start: CRM, pipeline, web forms, suppliers, events, tasks, rooms; Pro: quotes, invoices, e-signature, catalogue, margin; Expert: run sheets, checklists, custom fields; Enterprise: multi-company, API, query builder, project manager | 1, 2 |
| Quotes and invoices | Payment links, QuickBooks bridge, native GST, QST and VAT | Quotes, invoices, unlimited e-signature, pre-accounting export and bank reconciliation from the Pro plan | 1, 2, 3 |
| Online ordering | Web store with or without payment, cyclic menus, multi-store | Web forms, online client area, invitations and bookings; no store documented | 1, 3 |
| Kitchen production | Production plans, purchase orders, BEOs, labels, GT-Photo app | Catering schedule and function sheets; recipe sheets and production lists not documented | 1, 3 |
| Delivery | Delivery reports, statuses, fees by postal code, GT-Delivery app | Not documented | 1, 3 |
| Stated audience | Event and corporate caterers, daycares and schools, convention centres, universities, restaurant-caterers and central kitchens | Event venues, seminar hotels, convention centres, agencies, public bodies, suppliers including caterers | 1, 3 |
| Mobile app | GT-Photo (production) and GT-Delivery apps | Not documented on the website | 1, 3 |
| Interface language | French and English | French; website in English | 1, 3 |
| Support | Included, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, team in Québec City | Tickets and online help (Start), premium support and yearly training (Expert), webinars, FAQ and video tutorials | 1, 2, 3 |
What Lab Event does well
- A complete event-industry CRM: pipeline, brief, automatic PDF proposals and web pages, e-signature.
- Venues: booking calendars, room occupancy plan, hotel PMS (Mews), rooming.
- Structured onboarding: setup, training, project manager on Enterprise.
What Caterer Manager does differently
- Kitchen first: production plans, purchase orders, labels and the GT-Photo app, in every plan.
- No mandatory opening fee and no multi-year commitment to get the price.
- Online ordering store and delivery included.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lab Event built for caterers?
Its website targets venues, seminar hotels, agencies and public bodies first; caterers appear among the suppliers. Kitchen production and delivery are not documented. CM is built for those two steps.
How much does Lab Event cost in the first year?
At least €500 excl. VAT for account opening plus 12 times €99 excl. VAT for the Start plan, i.e. €1,688 excl. VAT, according to its pricing page; quotes and invoices require the Pro plan, whose price is not published.
Can a reception venue use Caterer Manager?
Yes, if the venue produces or coordinates the food: CM manages rooms, events, equipment and production. For a venue that only rents its spaces, Lab Event is closer to the need.
Can I migrate from Lab Event to Caterer Manager?
Yes. CM’s integration team transfers your data, optional and quoted, and trains your team.
Sources
- [1] gestiontraiteur.com, Pricing, Platform and FAQ pages, accessed October 20, 2026.
- [2] lab-event.com, pricing page (lab-event.com/tarifs), accessed October 20, 2026.
- [3] lab-event.com, home page, accessed October 20, 2026.
Based on publicly available vendor information, October 2026. Trademarks belong to their owners.
Tame the chaos of your catering operation.
45 minutes with an expert, using your own menus and events.