About Food Per Person

Food Per Person is a free set of party and event food and drink quantity calculators. You enter your headcount and event type, and the tool returns how much of each item to buy, an estimated cost, and a copyable, printable shopping list. Food and drink are handled in one place, in your choice of US or metric units and currency.

We built it because the existing tools each do half the job: one sizes the food, another the drinks, most skip cost, and almost none give you a real list you can take to the store. Food Per Person does all of it on a single screen, with no sign-up and no email wall.

How the numbers work

Quantities come from standard catering and host planning guidance, with sources, set out in full on the how we calculate page. They are planning estimates, not exact requirements; every event is different, so a buffer is built in and you can adjust appetite, duration, the kids share, the dietary mix, and the prices.

Where the rates come from

Every serving size and price in the tools traces to a stated source. The per-person serving rates come from standard catering and host planning guidance, and the prices are built from current US grocery averages. We show the full rate table and the sources on the how we calculate page rather than asking you to trust a black box, and the cost is fully adjustable: you can edit any item price, switch the price level, and change the currency, so the estimate reflects your store and not ours.

Editorial standards

We treat the numbers as planning estimates and say so plainly. They are sized to feed a room comfortably with a buffer, not to hit an exact gram, because every event runs differently. When a reader sends a correction or we find a rate that has drifted, we update the table and note the change rather than leaving stale figures in place. We do not gate the tools behind sign-ups or email walls, and the calculators work the same whether or not ads are shown.

Who makes it

Food Per Person is made and maintained by 5o6 Studio, an independent studio that builds practical web tools. The serving-size guidance is being reviewed by a named caterer or event planner before launch; that credit will appear on the methodology page and the guides when it is in place. We would rather show a real reviewer than invent one. Reach us any time at hello@5o6.com.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or a rate you think is off? Reach us via the contact page. We read every note and update the rates when the evidence says we should.