Our Story

Today, these words form part of our business manifesto; but it was the vision of turning these words into a reality that drove our founder to begin his journey into food service in 1990.

He started as many of us do – humbly and with our dreams clasped tightly in our hands. He made simple sandwiches and general refreshments, then walked the streets selling his house-made goods door-to-door from a rickety sandwich trolley; before long, he was known by all as the Humble Trolley Guy. Soon, he had established a loyal client base, mostly made up of office-workers who were, in essence, chained to their desks who fell in love with his quality, fresh, and ready-to-go foods, and would wait eagerly for the laden trolley to pass by their doors each day.

One day, one of his adoring customers asked if a platter of sandwiches could be made for the rest of the office team and delivered the next day...and the rest is history.

1992 – Time for a change. After the success of the food trolley and an increasing demand for pre-booked corporate lunches, Impressive Platters was born in a small, cosy café. It was time to bring corporate catering to Melbourne’s CBD, Metro and outskirts.

1998 – Farewell to the humble café. Six successful years later, and now a real competitor in Melbourne’s office catering business, Impressive Platters moves into a small three bedroom, heritage listed home, and transforms the residential dwelling into a three room commercial kitchen. This was well known as the Queensberry Street location in Melbourne.

 

2007 – Too big for our boots. A warehouse is purchased! Renovations and a complete overhaul begins.

2010 – Moving day. The warehouse is complete and Impressive Platters moves from the converted heritage home into the shiny new warehouse where we still reside to this day. The move allows for unprecedented growth and great success, and is a crucial step towards dominating the Melbourne corporate catering scene. Now, with an extensive, fully-equipped state-of-the-art commercial kitchen complete with office facilities and loading dock for all incoming and outgoing deliveries, we are unstoppable.

2015 – A fresh vision. Work begins on developing brand new products and services in a push to climb ‘beyond the plate’ and make corporate catering history right here in our beautiful city of Melbourne.

Today, we are more than just another corporate catering company in Melbourne. We are Melbourne’s premier catering and event planning company, dedicated to pushing the boundaries on what a corporate event can be; we are also, proudly, one of the first businesses in the city to exclusively offer corporate catering to Melbourne CBD, Metro and outskirts, which gives us the advantage called ‘experience’.

Our reputation, built on our extensive experience for excellence is unrivalled, which is why we are honoured to serve many of Melbourne’s most prestigious corporate giants. Not to mention delivering unrivalled levels of service and support to our clients. We work closely with you in creating outstanding partnerships based on trust, great food and superb service.

 

 

 

Now, with over four decades of experience and over 2,000,000 corporate events under our belt, we are expert coordinators of a range of corporate functions. Our experienced staff can coordinate everything from grand openings, ribbon-cutting ceremonies, product launches, and award banquets, to Friday night drinks, conferences, working lunches, company start-up events, Christmas parties and much more...

We don’t believe in taking the easy route; just like our founder who painstakingly pushed his food-laden trolley through the streets of the city, we go to great lengths to ensure your events are nothing short of mind-blowingly ‘impressive’. Our success stems from our people-focused philosophy, trendsetting stylized presentation, and interactive major event experiences. We expertly plan, design and coordinate each and every detail of your event. No matter the type of function, our skilled and experienced team will help bring your vision to life, creating an unforgettable experience for you and your guests.

We are also dedicated to providing a delicious and far-reaching range of foods to suit any and all special dietary requirements, such as vegetarian-friendly, gluten-friendly, vegan-friendly, fructose-friendly, FODMAP and keto-friendly diets.

We are always on the look-out for better ways to be of service to our clients and their guests, which is why we also offer complete custom menus; we believe that this is the only way to ensure every event is personalised and crafted to be uniquely yours.

Led by our team of food experts and event specialists, we are more focused than ever on the needs of our clients and the creation of spectacular functions. We are inspired by the people we serve, and are proud to be in a constant state of growth, curiosity, and innovation.