A la Carte

What A la Carte does

A la Carte is a Dutch hospitality and events staffing agency founded in 2003 in Breda by Jasper Hijlkema with €1,000 of founder seed capital. The company recruits, trains, and deploys flexible hospitality personnel (bartenders, servers, kitchen staff, hosts, site crew) to caterers, restaurants, cafés, hotels, beach clubs, golf courses, corporate events, weddings, and major Dutch festivals such as Lowlands, DEFQON.1, Pinkpop, and Awakenings. It also provides international event staffing, with prior deployments at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco, and the Max Verstappen Village in Austria.

The operational backbone is a proprietary mobile application (iOS and Android) that functions as a self-service marketplace: workers set availability, claim shifts, invite friends, approve hours digitally, and view weekly pay slips, while employers request staff and build preferred worker pools. Since January 2024, workforce scheduling has been handled through Mr. Einstein's Genius software, adapted for the hospitality sector with real-time rostering and cost insight. A vocational training programme (run with Curio) and in-house hospitality/HACCP training ensure baseline worker competence. The company is NEN 4400-01 certified and an SNA member, satisfying Dutch staffing compliance standards.

The business combines two revenue streams: (1) a temporary staffing fee (uitzendtarief) on hours worked for full-service recruitment and deployment, and (2) a payroll administration service (A La Carte Payroll) for employers that recruit their own staff but outsource HR, tax/UWV compliance, sick leave, and salary payments. A small fixed team of 6 office staff manages a flex pool of 1,000+ workers across six Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Breda, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Tilburg, Utrecht). Marketing is community-led via Instagram, in-app referrals, Google Reviews, and direct sales to mid-market and enterprise hospitality clients. The company remains founder-owned and privately held with no institutional capital.

Name

A la Carte

Legal name

A la Carte Uitzendbureau B.V.

Website

https://alac.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

A la Carte is a Dutch hospitality and events staffing agency founded in 2003, supplying trained flexible personnel and payroll administration to restaurants, caterers, hotels, and major festivals across six Dutch cities via a proprietary mobile app.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Breda

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Temporary staffing / Uitzendtarief: A la Carte charges employers a staffing fee (uitsendtarief) for providing trained hospitality and events personnel. The rate is lower than standard agency rates for payroll-only arrangements. Revenue is based on hours worked multiplied by the agreed hourly rate.
2. Payroll services / Payrolling: A la Carte handles all HR administration, payroll, tax/UWV withholdings, sick leave management, and salary payments for workers recruited by the employer. Employers bring their own staff and A la Carte administers payroll for a fee. The company manages all employer obligations under Dutch labor law and the Horeca CAO.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

A la Carte is a Dutch hospitality and events staffing agency that supplies temporary flex workers (servers, kitchen staff, bartenders, hostesses, festival crew) to restaurants, hotels, cafes, caterers, festivals, and event venues across six Dutch cities. The company also provides outsourced payroll administration services, acting as the legal employer of flex workers while clients retain day-to-day operational control, and delivers hospitality training programs for its worker pool.

Product overview

A la Carte is a hospitality and events staffing agency operating as a unified service platform. The core offering combines staffing services (recruitment, selection, and deployment of hospitality personnel) with integrated payroll administration through A la Carte Payroll. The proprietary A la Carte mobile app serves as the operational hub for both staffing coordination and payroll management. Additional services include specialized Festival Crew staffing and Hospitality Training programs for new employees. The company operates through offices in Breda (headquarters), Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Tilburg, and Utrecht.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• A La Carte Payroll: Payroll service for businesses that handle their own recruitment and selection, with A la Carte managing salary payments, HR administration, and compliance.

Products and services

• Temporary Hospitality Staffing
• Payrolling Services
• Festival & Event Crew Staffing
• Hospitality Training Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 active flexible workers in the talent pool
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mr. EinsteincoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024A la Carte entered a strategic partnership with Mr. Einstein (effective January 1, 2024) to use its Genius workforce planning software, specifically adapted for the Dutch hospitality sector. Mr. Einstein developed a smart scheduling tool that enables real-time roster management and cost tracking. The tool is integrated into a custom app set up for A la Carte's clients. This partnership supports A la Carte's shift toward digital-first workforce management.
• CuriominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA la Carte partnered with Curio (a vocational education provider) to offer a 'Medewerker Keuken' (Kitchen Employee) training course for A la Carte staff. Part 1 of the course started on May 28 in Breda. The course covers cold and hot kitchen work, patisserie, professional techniques, collaboration, timing, hospitality, and HACCP hygiene standards. Upon completion, staff gain more confidence in the kitchen and updated hygiene knowledge.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ManpowerGroup: Global staffing and workforce solutions provider with a Dutch operation offering temporary staffing and payroll services across hospitality and events — competing for the same B2B clients as A la Carte.
• Randstad: Dutch-origin global staffing leader with significant Dutch hospitality/flex staffing presence; competes for enterprise accounts (hotel chains, large caterers, festival organizers) and offers scale advantages A la Carte cannot match.
• Tempo-Team: Major Dutch staffing brand under ADG (now House of HR), offering temporary staffing, payroll, and HR services across hospitality and many other verticals — a large, well-capitalized incumbent competing for the same employer accounts as A la Carte.
• Adecco: Global staffing and HR services firm with Dutch operations covering hospitality, events, and flex staffing — directly comparable payroll and temporary staffing offerings to A la Carte.

Direct peers

• ASA Talent: Dutch staffing agency focused on hospitality, events, and flex work — competing for the same hospitality employers and flex workers as A la Carte, with similar scale and geographic focus in the Netherlands.
• Fest: Dutch festival and event staffing specialist recruiting and deploying crews for major events — competes directly with A la Carte's Festival Crew service for the same organizer clients and worker pools.
• YoungCapital: Dutch staffing agency specializing in young workers and students for flex/seasonal roles across hospitality, retail, and events — the closest direct competitor to A la Carte's student-crew hospitality model, with broader vertical coverage.

Others

• Mr. Einstein: Dutch workforce planning software provider that became A la Carte's strategic technology partner in January 2024, supplying the Genius scheduling platform — adjacent ecosystem participant rather than direct competitor, but increasingly a strategic dependency.

Emerging players

• Temper: Venture-backed Dutch flex staffing platform with a mobile-first marketplace for hospitality and events shifts — competes with A la Carte's app-based model but with greater tech funding and broader European ambitions.

Regional players

• Horeca Uitzendbureau: Netherlands-focused hospitality staffing agency providing temporary and permanent horeca personnel — comparable business model and customer base to A la Carte, with broader but less specialized Dutch coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/eventpersoneel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/a-la-carte---uitzenden-payroll-events
• Instagraminstagram.com/alacartecrew

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about A la Carte