Monkey Business Catering

What Monkey Business Catering does

Monkey Business Catering is a family-owned catering business founded in February 2015 in Toowoomba, Queensland, by Amy Thompson with A$10,000 of bootstrap capital. The company operates a 'drop & run' catering model from a 260 square metre warehouse kitchen in Harlaxton, delivering pre-plated food in environmentally friendly disposable boxes that customers store in a fridge and serve by removing the lid. The product surface spans breakfast, lunch, hot meals, canapes, grazing platters, funeral wake packages, and individually packaged Snack Boxes and Salad Bowls accommodating vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free dietary requirements. Capability extends to events of up to 600 people, and the menu can be executed with 7 days' notice or a limited selection with 48 hours' notice; Saturday events carry a A$2,500 minimum.

The technology stack is intentionally lightweight: a Shopify-powered e-commerce storefront at monkeybusiness.catering supports 24/7 self-serve ordering, with recipes digitised on iPads in the kitchen for quality control. Distribution is direct-to-customer via pickup from the Harlaxton kitchen, local delivery (A$30 within Toowoomba CBD and suburbs), and regional delivery (A$40 to Wellcamp and Highfields), all within a 25 km radius of Toowoomba. Channel partners cover event hire (Range Event Hire), mobile bartending (The Barmen), and coffee vans (The Encouraging Cup), forming a complementary services ecosystem.

The business model is transactional catering on a one-time licence basis, with menu items priced from A$4 to A$470 and unit-priced packages (e.g., Cold Buffet Package A$300, Canape Platters from A$85, Funeral Wake Packages from A$50). In May 2021 the company acquired iCooked, a frozen ready-to-eat meal business, which added a recurring-volume channel currently supporting 401 Home Care recipients and up to 1,200 individual meals for a single remote workforce contractor. Customer segments are hybrid and span corporate and government clients (Toowoomba Regional Council, QFES, TFC Financial, RIDBC), private functions (weddings, birthdays), funeral services, aged care, and remote work sites. Combined, the catering and iCooked operations produced just under 50,000 meals in the trailing 12 months, with a projected ramp to over 80,000 in the next 12 months. Marketing leans on organic social (Facebook, Instagram), blog content, email newsletter, word-of-mouth referrals, and the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce network. The business is privately held, family-operated (Amy Thompson, Kristina Thompson, Malcolm Thompson), and remains bootstrapped with no external funding.

Name

Monkey Business Catering

Legal name

Monkey Business Catering

Website

https://monkeybusiness.catering

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Monkey Business Catering is a family-owned Toowoomba, Queensland catering company (founded 2015) operating a 'drop & run' model via Shopify e-commerce, delivering pre-plated meals and event catering within a 25 km radius for corporate, government, wedding, funeral, aged-care, and remote-workforce clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Catering Services

NAICS

Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Service Catering (Off-Premise) (HSACAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialty & Dietary Catering (Vegan, Kosher, Halal, Allergy-Friendly) (HSACAGAH)

Keywords

• Event catering services
• Corporate catering
• Drop and run catering
• Frozen ready meals
• Funeral wake catering

Headquarters

HQ city

Harlaxton

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Catering Products Sales: One-time transaction sales of catering food products including breakfast, lunch, hot meals, canapes, grazing platters, funeral wake packages, and beverages. Products are priced individually or as packages (e.g., Cold Buffet Package $300, Canape Platters from $85, Petite Dessert Platters from $75).
2. Custom Catering Requests: Bespoke catering orders for events not covered by standard menu items, priced based on event requirements and scope.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Monkey Business Catering is a family-owned drop-and-run catering company that prepares and delivers food for events of up to 600 people across breakfast, lunch, hot meals, canapes, grazing platters, funeral wake packages, morning and afternoon teas, and value packages. Customers self-serve from environmentally friendly disposable platter boxes delivered within a 25km radius of Toowoomba or picked up from the Harlaxton warehouse kitchen, with online ordering through a Shopify storefront. The company also produces frozen ready-to-eat meals under its iCooked brand for aged care recipients, families, shift workers, busy professionals, and remote contractors.

Product overview

Monkey Business Catering is a family-owned catering business that operates as a single unified offering focused on 'drop & run' catering services. The product portfolio centers on food catering and meal delivery, including breakfast items, hot meals, cold buffets, canapes, grazing platters, funeral wake packages, morning/afternoon teas, and individually packaged items like wraps, sandwiches, salad bowls, and snack boxes. The company also operates a related brand called iCooked, a frozen ready-to-eat meal business acquired in 2021, which complements the catering side and extends reach into home meal delivery for families, shift workers, and aged care recipients. Together, the company has produced nearly 50,000 meals in the past 12 months from their 260 square metre warehouse in Harlaxton, with capacity to serve up to 600 people.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• iCooked: Frozen ready-to-eat meal brand sharing kitchen space with Monkey Business Catering, serving families, shift workers, busy professionals, and aged care with wholesome meals.

Products and services

• Monkey Business Catering (Drop & Run Catering Service) Drop-and-run catering service delivering or providing pickup of breakfast, lunch, hot meals, canapes, grazing platters, funeral wake packages, morning and afternoon teas, value packages, and dietary-specialized menus (vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free) within 25km of Toowoomba. Customers remove lids from environmentally friendly disposable platter boxes to serve, simplifying event logistics for gatherings of up to 600 people.
• iCooked Frozen Ready-to-Eat Meals Frozen ready-to-eat meal brand sharing kitchen space with Monkey Business Catering, producing individual meals for families, shift workers, busy professionals, aged care recipients, and remote contractors. Currently supports 401 home care recipients and has supplied up to 1,200 individual meals to a single contractor for remote work sites.

Quantifiable outcome

• Doubled business size in 18 months for iCooked division
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• iCookedcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2021iCooked is a frozen ready-to-eat meal business that was acquired in May 2021 to diversify the business during post-COVID economic uncertainty. It complements the catering side and provides a product that can be produced and sold during quiet periods. Shares kitchen space and team attention with Monkey Business Catering. iCooked has doubled in size in the last 18 months and enables reach into people's homes with ready-to-eat meals for families, shift workers, busy professionals, and aged care recipients.
• Range Event HireminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEvent hire company providing equipment for weddings, corporate functions, major events, product launches, Christmas parties, and family celebrations. Offers highest level of service, product, and expert advice for event hire needs.
• The BarmenminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSouth-East Queensland's leading Mobile Bartending Service that caters to any event, from Weddings and Birthdays to Hen's Parties and Corporate Celebrations.
• The Encouraging CupminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCoffee van service for events of 50 people or less. Contact Wayne Logan for event coffee requirements.
• Rosies - Friends on the StreetminorOthersRosies reaches out to the abandoned in the community through friendship, hot drinks and food. Monkey Business Catering is a proud supporter and regularly supplies extra baked goodies to Rosies. Leftovers from events can also be donated.
• Toowoomba Chamber of CommercecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMember since 2015. Provides networking opportunities including Business @ Dusk events where Amy spoke in March 2025. Important for brand visibility and community engagement in the Toowoomba business community.
• PFD Food ServicesminorOthersKey food supplier mentioned in the company's 10th birthday celebration as an exceptional supplier supporting the business.
• Queensland Choice MeatsminorOthersSupplier of quality deli meats including roast beef, beef silverside, and ham off-the-bone. Located in Toowoomba and referenced on product pages.
• Westridge Fruit & VegminorOthersSupplier of fresh produce for catering operations. Located in Toowoomba.
• Bluevale HomesteadminorOthersGrass-fed local beef supplier farming out at Goombungee providing paddock-to-plate experience for customers ordering beef to eat at home. Described as a life-changing paddock to plate experience.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Sodexo Australia: Large global contract caterer and facilities services provider with significant Australian operations. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving the same corporate, government, and institutional catering end-markets, with a much wider service portfolio.
• Aramark: Global contract foodservice provider serving corporate, government, education, and event clients. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same institutional and event-catering category Monkey Business targets, with vastly larger scale.
• Compass Group Australia: Australian arm of the world's largest contract foodservice and support services company. Comparable as a broad incumbent catering corporate, government, education, and institutional clients that Monkey Business also serves, but at far larger scale and broader portfolio.

Direct peers

• The Dinner Ladies: Long-running Australian home meal delivery service supplying ready-to-eat meals to households. Comparable because it competes with iCooked for the same family and time-poor professional customers using a similar delivery model.
• Lite n' Easy: Australia's largest direct-to-consumer prepared/frozen meal delivery service. Comparable because it competes head-to-head with the iCooked division for the same aged-care, family, and shift-worker meal customers across Australia.
• Chef Good: Australian chef-prepared frozen meal delivery service focused on health and convenience. Comparable because it directly competes with iCooked in the home-delivered ready-meal category with overlapping customer demographics.
• Catering Industries: Long-established Australian corporate and event caterer serving government, corporate, and institutional clients. Comparable because it operates a similar off-premise event-catering model targeting overlapping customer segments in the Australian market.
• MyMuscleChef: Australian prepared-meal brand producing chef-made frozen meals for direct-to-consumer delivery. Comparable because it competes directly with the iCooked brand for ready-meal customers and uses a similar production-and-distribution model.

Others

• HelloFresh Australia: Australian arm of the global meal-kit subscription service. Comparable as an adjacent at-home food brand targeting similar busy families and professionals, though using a meal-kit model rather than finished ready-to-eat or event catering.

Emerging players

• ezCater: Online B2B catering marketplace that lets businesses order from local caterers via a self-serve e-commerce platform. Comparable because it mirrors Monkey Business's self-serve Shopify ordering flow and event-catering demand pattern, even though it operates as a marketplace rather than a caterer.

Market position

Strengths2 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/monkeycatering
• Instagraminstagram.com/monkeycatering
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/monkey-business-catering

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 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 Monkey Business Catering