Half Tray vs Full Tray Catering Guide | Serving Sizes & Capacity

For catering businesses, running out of food is a nightmare, but ordering too much destroys profit margins. The solution often comes down to one fundamental choice: Half Trays or Full Trays?

As a foil container manufacturer or distributor, understanding how your end-users (caterers and restaurants) make this decision helps you stock the right inventory.

Get the sizing wrong, and your clients face embarrassed guests staring at empty pans. Get it right, and you maximize efficiency while minimizing food waste. Here is the definitive guide to standard catering tray dimensions and capacities.

Standard Dimensions: The Industry Norms

These sizes are not arbitrary. They match the global standard for steam table cutouts and chafing dishes (Gastronorm sizes).

Note: Depth changes everything. A deep full tray nearly doubles the capacity of a shallow one, perfect for heavy stews but overkill for sliced meats.

Capacity Guide: How Many People Does Each Feed?

These ranges are industry estimates based on typical portion sizes (4-8 oz per person).

Full Tray Serving Estimates (15-25 People)

Half Tray Serving Estimates (8-12 People)

When to Choose Which?

Best Uses for Full Trays

• Large-Scale Events (50+ Guests): Ideal for weddings or corporate main courses. One full tray feeds ~18 people, making math easy.
• Efficiency: Two full trays take up the same chafing dish space as four half trays but require half the setup time (fewer lids to remove, fewer fuel cans).

Best Uses for Half Trays

• Precision & Flexibility: For a 30-person event, a full tray (25 servings) + a half tray (12 servings) is smarter than two full trays (which would waste food).
• Side Dishes: People take smaller portions of sides. Half trays allow you to offer variety (e.g., green beans AND carrots) without over-preparing.

Material Selection: Don't Forget the Chemistry

While size matters for quantity, the material type matters for food safety.

If your catering menu includes acidic foods like Lasagna (Tomato Sauce) or Lemon Chicken, standard plain aluminum trays may corrode. For these applications, professional caterers should use Lacquered Foil Containers to prevent aluminum migration and metallic taste.

Event Planning Calculator

How to calculate the right number of trays: (Headcount + 15% Buffer) ÷ Servings Per Tray.

Example: Corporate Lunch for 50 People
Buffer Headcount: 55 people

• Main (Chicken): 55 ÷ 18 servings/full tray = 3.0 Full Trays
• Side (Salad): 55 ÷ 12 servings/half tray = 4.6 (Round up to 5) Half Trays
• Side (Rice): 55 ÷ 20 servings/full tray = 2.75 (Round to 3) Full Trays

Cost Implications for Manufacturers

From a production standpoint, producing Full Trays vs. Half Trays involves different tooling and material costs.

While a Full Tray sells for more, the margin might be tighter if you don't optimize your foil usage. Understanding the detailed Aluminum Container Manufacturing Cost Breakdown is crucial.

Often, Full Trays require heavier gauge foil (e.g., 0.08mm vs 0.06mm) to maintain structural integrity under the weight of 20 lbs of food, which significantly impacts your raw material spend.

Summary

Half Trays offer control; Full Trays offer volume.

For manufacturers, the demand for Half Trays is often higher in the retail/home-party sector, while Full Trays dominate the commercial catering sector. Balancing your mold capabilities to produce both sizes allows you to serve the entire market spectrum.

Newtop Machine offers high-precision molds for both standard Gastronorm sizes. Contact us to discuss your tray production line configuration.