Restaurant & Caterer Partner Agreement

Version 1.0 · Last updated 2026-10-05

1. Agreement Parties & Acceptance

This Restaurant & Caterer Partner Agreement (the "Agreement") is between Cater Market ("Cater Market", "we", or "us") and the restaurant or catering business ("Partner", "you") listing on the platform. By creating a business listing, submitting onboarding documents, and confirming you are authorized to act on behalf of the business, you accept this Agreement and acknowledge the Cater Market Privacy Policy. Acceptance is recorded with the business ID, authorized representative name, agreement version, and timestamp. A Partner may not begin accepting live orders until required onboarding, document review, and agreement acceptance are complete.

2. Business Information & Representations

The Partner represents that all business information provided is accurate: legal and operating name, business type, address, phone, email, website, primary contact, authorized representative, restaurant or catering category, business registration, and tax information where required. The Partner must keep this information current and notify Cater Market of material changes.

3. Compliance & Document Review

The Partner must maintain all licenses, permits, and certifications required to operate, which may include food premises or municipal business licensing, food handler certification, commercial liability insurance, and applicable business registration. The Partner uploads these documents for Cater Market review. Document status is tracked as Not Submitted, Submitted, Under Review, Verified, Rejected, or Expired. Cater Market does not automatically claim that any uploaded document proves legal compliance; administrators review documents and may request additional information. Expired documents may pause storefront visibility and order acceptance until renewed.

4. Menu Management & Accuracy

The Partner is responsible for the accuracy of its menu, including categories, items, descriptions, images, prices, serving sizes, minimum quantities, catering packages, add-ons, dietary labels, allergen information, availability, and preparation time. The Partner must confirm that menu information is accurate before publishing. Misleading or inaccurate listings may be removed and may affect refund liability and marketplace standing.

5. Order Management & Fulfillment

The Partner must manage orders through the Partner Dashboard and keep order status current. Order statuses include New, Accepted, Preparing, Ready, Picked Up, Out for Delivery, Completed, and Cancelled. For catering orders the Partner must honor the event date, required completion time, guest count, special instructions, dietary requirements, and order value. The Partner must provide clear alerts for upcoming large catering orders and begin preparation on time according to the system-managed logistics timeline.

6. Commercial Terms

Cater Market configures commercial terms per Partner, which may include commission percentage, fixed platform fee, payment-processing treatment, delivery fee arrangement, promotion participation, payout schedule, and other agreed commercial charges. Each Partner may have different negotiated terms. The Partner can view its current commercial terms in the Partner Dashboard. Material changes to commercial terms are logged, and where Partner acceptance is required, Cater Market requests acceptance before activating the new terms. Cater Market does not apply one commission rate to every restaurant.

7. Commission & Settlement Calculation

For each completed order Cater Market calculates and stores separately: customer subtotal, taxes, customer service or platform fees, delivery fee, tip, discount, and gross transaction amount. The Partner settlement is calculated as: Partner food sales, minus Cater Market commission, minus Partner-funded promotion, minus Partner-responsible refund, minus Partner-responsible adjustment, equals Partner net amount. These values are stored separately and never combined into a single number. A detailed financial ledger is maintained for each order.

8. Partner Payouts

The Partner Dashboard shows available balance, pending balance, next payout, and last payout. For each transaction the ledger shows order number, order date, gross food sales, commission, refunds, adjustments, tips, taxes, and net Partner amount, with a payout status. Payout statuses are Pending, Processing, Paid, Failed, and On Hold. Payouts are processed through an approved marketplace payment provider using Stripe Connect. Cater Market does not display a Paid status until the payment provider confirms the transfer. Payouts are not simulated.

9. Financial Ledger & Record Integrity

Cater Market maintains an immutable transaction ledger recording separately: customer payment, partner sale, Cater Market commission, service fee, delivery fee, tax, tip, refund, partial refund, chargeback, adjustment, and partner payout. Each entry contains a transaction ID, order ID, Partner ID, type, amount, date and time, status, and related payment, refund, or payout ID. Ordinary users and Partners may not edit historical financial records.

10. Refund Responsibility

For every approved refund, Cater Market classifies financial responsibility as Cater Market, Partner, Delivery, Customer, or Shared responsibility. If Partner responsibility is selected, the approved amount may be deducted from the Partner settlement where contractually and legally permitted. Examples of Partner responsibility include missing food, wrong food, cancellation of an accepted order, material preparation error, or significant quantity shortage. Cater Market does not automatically charge every refund to the Partner. Every responsibility classification requires a documented reason. The Partner may dispute a responsibility decision through the Partner Dashboard Disputes tab.

11. Partner Refund Disputes

The Partner Dashboard Disputes tab shows each refund with the order, refund amount, reason, evidence, amount deducted from the Partner, and decision date. The Partner may submit an explanation, supporting documents, photographs, and other relevant evidence. Cater Market may uphold, modify, or reverse the decision. Every decision is recorded in the audit log.

12. Chargeback Management

Cater Market tracks chargebacks with statuses: Received, Evidence Required, Evidence Submitted, Won, Lost, and Resolved. Chargebacks are connected to the customer, order, Partner, and payment transaction. Cater Market determines financial responsibility according to this Agreement and the circumstances, and does not automatically assign every chargeback to the restaurant.

13. Cancellation Policy

Cater Market provides approved cancellation-policy templates and permitted configuration options. The Partner selects an approved policy or configures permitted options. The customer sees the applicable cancellation terms before payment. A snapshot of the cancellation policy applicable at the moment the customer places the order is stored with the order. The Partner may not retroactively change the cancellation terms for an existing order.

14. Food Safety & Incident Reporting

Cater Market maintains an internal incident-management system for serious reports involving food safety, allergic reactions, contamination, serious customer complaints, and Partner compliance concerns. Cater Market may open a case, request information, temporarily pause a Partner, resolve a case, or close a case, and keeps an audit history. Cater Market does not automatically determine legal liability and may involve appropriate authorities where required by law.

15. Customer Data Protection

The Partner receives only customer information reasonably required to fulfill an order. The Partner must not expose, store, or share full payment card information, CVV, or private customer information unrelated to fulfillment. The Partner Dashboard supports role-based Partner employee permissions (Owner, Manager, Order Staff, Finance) restricting access by role.

16. Partner Staff Access

The Partner owner may create staff accounts with roles: Owner (full Partner account control), Manager (orders, menu, operations), Order Staff (order preparation and fulfillment only), and Finance (payouts and financial reports). Access is restricted according to role. The Partner owner is responsible for all activity under staff accounts and must remove access promptly when a staff member leaves.

17. Partner Performance

The Partner Dashboard provides operational analytics including orders, revenue, average order value, cancellation rate, refund rate, order accuracy issues, on-time preparation, and customer rating. Cater Market does not maintain an unexplained hidden ranking that unfairly penalizes Partners. Performance metrics are shown transparently.

18. Partner Documents & Expiry

The Partner Dashboard Documents tab allows approved document types to be uploaded securely. Document type, upload date, expiration date, and review status are tracked. Cater Market notifies the Partner before applicable documents expire.

19. Agreement Versioning

Cater Market maintains all historical versions of this Agreement. When a material update is published, Cater Market notifies affected Partners, shows what changed, the new effective date, and the updated agreement. Where renewed acceptance is required, the authorized Partner representative must accept before continuing applicable services. Cater Market never overwrites historical acceptance records.

20. Partner Termination

The Partner may request termination from the Partner Dashboard Account section. Before closing, Cater Market checks for active orders, pending refunds, chargebacks, outstanding payouts, and outstanding balances. Closing the account does not erase required financial or legal records. Cater Market may also temporarily pause, suspend, or terminate a Partner, requiring a reason and creating an audit record. Certain records are retained as required by law or for fraud, tax, and dispute prevention.

21. Admin Partner Management

Cater Market administrators may view Partner name, status, onboarding status, agreement version, commission rate, orders, revenue, refund rate, payout status, compliance document status, and account status, and may open the complete Partner profile. Administrative actions are logged.

22. Security

Cater Market applies role-based permissions, secure authentication, protected server operations, audit logs, secure document storage, encrypted transmission, and payment-provider tokenization. Cater Market never stores raw card numbers, CVV, PayPal passwords, or Apple Pay credentials, and never exposes secret API credentials in frontend code. The Partner is responsible for safeguarding its own account credentials.

23. Marketplace Payment Architecture

Cater Market is a marketplace. The payment architecture is: the customer pays for the order; the payment provider securely processes payment; the Cater Market system records the transaction and calculates fees; the Cater Market commission is calculated; the Partner net amount is calculated; and the Partner payout is processed through an approved marketplace payout system using Stripe Connect. Cater Market does not create an unregulated internal wallet or manually hold customer funds in its own database.

24. Changes to This Agreement

Cater Market may update this Agreement. Material changes will prompt a renewed acceptance where required. The Partner will be notified of material changes with the new effective date and what changed. Continued acceptance of orders after the effective date, where renewed acceptance is not required, constitutes acceptance of the updated Agreement.

25. Governing Law

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Disputes will be resolved in the courts of Ontario where permitted.

26. Contact

For questions about this Agreement, contact Cater Market support through the in-app Help Center.