Green Platters Grazing Tables: Hong Kong’s Newest Low Waste Catering Trend

Social media has given rise to a new catering trend that’s a heck of a lot more stylish than traditional finger foods: behold, the grazing table. Gone are the days of boring cheese cubes, stale chips and cheap dips from social gatherings of yore. The new party platters you’ll see these days are fresh, handmade and all about the (super visual) details. Gorgeous grazing tables adorned with mouthwatering morsels of glossy fruits, seasonal vegetables, dollops of hummus, nuts, and wheels of artisanal cheese all splayed out elaborately on a decorative table is the new food craze sweeping over our IG feeds. Popular in the US and Australia, this brand-new hostess with the mostess culinary trend has arrived in our fair city.

The Green Platters is Hong Kong’s homegrown catering company committed to creating  bespoke food centrepieces for wedding, corporate events, parties, and birthdays with an embedded philosophy of social and environmental sustainability. Artfully arranged and thoughtfully designed, Green Platters provides an unforgettable plant-based dining experience: the just-launched company offers bountiful vegetarian and vegan food displays while sourcing premium, organic fresh fruits, nuts & dried fruits, pickles & pastes, gourmet cheeses (including dairy-free options), chocolates, dips and crackers.

Founded by mompreneur Bhawna Shetty, who traded her career in tech to take on clean catering, The Green Platters is rooted in sustainable and fresh foods, all in eco-conscious packaging. A self-proclaimed 95% plastic-free company, Bhawna strives to offer artisanal foods presented with minimal waste. “Fresh and healthy food has been such an integral part of our life,” explains the mom the two. “My love of food, and determination to create something long-lasting, while also committing to reducing plastic waste around food production has influenced all my decisions throughout the launch of The Green Platters.”

Green Platters has three main presentation options: packaging-free grazing tables- the most ornate and ideal for large parties and events where you want to seriously impress; grazing platters- perfect for intimate gatherings and home dinners, the arrangements come on biodegradable, toxin-free Areca leaf platters; grazing boxes: ideal for single servings or office lunches, the mini platters is delivered in compostable paper boxes that are very transport-friendly. All options are designed to be as low-waste as possible.

For grazing tables, the company sources elegant plastic-free, non-toxic tableware to keep the party posh and chic, making use of beautiful displays like cake stands, wooden cutting boards and natural resources like banana leaves. Good for us, and good for the earth. “Sadly in today’s world, green, earth-friendly alternatives are still so expensive,” laments Bhawna. “We are trying our best not to compromise on these while keeping costs affordable for our clients. This is important to us and we make sure our supply chain has similar values to keep it going.”

Bhawna also supports local artisanal food producers with the same ethos and clients have gushed over the how yummy everything is. Fan favourites include the Royal Truffle Brie and the handmade gluten-free crackers. The vegan cheese are also a hit. Handcrafted in Hong Kong, the cheeses are made using either cashews or macadamia nuts and come in a variety of flavours like curry leaf, kimchi, and paprika. Be sure to provide extra notice when ordering the vegan platters as they are produced in smaller quantities to adhere to Green Platter’s philosophy of zero food waste (vegan cheeses don’t last as long as dairy ones). We also love the company’s outstanding customer service: Bhawna responds to queries within four hours during business hours in lieu of the standard 24/48 response lag from typical catering companies.

We tested out Green Platters’s Areca Platter (prices start from HKD 749 for 4 people) on a recent Saturday night and we loved it: it made entertaining a cinch- no prep, no clean up, no messing about with a million serving platters. Just a few flowers in a vase and a beautiful, colourful, delicious platter of food that our guests loved. We were able to enjoy their company without worrying about a sit-down dinner and the guests could nibble to their hearts’ content without worrying about what time dinner would start. They were also very impressed at how delicious the vegan cheeses were. Strongly recommend!

To order a package or a platter, contact Bhawna at hello@thegreenplatters.com or +852 9494 8653.

Images courtesy of Green Queen (lead) and The Green Platters.