Hospitality is the one category where the uniform is part of the room. A customer sitting at your counter looks at your staff for the whole visit, so the apron does more brand work than a sign does. It is also the category where the garment gets washed hardest, so the fabric choice and the decoration method have to survive a commercial laundry.
9 garments in our core hospitality & cafe uniforms range, from the brands Australian trade decorators actually hold. Every one is quoted rather than priced online, because the honest number depends on your quantity, your logo and how many positions you want.
The volume workhorse apron. Bib and waist in one style family.
Black, Black, Black, Black, Black/White, Bottle, Hot Pink, Latte, Latte, Navy, Navy, Navy/White, Purple, Red, Red, Royal, White
Butchers, delis and traditional cafes.
Black/White, Navy/White
Also available: No pocket version 5BSNP
Full spec & size chart ↗Quote this garment →Specialty coffee, barbers and artisan food. The on trend apron.
Army, Black, Latte, Navy, Pea Green
Denim alternative to the canvas cross back.
Black, Navy
Front of house waist apron.
Black, Latte
Commercial kitchens.
Black, White, White/Black Piping
Also available: Ladies 5CJ1
Full spec & size chart ↗Quote this garment →Warm climate kitchens.
Black, White, White/Black Piping
Also available: Ladies 5CJ21
Full spec & size chart ↗Quote this garment →Cafe and casual dining kitchen staff.
Black/White
Also available: Ladies 5LP
Full spec & size chart ↗Quote this garment →Kitchen pant.
Black, Check, White
Also available: Ladies 5CCP1, cargo 5ECP
Full spec & size chart ↗Quote this garment →Colour ranges change with the season and not every colour is held in every size. The swatches here are taken from each manufacturer’s current range. For the full catalogue, size charts and fabric specifications, these open on the manufacturer’s own site.
Specifications are as published by each garment manufacturer. Where a field reads “confirmed on quote” we have not been able to verify it from the manufacturer and will not guess. Illustrations are indicative, not product photography.
A bib apron covers the chest and is what most kitchens and counters use. A waist apron sits on the hip, leaves the shirt visible and suits front of house where the shirt is the uniform. A cross back apron has no neck strap, so the weight sits on the shoulders rather than the neck, which matters a great deal if someone is wearing it for an eight hour shift. Cross back canvas is the look specialty coffee, barbers and artisan food venues have settled on, and it is the apron most often asked for now.
A 190gsm poly cotton apron is the volume workhorse. It is light, it comes in a wide colour range, it dries fast and it is inexpensive enough to hold spares. A 350gsm cotton canvas apron is heavier, feels like a real garment, ages well and holds a hot press or embroidery beautifully. Canvas costs more and takes longer to dry, so venues that launder daily often run poly cotton in the kitchen and canvas out front.
Embroidery is the safest choice on hospitality gear because there is nothing sitting on the surface to lift. On canvas it looks particularly good. If you want a large or full colour design, a properly cured heat applied transfer will hold up, but it needs to be washed cold and never ironed directly. Avoid anything with a heavy plastic feel on a garment that goes through a hot commercial wash daily, because that is where prints fail.
A long sleeve chef jacket is about protection from heat and splash, and a short sleeve one is about surviving a Queensland kitchen in February. Both are heavier drill than the rest of the range for the same reason. Chef polos have become common in cafes and casual dining where a full jacket is more formality than the room needs. Decoration on chef wear is usually small and on the chest, because anything larger reads as branded rather than professional.
Cross back canvas aprons in a muted colour with a small embroidered logo. Usually matched with a plain tee or a soft polo rather than a corporate one.
Waist aprons on front of house, bib aprons in the kitchen. Often two apron colours to separate the two teams at a glance.
Striped bib aprons, which still read as traditional food trade and hide a working day better than a plain colour.
One apron, one tee, one cap, ordered together. The uniform is the stall signage as much as the banner is.
Aprons and merch tees in the same artwork, because the venue staff uniform and the product people buy are the same brand.
Neutral aprons that suit any venue, often ordered plain with a small logo so they work across different events.
| Method | What it is | What it suits | Minimum guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Embroidery | Thread stitched into the fabric. Your logo has to be digitised once, which is a one off cost per logo. We keep the file so reorders do not pay it again. | Polos, caps, business shirts, softshell, aprons, anything that has to read as a uniform. | Around 10 to 12 on a new logo, often 1 on a reorder. Caps usually hold 12 either way. |
| DTF transfer | Artwork printed to film, then heat pressed on. No screens means no setup, which is why complicated artwork on ten shirts is now realistic. | Small runs, full colour artwork, photographs, names and numbers, size top ups. | Effectively none. Sensible from about 10. |
| Screen printing | Ink pushed through a mesh screen, one screen per colour. Best cost per unit once the numbers climb, and the softest hand feel on a tee. | Larger runs of tees and hoodies, especially one and two colour designs. | Around 20 to 25 per design per colour. |
| Applied patch or vinyl | A woven or printed patch, or cut vinyl, heat applied. Useful when a logo has fine detail that thread cannot hold at the size you want. | Beanies, caps, small runs, and logos that will not embroider cleanly at size. | Low, confirmed per job. |
Minimums are a guide only and are confirmed on your quote. They move with the garment, the decorator and whether your logo is already on file.
| Position | Where it sits | Typical maximum width |
|---|---|---|
| Left chest | The default uniform position, on the wearer’s left. | 80mm to 100mm wide |
| Right chest | Second logo, a name, or an accreditation mark. | 70mm to 100mm wide |
| Centre chest | Casual and merch, hoodies especially. | 180mm to 260mm wide |
| Upper back | Across the shoulder blades. The standard place for a business name. | 200mm to 280mm wide |
| Full back | Large merch prints and club designs. | 250mm to 350mm wide |
| Sleeve | Upper arm, left or right. | 50mm to 75mm wide for embroidery |
| Cap front | Centre front panel. Height is the tighter limit, not width. | 90mm to 120mm wide |
| Cap side | Small secondary mark. | 40mm to 70mm wide |
Positions are described from the wearer’s point of view. Sizes are typical maximums and vary by garment, so the mockup you approve is always the real answer.
Pick the garments below and send them through, or just describe the job. Headcount, rough sizes, how many logo positions and your deadline are enough to start.
We price the garment, the decoration and the freight to your address as one number, and we confirm the real minimum order and lead time for your job rather than a general one.
You get a visual showing your logo in position and at actual size on the garment you chose. Nothing is stitched or pressed until you approve it.
As a guide, ten to fifteen business days from artwork approval, plus freight. The clock starts at approval, not at order, and supplier stock is the usual cause of a delay.
We do not hold garment stock or run embroidery machines at Baringa. Uniforms and merch are produced through established Australian trade decorators who hold the garment brands, do the embroidery and printing, and dispatch direct. You deal with us, we deal with them, and the job arrives without their name on it.
That is deliberate. It means we can put you on the right garment from any of the major brands rather than the one brand we happen to stock, and it means a small order is not penalised for being small. It also means we quote rather than show a live price on these pages, because the honest number depends on the garment, the quantity, the number of decoration positions and how many stitches your logo needs.
Every number on this page is a guide, and we confirm the real one on your quote. As a rough guide: embroidery from around 10 to 12 units on a new logo and often a single garment on a reorder, screen printing from around 20 to 25 per design per colour, and DTF from about 10 with no real technical minimum. Caps usually hold a minimum of around 12 even on repeats.
Lead time is typically 10 to 15 business days from the moment you approve the artwork, plus freight to you. Two things get missed. The clock starts at artwork approval and not at order placement, and garment stock availability is the single most common reason a job runs late. If you have a fixed date, say so at the start and we will only quote garments that can actually make it.
One more thing worth knowing before you order. A decorated garment cannot be returned for a size swap, because it was made for you. For any rollout beyond about fifteen people, ask us about a size set so your team can try on rather than guess.
Send a vector file, so EPS, AI or PDF with the fonts outlined. A logo pulled off your website will reproduce exactly as blurry as it looks on screen. For DTF and full colour work a high resolution PNG at the actual print size with a transparent background also works well.
Embroidery needs one extra step. Your logo has to be digitised, which is a separate file telling the machine the stitch path and the order it sews in. That is a one off cost per logo and the file is kept on record, so your reorders and your new starters do not pay it again. Fine text under about 5mm high, thin outlines and gradients are the three things that cause trouble in thread, and we will tell you before you commit rather than after.
One thing worth saying plainly. Decoration positions are described from the wearer’s point of view, so left chest means their left, which is your right when you are looking at them. Getting that straight at the start saves a whole reprint.
It depends on the apron and the quantity. A poly cotton bib apron with a single embroidered logo is the affordable end of the range, and a heavy cotton canvas cross back apron sits noticeably above it. Tell us the style, the colour and the numbers and we will price it.
Around ten to twelve units on a new embroidered logo, and usually lower on a reorder once your logo is digitised. Aprons are a category where venues often order a small first run and then top up, which works well once the file is on record.
Embroider, in most cases. There is nothing on the surface to lift, it survives a commercial wash, and it looks right on canvas. Printing makes sense if your design is large or full colour, but it needs cold washing and no direct ironing.
Bib for kitchen and counter work where you need chest coverage. Waist for front of house where you want the shirt to show. Cross back when people wear the apron for long shifts, because the weight comes off the neck. Most venues end up with two of the three.
Yes, in long sleeve and short sleeve jackets with ladies cuts, plus chef polos and kitchen pants. Chef wear is heavier drill than the rest of the range because it has to be.
Yes, and it is worth doing. Splitting kitchen and front of house by apron colour helps customers work out who to ask, and it helps you at a glance on a busy service. The decoration stays the same across both.
As a guide, ten to fifteen business days from artwork approval, plus freight. If you are opening a venue, start this earlier than the rest of the fit out, because the uniform is usually the last thing anyone thinks of and the first thing customers see.
Send us the headcount, the garments you like and your deadline. We will come back with a real number, including freight to your address.
Get a uniform quote →