The central caterer for Canberra's Centenary bash at Lake Burley Griffin was searching for food vendors for the event as little as two weeks before last Monday's celebration.
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And one Canberra company has accused the Gema Group of overlooking local caterers in favour of interstate operators.
Canberra Centenary organisers said on Wednesday they would seek feedback from the Floriade caterer on what led to the shortage of vendors and long waits for food at Monday's Canberra 100 party.
The Gema Group was offered the job of organising the vendors after the Centenary committee failed to find any takers for the contract, despite contacting 21 catering firms and putting the project out to tender three times.
Jack McGrath, who owns Canberra company Jacko's Catering, said he was contacted by the Gema Group just two weeks before the Centenary celebrations.
Mr McGrath, whose business makes fresh pizzas at events including Summernats and Sunday's Black Opal Stakes, said he was asked what services he could offer on the day.
But after sending a business plan to the Gema Group, he did not receive a reply.
''By Friday [before the event] I hadn't heard anything, so I just let it go,'' Mr McGrath said.
''On the Monday, we went down to the lake and had a look and we went round the lake and there was a van from Queensland doing exactly what we do.
''To bring a van from Queensland, with less capacity, over the top of a Canberra caterer - I was disappointed.''
The business owner, who can serve 800 single serves of pizza in an hour, joined the chorus of criticism of the lack of food and drink vendors, describing Monday's event as ''massively under-catered''.
''I want to know how the ACT government said they tendered it three times and couldn't get anyone,'' he said.
''No one [from the organising committee] ever came near us to ask if we could do it.''
Canberra Centenary executive director Jeremy Lasek said organisers would be contacting the Gema Group for ''feedback on what happened''.
''We all really rely on our experts to deliver the goods for food, toilets, that sort of thing,'' Mr Lasek said.
''I don't believe any of the food sold out - so you couldn't say it was a lack of food. The problem was getting it out fast enough … There was clearly a lack of vendors.''
Organisers also copped criticism for not involving well-known community organisations such as Rotary and Lions in the day.
A spokeswoman for the Snowy Hydro SouthCare Rescue Helicopter said the organisation would have liked to be part of the entertainment on Monday but was offered only a media role doing aerial photography.
But Mr Lasek said an aerial display when the lake area was filled with ''watercraft, kids in boats and all sorts of fireworks'' would have been dangerous.
''The lake came alive as it never has before,'' he said.
The Gema Group did not return calls for comment.
