In an ideal world, you could give your employees a 5-star experience daily with all their favorite options. Morale would be that much better because of it, but the affordability of having that level of extravagance every day would be next to impossible to maintain. The benefits of having catered meals are worth it as we outlined here, but when you don’t have a 5-star budget, you might ask yourself what your options actually look like. We’re going to go over some tips on how to find the sweet spot for your office catering so you don’t have to break the bank.
Aligning Your Budget With Catering and Office Meal Needs
Before you immediately dive into budgeting, you should consider what type of catering you’re going to want. Think about your company culture and what your staff will likely want out of a lunch. Do you plan on changing lunch often? Do you want to have staffed catering, or would your team prefer a grab-and-go approach to eating? If you’re unsure what you need, the best thing to do is ask.
Surveying what your team’s needs are for catered lunch can help you avoid choosing an option staff doesn’t like, resulting in wasted money and food. If you’re worried about whether or not you’ll have enough budget, you can give options in your survey based on affordability. Once you decide how you’d like to approach your office catering, you can create an official budget.
Determining the Right Budget For Catering Needs
After you’ve decided what kind of catering you’d like to go with, it’s time to figure out your budget. There are a few things to consider when deciding on a catering budget.
- How many people need to be fed? Do a headcount (plus a little extra) for how many people you’ll be feeding. You can tweak this as you make more catering orders.
- How frequently are you doing catering? Will this be a daily occurrence, weekly?
- Will you require staffing to serve the food? Some things can be self-serve, but for specific items like ice cream, you might need staff to help serve it for you.
- What dietary requirements does your team have? Food allergies, religious diets, and other types of diets should be considered and can sometimes have a different price point based on your local options.
It’ll likely take you a few tries to get your budget down pat, so it’s okay if things feel a little bumpy at first. Learning from your previous catering orders can help you fine-tune your catering budget and provide catering options that your employees enjoy.
Choosing Inexpensive Catering Options For Work
Every office can see benefits from utilizing office catering, regardless of the size of your budget. In a USA Today study, on average, job satisfaction ratings jumped from 56% to 67% when free food was offered at an employee’s place of work. Depending on the catering you choose, you could even be driving your team to eat alone, causing them to become less productive. All in all, the good absolutely outweighs the bad when it comes to feeding your staff on a regular basis. The idea of catering can be intimidating, however. You’re making a financial commitment after all, so how can you ensure your office catering won’t be a waste of money?
Finding Catering Options That Utilize Flexibility
The good news is, there are plenty of options and services that can help budget office catering without having to do all the calculations on your own.
Zerocater, for example, is a catering service that helps businesses cater their events and office lunches. Flexibility is one of the main features of Zerocater. You’ll have access to comprehensive estimates of prices, the ability to filter out dietary options, and even AI that learns about your catering choices as you make purchases.
Even smaller businesses with a smaller budget can use Zerocater. Pricing, headcount minimums, and a commitment to consistency help keep your costs down and your staff happy. Pay-as-you-go options are available and perfect for experimentation. If you need to switch to staffed catering or event catering, you can get that through Zerocater as well just the same.
Flexibility allows you the ability to try and find what catering options work best for your budget and your staff’s preferences without making any big financial commitments. Regardless of your company size, you’ll be able to test drive catering at your own office and figure out what works best for you.
Getting Started With Inexpensive Catering Options
If you’re ready to try office catering without breaking the bank, Zerocater can help. You don’t have to compromise quality either. Zerocater’s high-quality network of kitchens can help you choose the best catering options for your company size and budget.
It’s rare to find company catering with this level of flexibility, whether it’s your spending or dietary restrictions. If you’re interested in seeing how Zerocater can transform your office catering ventures, just click “Get Started” at the top right of your browser, or locate it in the hamburger menu if you’re on mobile. We’ll ask you some questions about your company needs and get back to you with some personalized information on how we can work best for you!
