Office lunches have become a mainstay for companies across the country. As for catering options, it’s common to see things like large sandwich orders or premade prepackaged fast food. There’s nothing wrong with that type of catering, but you could be doing better.
Upgrading your office catering can create positive experiences within your organization and lead to better connections with your staff, especially during tough meetings. If you’re interested in learning more about how to change your office catering in a way that benefits both your company and your staff, keep reading. We’ll go over the benefits of offering food at your office meetings and how your food choices create ripples.
The Benefits of Catering During Office Meetings
Offering food to employees has been well-researched, providing benefits on both the staff and company end. For meetings, office catering can help your employees bond and give them valuable networking opportunities with staff they might not usually have the ability to interact with.
Food also helps with focus, especially when you serve your staff healthier foods. A study referenced by Harvard stated that people who eat healthier diets have 25% – 35% less risk of depression than their counterparts. This means you can contribute to helping fuel the minds of your staff and prepare them to take on the world.
Overall, if you provide catering for your office meetings, employees will be more engaged, have better ideas, and retain the information during meetings more easily than they would without eating. This is why it’s important to carefully choose the type of catering you provide for your meetings.
How to Make Creative Office Lunch Ideas Work For You
As we mentioned before, there’s nothing wrong with the classic pre-made sub sandwich or some thrown-together burritos, but you could be doing better. Healthy, creative, and customizable lunch options maximize your end goal of helping employees stay engaged and productive during meetings. Great catering for weekly meetings can even help staff look forward to your meetings, increasing their productivity even further.
Celebrating your staff through food they love is the perfect way to say “thank you” for all the hard work they do. They’ll appreciate going the extra mile, and as a result, your company rapport will go up because of it. On average, job satisfaction ratings jumped from 56% to 67% when free food was offered in their office. No matter how you slice it, office catering during your meetings is well worth it.
Creative Catering Ideas For Your Office Meetings
If you’re ready to start looking into catering ideas for your office meetings, you’ve got plenty of ideas to choose from. We’ve narrowed it down to the ones we’ve found to be the most interesting and viable for any office.
Mediterranean Buffet
Offer a self-serve Mediterranean spread with hummus, grilled vegetables, various salads, and skewered meats. Not only is Mediterranean food visually beautiful and flavorful, but medical professionals also note it as one of the healthiest diets.
Street Food Around the World
Street food is engineered to be grab-and-go to begin with. In addition to its easy access, choosing different regions to theme your lunches can keep things interesting. 18% of adults claim to be picky eaters, which means they could be missing out on vital nutrients. This could be a great way to encourage them to try new foods for their health.
Cookout BBQ
You can offer BBQ with all the fixings like pasta salad, grilled chicken, and more. BBQ offers options for all types of dietary needs and palettes. For a Friday meeting, it’ll truly feel like Friday to walk into work smelling nothing but BBQ.
Gourmet Soup, Salad, and Sandwich Bar
Instead of having those plain old premade sandwiches, you can enhance the idea of the grab-and-go food to include more “gourmet” items. An upgraded salad bar could include quinoa, handmade dressings, and other similar items. Fresh, homemade soups and hand-crafted sandwiches always taste better than the stuff you get from fast food restaurants.
Let Your Staff Vote
If you run out of ideas or are still unsure, you can choose from a few different options and have your employees vote on what they’d like to have next. Giving your staff the option to choose ensures you pick the catering people actually want to avoid wasting food.
Try to keep in mind when choosing catering that food would be better served before the meeting. If you intend to serve food afterward, you’ll end up with distracted, hungry employees who’re only thinking about how hungry they are.
Getting Started With Your Creative Catering Ideas For Your Next Office Meeting
Office catering doesn’t have to be difficult. Zerocater offers an easy-to-use app that allows you to browse delicious local catering options for your next office meeting. Regardless of your budget, dietary needs, or catering size, Zerocater can get you started. We’ll even store information on your previous orders to help you make decisions on your next ones. If you’re interested in streamlining your company catering, get started with us today and we’ll give you personalized information on how we can help your business.
