Corporate events aren’t well-known for being entertaining or fun except for the occasional holiday party. Creating memorable events is important to help amplify the message of the event. Elevating your corporate events with catering can be a simple yet effective way to engage your eventgoers by making an unforgettable experience. From board meetings to product launches, you have the power to facilitate lasting impressions on your staff and your company’s overall perception. We’re going to go over the specifics of how catering can keep people engaged during your corporate event and some ideas for catering the next time an event comes up.
How Office Catering and Corporate Events Keeps People Engaged
Everything’s better when food is involved. Sometimes, catered events help people decide if they’ll even show up to optional events or not. Food can also make events feel less intimidating, making it easier for attendees to feel comfortable actively participating. Imagine you’re nervous to go to a corporate event but there’s fabulous, noteworthy food available to you. Not only would you feel more at ease with a plateful of delicious catering, you’d definitely have something to spark up a conversation about too.
Hunger was associated with 37% of changes in irritability in one study, implying you could keep your attendees in a better mood. We’re all responsible for how we react to our emotions, but hunger is one of those things that’s just too hard to ignore. Since events can last hours, it becomes apparent how important it is to keep the food (and sometimes drinks) flowing.
Many people don’t have an opportunity to share a meal with people either. According to a study done by Oxford University’s psychology professor, Robin Dunbar, 21 percent said their routine means they eat their evening meal at a different time to the people they live with. Eating together is an important psychological bonding experience for people.
Types of Catering for Your Next Corporate Event
Now that you have a better idea of the benefits of including catering in your company events, let’s go over some catering ideas. We’ll discuss the types of events they’re good for as well.
Breakfast Bar
A breakfast bar is perfect for those early big meetings. Since breakfast is a vague, time-of-day type of food, you have a ton of options to choose from too. Attendees can help themselves to the options you have regardless of their dietary restrictions. If you’re interested in reading more about how you can navigate dietary restrictions with your breakfast bar, check out the article we wrote on that here.
Finger Foods and Drinks
Appetizers and drinks are perfect for large gatherings where you’ll have a big volume of people coming and going. You can also add them to your dinner catering to satisfy your eventgoers before a big meeting starts and follow up with the big meal afterward. If you’re looking to mix it up, you should include more modern appetizer options and fusion food instead of the regular pigs in a blanket. This can wow your attendees and enhance the experience.
The drinks are best kept non-alcoholic, however. Getting people buzzed before a meeting can create some potentially unprofessional situations. It would make more sense to serve wine or other alcoholic drinks at a company Christmas party.
Health and Sustainability-Centric
Making catering choices that align with your company culture and values makes it more immersive. It’s smart to make sure every move you make as a business works with the company culture you’ve created as it reinforces it. Healthy, sustainable food options are great in any situation you’re doing catering.
According to Move for Hunger, a nonprofit organization providing transportation for food donations, approximately 85% of food used in the average American restaurant is wasted. You can contribute to reducing food waste and your staff or attendees will feel good about participating in your business.
Healthy food is also good for your brain. You can help prepare your eventgoers to absorb everything going on in your meetings, conventions, and general events by giving them delicious nutritious foods to munch on.
Luxury Catering
If you’re having a high-profile event, luxury catering is the way to go. Pull out all the stops for potential investors or a company anniversary. Luxury shows you’re really trying to impress your attendees and give them an unforgettable experience. A lot of people don’t make the time to eat at luxury restaurants or experience “fancy” food, so choosing luxury catering for your events is sure to be a hit.
Implementing Catering At Your Next Corporate Gathering
Companies of any size or budget can cater their events through Zerocater, an easy-to-use catering service for offices. Event catering is our bread and butter with a wide variety of options, whether it’s your company’s Christmas party, real estate catering, or a traditional business event. We’d love to help you create experiences that’ll wow your attendees. If you expect to have many events you’ll need to be catered, we can also remember what worked for you last time and learn about your preferences with our AI.
If you’re interested in seeing what we can do to help elevate your company events with catering, click the “Get Pricing” button and tell us about yourself. We can give you an accurate price quote and help guide you through any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!
