Corporate Dining Shifts Offsite
August 12, 2021
A Gallup poll published May 2021 found that “nearly as many U.S. workers are working remotely in 2021 as was true for much of 2020…with a percentage working remotely exceeding 80% in some white-collar occupations”.1 The poll further indicated that four in 10 white-collar workers prefer remote work. And as the Delta variant surges across the U.S., averaging more than 124,000 new coronavirus cases each day,2 working remotely continues to be a reality as businesses are once again faced with limiting capacity in their office space and potentially having employees return to wearing masks. With all the uncertainty looming across the country, many are implementing a more flexible, hybrid approach, offering employees the choice of working from home exclusively versus commuting to the office or a combination of both.
Corporate dining programs have also undergone some significant shifts to accommodate today’s new workplace realities – including transitioning to offsite dining occasions for employees working remotely.
Companies are hesitant to spend millions of dollars to build out a corporate cafeteria when they don’t know how many of their employees will be in the office next week. The economics and menu variety of an on-site cafeteria or caterer just will not work in the post-COVID world.3
As a supplier, understanding the needs of your self-op B&I customers can help you tailor selling strategies to set them up for success. While many corporate buildings have removed or streamlined in-house dining services to incorporate more targeted venues – grab and go, self-service and order-ahead options – many tenants in these office buildings are also concerned with keeping their in-office and remote workers happy while adapting to their needs.
Here are some revenue-generating offsite dining options to consider:
Lunch Delivery: Remote workers are often juggling home-related duties, fluctuating schedules and even childcare along with their workload. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is key for these employees and offering lunch delivery service can go a long way in establishing a positive working environment and keeping employees productive and engaged. Whether through an app-based or web-based ordering system, corporate dining operators can then partner with a third party delivery service such as Uber Eats to deliver meals right to employee doors during the work week.
Meal Kits: Designed to bring convenience and quality to everyday lives, pre-packaged meal kits made available for office commuters and remote workers is a great benefit for existing and prospective employees. To encourage participation and repeat orders, you can help B&I operators by creating monthly meal kit calendars for them to publish and email to office tenants and their employees, post on the foodservice operation’s website and display digitally throughout the office building. Employees can pre-order kits on a weekly basis and pick up on the way out the door or request delivery service when working remotely.
Gift boxes: Business owners who reward onsite staff and remote workers with complimentary corporate gift boxes display a sense of community and appreciation. B&I dining services can package together curated premium food items for delivery to employees that reach individual milestones (1-year, 5-year) or personal achievements (most sales, a promotion, team-building behavior). Corporate gift boxes could also be prepared and shipped seasonally to thank hard-working employees for their time and dedication.
For additional ways you can help your B&I customers and for insights, trends and selling decks tailored to your non-commercial customers, contact us.
