Swapping the office lunch for local catering

Catering for a virtual lunch might have sounded like a strange concept this time last year – but given the crazy year that was 2020, it’s now a hot topic for many businesses around the world. Fortunately, it’s not as bizarre (or complex) as it sounds! Here’s how to handle yours in a way that is both an incentive to your workers, and a support to local catering businesses.

If you’ve had anything to do with corporate catering in the last 12 months, you’ll know that virtual lunches are most likely here to stay. 

Office catering has changed for the foreseeable future, but if you’re still figuring your way through the concept of remote food for employees, take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone! 

The good news is that with the help of catering platforms and online food delivery services, virtual corporate catering is easy to integrate into existing systems – and they also have positive spinoffs for local communities and employee morale.

Until now, free food for employees usually consisted of a pizza or sandwiches left in the break room, team gatherings in the canteen, or an extended Friday lunch break in a local restaurant. Mostly, these were the ultimate tools for employee birthdays, as an incentive or reward for hard work, or simply gifting to staff at key points in the year.

But with COVID-19 health and safety now a priority for businesses, corporate lunches have changed. Remote working is now entrenched into most corporate cultures – and with this, companies are now shifting to other options such as virtual lunches to keep workers and conference attendees incentivised.

Catering for a virtual lunch is not as daunting as it might sound. In fact, it’s likely to be easier than a traditional corporate lunch! 

Previously, departments would have to consider various logistics to keep food warm, diverse, inclusive, interesting, and within budget – all of which are complex matters for HR teams to consider. The good news is that catering for a virtual lunch covers all of these factors automatically – especially if the mode you choose is virtual meal vouchers.

Virtual meal vouchers mean that employees can pick their food from a local business, the cost of which is deducted from a seamlessly integrated corporate account, include any meal add-ons they might want at their own expense, and have it arrive hot and ready for the virtual meet.

The benefits of providing free food to employees are now widely known – it increases morale, and can help foster a positive corporate culture. These are especially important during times of increased stress and remote working. 

There are rewards for communities outside of the office environment, too – giving employees or even customers free food sourced from local restaurants, can sustain or even uplift businesses otherwise struggling with the fallout from COVID-19. 

Food delivery platforms make supporting local restaurants easy. By delivering only from establishments within a certain radius, food delivery platforms not only ensure food arrives fast and fresh, but also directly benefits local restaurants in the neighbourhood.

Food-related businesses around the world are struggling due to COVID-19 lockdowns and general concerns around dining in public. On the upside, delivery platforms such as Uber Eats for Business are allowing these establishments to stay in business, and in some cases thrive.

Catering for a virtual lunch may not have been in your business game plan prior to 2020, but it’s now here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. And given how easy a virtual lunch is to integrate into existing remote work structures, and how versatile and enjoyable it can be, why not consider reallocating your company perks budget to this growing phenomenon? There’s every possibility that this will be how employees prefer to receive lunch (on you) in the future!

Like the idea of seamlessly integrating virtual lunches into your business’s offerings, but unsure where to start?