However, those food dollars aren’t just flowing to client meetings and holiday office parties. Our 2024 Feeding the Workplace report shows that companies are exploring new use cases, like grab-and-go bites, food trucks, and recurring meals.

Restaurants can win big here. As on-site attendance increases, and workplace ordering habits change, the food-for-work landscape is expanding, creating more opportunities for restaurants to capture new audiences, and increase revenue.

Frequent orders and new use cases provide more opportunities for restaurants.

ezCater data reveals that organizations are ordering meals more frequently and making food an  integral part of the office day-to-day. This is great news for restaurants: More orders means more opportunities to boost sales.

But why are catered meals so ubiquitous now? Because food is a valued work perk for employees. And, according to survey data, companies value it too.

Emerging food for work opportunities

Organizations are getting creative with food for work. The 2024 Feeding the Workplace report explores some of the most popular emerging use cases:

• Grab-n-go meals: Individually packaged and easy to eat, these lunches are compatible with busy schedules and dining "al desko." 
• Employee meal programs: Offered daily or weekly on a set schedule, work lunches encourage office attendance — and companies are taking note. Our 2024 Feeding the Workplace report shows a 32% year-over-year increase in daily and weekly employee meal programs. 
  
• Food trucks: Switching things up and enjoying a meal from a new place can excite and engage employees.
  

More and more companies are relying on restaurants to fulfill their corporate food needs. And when operators decide to think outside the box and make strategic operational shifts, they win too. Being ready to meet these new use cases as they emerge opens up lucrative opportunities. 

What do eaters want?

Our 2024 Feeding the Workplace report shows 71% of employees want to get involved in the ordering process, and they're happy to voice their opinions and requests. For instance, 64% of surveyed eaters prefer individually packaged meals, while a third want meals that address their dietary preferences.

Workplace diners pick up on eater feedback and often consider it when selecting a restaurant or menu. After all, finding options everyone will like is considered a major challenge for 34% of diners surveyed. 

“It’s a million little things running a restaurant,” Michael Sito, owner of the Globe Bookstore and Café located in Czech Republic, said. “And these little things are changing every day so coming [to the Show] and meeting other restaurateurs as well as distributors and wholesalers, you get a broad array of what's happening in the industry. In three or four days, you can get caught up on six months of trends.”

“We are very proud of the fact that we represent Australia beef and lamb,” Tim Harrison, Senior Sales Executive of Paradigm Foods, stated. “We're finding a lot of attendees are interested [in our product] whether they're a chef or a distributor, so to be able to connect to a global representation of potential customers is really important.” 

Menu characteristics that are most helpful to diners 

The 2024 Feeding the Workplace report uncovered which menu features stakeholders find most useful: 

• Clearly labeled allergens: 42%
• The ability to customize individual items: 41%
• The ability to customize trays or packages: 40%
• Individually packaged items: 37%
• Beverages available: 35%
• Images for every menu item: 32% 

Most popular catering categories

Survey data also reveals how often workplace orders include specific catering categories: 

• Packages, buffets, and bars: 33%
• Beverages: 28% Salad: 23%
• Dessert: 18%
• Boxed lunches: 11%

Building the right offering

Aligning restaurants' menus with what stakeholders want is a step toward winning over their business, but there's more ground to cover. Convenience and reliability are two other big priorities for diners. 

Delivery

Corporate catering customers want to know the status of their order. That's why 97% of surveyed food-for-work buyers would like to get delivery tracking updates with every order. This feature is a positive for restaurant staff, too. According to ezCater data, restaurants delivering meals with tracking spend less time on the phone reassuring customers during lunch rushes. 

Despite all that, only 25% of operators surveyed say they are working to implement this feature. Changing that pays off: survey results show that 90% of food buyers are more likely to place an order from a restaurant that offers delivery tracking.