How Corporate Catering Services Can Satisfy Employees

According to one survey, 51% of American employees admit that they rarely take a proper lunch break. While skipping lunch might sound like a win for productivity, the reverse is true. Lunch breaks give employees a chance to clear their heads, get out in the sunshine, and rest up a bit.

In fact, lunch breaks at work are positively good for your health!

Breaks during the workday lead to happier, busier, and more satisfied workers. In fact, 94% of workers said that eating lunch refreshes them, and gets them ready to dive back into work.

Corporate catering services are the ticket to a perfect employee lunch break. Keep reading to find out how to have happier, healthier workers in no time.

What Are Corporate Catering Services?

Corporate catering is a way to reward your employees for the work they do. A quality catering company will prepare and deliver freshly-made food to your workplace, with options to suit everyone.

A business can request catering for company meetings, conferences, and one-off events. Or you may want regular meals throughout the workweek. And it's not just cold finger food that's on offer here. Breakfasts, hot buffets, luncheons, and dessert stations are all on the table.

Food also makes a great impression. When you're hosting those business meetings or interviewing prospective clients, your food matters. Good quality food helps develop a professional reputation and builds a sense of pride in your representatives.

How Employees Benefit

Hiring a catering business is one key to employee satisfaction. Why are catering services such an effective tool?

Employees Feel Rewarded

With corporate catering, you're buying your people a meal, and who doesn't love being treated to lunch? You're giving them a gift, and they get that. Giving employees a reward for their hard work each day helps to build morale, company loyalty, and motivation.

When workers feel valued, they're more willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. Staff members are more likely to volunteer for overtime because they want the company to succeed. And if they have that all-important lunch break, they won't feel overworked and overwhelmed.

They Keep Better Health

Did you know there's an ideal lunchtime trifecta for work? To boost our health and wellbeing at work, we need to do three things.

1. Eat a healthy meal at lunch

The simple act of eating helps nourish your workers, and when your people are healthy, they are happier to work. Conversely, tired staff members who constantly skip meals and rely on snacks and energy drinks will end up crashing.

A well-balanced, healthful lunch promotes balanced blood sugars and provides the energy needed for the rest of the working day. And with a good healthy meal, you're investing in your company's future by ensuring your staff members stay in tip-top shape.

2. Sit somewhere other than at your desk

Eating lunch away from our desk is important, too. We've all heard the saying that a change is better than a rest, but we'll go one further and say that both are important. A change of scenery can help us reset.

Taking a step back from an intense work assignment and going to lunch lets you come back to it with fresh eyes. This helps boost creativity and promotes higher-quality output.

3. Eat lunch with other people

Finally, eating lunch in the company of others promotes better mental health and overall contentment.

Eating alone leads to feelings of loneliness and isolation. On the flip side, eating with others leads to more social connections and a feeling of inclusion.

Eating with colleagues can help employees spark off each other, think up new ideas together, and be more creative at work.

You'll Increase Staff Retention

Do you know how much easier life is when you don't have to think about food all the time? During the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders, Americans had the stress of working from home. Added to that was the stress of planning and making most of their meals for the week.

Giving employees complimentary food is a major way to boost staff retention. It's one less thing to worry about, and saves a lot of time - time your staff can use to focus on work, instead.

Why Choose a Corporate Catering Company?

We've established that catered lunches for your employees are the way to go. They benefit your staff, your business, and, therefore, your bottom line. But why call in the caterers instead of doing it yourself?

Food Safety Regulations

Food safety has to be your number one priority when it comes to your company meals. Making great-tasting food is a brilliant skill to have, but it's all too easy to take your eye off the ball and make people sick.

Event catering companies have experience in food safety and understand the associated regulations. They know how to keep bacteria at bay and avoid cross-contamination. This insider knowledge will help keep your staff safe when eating catered meals at work.

Understanding Dietary Requirements

It just isn't possible to expect all your employees to eat the same foods. Some will have allergies, others may have religious dietary restrictions. Still, others may be avoiding certain foods or food groups.

A catering business will have a variety of options to hand and will be able to provide you with a menu to suit everyone.

Gluten-free? Dairy-free?

Low-carb? Kosher? Don't worry - a good corporate catering company will know just what to do.

A Variety of Meals

If you've ever had to meal plan, you'll know how challenging it can be. But maybe you're a corporate assistant trying to think up a range of foods for 50, 100, maybe even 250 people? Now that's tough, especially with all the other plates you're spinning.

For a catering company, good food is what they do. It's their job to be creative with food, and give you a good menu selection to choose from every day, if that's what you require.

Do you feel like Mexican, Italian, Japanese or French? Corporate catering companies have an extensive repertoire under their belts. So, nobody needs to be eating the same old food every single day.

Hassle-Free and Cost-Effective

Sourcing good quality, delicious and safe food requires a lot of hard work and planning. The costs can stack up fast, and just a heads up - they're not in your favor.

Rather than trying to source multiple options from a range of suppliers, you could call in a good caterer to do the hard work for you.

And it's not just cooking the food - you'll need to serve it, make it look good, and clean everything up when everyone's finished. Caterers can provide waiting staff, servers, and sort out all the cleanup as well.

Home-Quality Meals

You'd never want employees to opt for their own homemade chow rather than what your company's offering! If you're going to provide food, it needs to be good quality, and feel like home - or better. A fancy restaurant will do just as well, thanks.

A quality catering company is like a mobile restaurant, in that they provide cooked food to a high standard. Choose a well-respected catering business, and your employees will be eager beavers, hurrying into work the next day.

Provide Plenty, Not Just Enough

What's the worst thing that could happen when you have guests over? You run out of food. It's a rookie mistake and easily made, but doesn't give the best impression.

When you work with a catering company, you'll fill them in beforehand with the number of people they'll be cooking for. They'll have a buffer so that there's always enough to go around. That way you'll avoid a huge rush on food, and your staff will be much more relaxed at mealtimes.

Bring Joy With Themed Buffets

Another way to boost employee morale is to give them something to look forward to in the week. Our suggestion? Themed buffets!

Perhaps you're on a budget and choose one catered lunch weekly. Or maybe you want a standard menu throughout the week, with a fun food theme thrown in on Wednesdays, for example.

Corporate catering companies have got you covered. From Italian and Chinese to a Memphis cookout or island luau, a good caterer will have plenty of options for your employees to enjoy.

Deliver With a Corporate Event Caterer

Using corporate catering services is a surefire way to gain employee satisfaction. Lunch breaks are proven to boost staff members' physical and mental health and improve their sense of wellbeing.

Providing healthy and delicious meals for all your workers can be a daunting task, but it's not something you have to do alone. Here at David Alan Caterers, we are professional, reliable, and deliver high-quality results every time. We cater to all dietary needs and have a wide range of menus to suit every event and budget.

Ready to hire a caterer? Contact us to discuss what we can provide for your next event.