RECAPTURING OFFICE CATERING DOLLARS

While many office buildings have on-site cafes and foodservice venues, catering orders for large meetings are often called in from area restaurants. It’s been a reliable revenue stream for many restaurant brands, particularly at lunchtime. That is, until a national pandemic forced offices to close and employees to work from home.

Pre-coronavirus, Technomic predicted that business catering would grow 5.6% from 2019-2020, from a base of $25.4 billion in 2019. Now that offices are slowly reopening, operators are hoping to recoup some of those dollars. But they have to go about it in a different way.

Catered group lunches are still viable, but gone are the days of the Chipotle-style spread where everyone digs into trays of food to build their own burrito, bowl or other customized item. Even large platters of sandwiches are perceived as risky, as eaters tend to hover above as they make up their minds before reaching in.