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The New Breed Of Office Hospitality
- How To Create A Catering Model That Works

Matt Ephgrave, MD at Just Eat for Business, and Ed Walker, Founder and CEO at Fika Catering.

Working culture has changed and, in many ways, is still changing. The traditional five days-per-week, 9am to 5pm model is no longer the expected norm for many and companies have relaxed the invisible rules that once restricted business practices. As a consequence, there’s been a transition to a new model of catering for businesses that will now improve the employee experience, as well as an employer’s performance.

The new model of working has changed the relationship between employers and employees. During the pandemic, the global workforce became a lot more confident in making demands to employers. What we learnt from the so-called ‘Great Resignation’ is that traditional business culture has changed. Employers now need to offer something new if they’d like to attract and retain the best employees. The answer is to create a culture that keeps employees engaged, with open communication and a variety of perks.

When we talk about culture, food almost always comes into it. Despite this, in our experience, the value of an organisation’s catering is often undervalued by business leaders. This will have to change as a new way of working demands a new model of catering for employees. Large catering teams working full-time in permanent, on-site kitchens no longer meet the needs of employees. These traditional services, dominated by a few large corporations, no longer deliver the most effective, agile solutions for today’s workforce. Facilities managers need to reimagine the ways they deliver food to staff.

Re-Evaluating The Modern Catering Experience

Just because catering needs to change, doesn’t mean we need to facilitate a complete overhaul. There are, of course, several elements of traditional catering that remain fit for purpose. It’s important that we recognise what those elements are, and how we can keep them as part of a new system.

One of those is personal interaction. In our years working in the food industry, it has become clear that catering is not only about the food and drink being served, but also about the experience. People will often visit specific cafés, not just because of the quality of the coffee, but because of the positive interactions they encounter. Similarly, in the workplace, we find that over lunch employees are more likely to develop friendships with members of their teams. They laugh and joke with each other, and listen when someone is having a tough day. Employers should recognise the value of that, and try to continue delivering it.

The value of high-quality food, prepared fresh, must also receive due credit. It’s no secret that people are becoming more conscious of their health; a recent poll by the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) discovered that every three in five people would like to eat healthier diets, but that cost presented the most frequent barrier. In response to this, people are looking towards their employers for support. The traditional catering model with its skilled chefs; bespoke, seasonal menus; and high-quality ingredients adapts well to this demand. Whatever comes next must do so too, and flexible food options also allows for employees to have more autonomy and freedom to choose from a variety of options.

Other elements of catering must change. Facilities managers need to adopt new ways of operating that respond to today’s challenges. Perhaps the most obvious of these challenges is that presented by new working schedules. When some employees only come into the office on two days of the week and, in others, not at all, the suitability of a full-time, five-day-per-week on-site restaurant must be called into question. The cost of new-build office space increased by 13% in the year to September 2022, and even more for older buildings; might that foyer space now be put to better use? Flexible on-demand services that prepare food outside of the facility are much better prepared to deal with this challenge. With the right systems in place, they can deliver food based on the number of employees in a building on the day, with the flexibility to change within hours.

Another aspect of traditional catering that is becoming a much more important consideration is food waste. Food waste is built into on-site traditional catering as an almost unavoidable aspect of operations since no employer wants any employees to go hungry (which necessarily results in over-estimations of demand.) Flexible solutions can adjust to specific demand volumes. With flexible solutions such as giving workers an allowance to order food individually when and where they need it, businesses are able to reduce waste and provide quality when employees need it.

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Appreciating The Benefits Of A New Model

A new model of catering for business will ultimately improve employee satisfaction and

here are just a few reasons why:

• Culture: When catering is designed for the occasion, it provides an incentive for employees to come into work. This fosters an environment where people feel bonded to their peers.
• Flexibility: In shared facilities, different companies may require different services. Solutions that deliver bespoke, on-demand catering can respond to all of their needs. Traditional catering might only provide a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
• Variety: Employers will better engage their employees when they can provide food from a range of different vendors and cuisines, and with a variety of experiences. A new model of catering built around out-of-house catering suppliers can deliver that.
• Reduced costs: For most companies, a flexible approach to catering will save them money. As a facilities manager, they’ll value your services more for doing so.

The catering industry itself still faces several challenges. There’s an exigent need for skilled workers and with food prices rising at their fastest rate in forty years, sustainable business models are being challenged. To adapt, and serve its clients’ changing needs, the industry will need to become more flexible by adopting catering services that respond to their changing needs.