Taking a lunch break is important for everyone, and catered lunches are a great way for businesses to reward and motivate team members. For employees, rather than working through lunch and missing out on an energy boost, or eating alone without colleagues, lunch can be a restorative time that encourages team-building and promotes well-being and productivity.
Providing food at work has many benefits. Both hybrid and in-person workers crave engagement, validation, and connection. A recent study found that when employees feel acknowledged, they are 37% more likely to stay committed to their employer, while highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to look for new job opportunities.
Team lunches are a great way to make employees feel appreciated, but it can be challenging for administrators to satisfy large groups of team members with different tastes, preferences, and dietary requirements. DoorDash for Business simplifies the entire process with efficient solutions.
Why a shared team lunch is important for your business
Food encourages human connection, and shared team lunches are a way to bring team members together and build a culture of appreciation. Eating throughout the day can also greatly affect brain health, including energy levels and concentration. Catering a meal for your employees encourages them to take a break, fuel up and recharge, and spend time with other team members while they eat.
Whether in-person, hybrid, or virtual, feeding your entire team with a buffet option, snacks, or individual meal vouchers can contribute to employees feeling valued and satisfied at work.
How to cater fun group meals and snacks
Feeding a diverse crowd with group lunches doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Here are five easy catering ideas your team will love.
Special occasion buffets
Celebrating meaningful cultural holidays — or fun food-themed holidays like National Pizza Day — with a buffet is a great way for teams to bond. A family-style buffet offers a variety of options, allowing employees with different tastes and preferences to choose what they enjoy.
Ask employees what holidays they celebrate and invite them to participate in the food selection. This facilitates team connections, allows them to try new foods, and celebrates cultural diversity in the workplace.
Build-your-own meals
Accommodate a team with varied dietary requirements with build-your-own-meal style lunches. Build-your-bowl is a great option to allow employees to pick their preferred ingredients to create their ideal meal. For example, poke bowls can include multiple choices of proteins, vegetables, a rice or salad base, and a wide variety of sauces and toppings.
Catering a taco bar is also an easy process. Simply open the DoorDash App, find Mexican in the cuisine tag and then pick a restaurant. You can choose a Group Order option where team members place individual orders, or opt for the traditional catering approach and order a bountiful spread of meats, cheeses, vegetables, and tortillas for everyone to help themselves.
Juice bar
Turn your office kitchen into a fresh juice bar and give employees a nourishing, tasty, and satisfying snack in the form of a refreshing juice or smoothie bar. Having a fresh juice selection in the office fridge or offering remote employees a juice subscription can be part of wellness or benefits packages to improve employees' morale. Invite your team members to grab a smoothie on their way to a meeting or to enjoy at their desk.
Box lunches
Upgrade the traditional office sandwich experience with the portable and customizable convenience of boxed lunches, which also offer easy clean-up with no leftovers to deal with. Choose charmingly presented boxes with a varied array of sandwiches — including vegetarian and vegan options — and sides like chips or healthy salads. Employees can decide to enjoy their boxed lunches together, during meetings, at their desk, or even later at home.
Sweet snacking
Everyone loves a sweet snack or a delicious dessert during that afternoon slump. Offering employees a treat during a busy day invites them to take a moment from their desks and mentally reset. Bringing colleagues together for a snack or dessert benefits both individuals and company culture.
Ordering group lunches is easy and efficient with DoorDash for Business
DoorDash for Business simplifies planning catered lunches with two flexible solutions: Group Orders and traditional catering. Group Orders allow you to place, manage, and expense orders for up to 15 in-person employees, with scheduling up to 2 hours in advance. For larger groups, traditional catering allows administrators to select the restaurant and menu for the entire team up to 2 hours in advance.
These options simplify the catered meal process, making ordering adaptable to any team size with easy customization, budgetary control, and a streamlined administrative process.
The right catering options can make a big impact with employees
Employee engagement has a significant impact on productivity and profitability, so it's important to get it right. Planning stress-free, inclusive, and customizable team lunches is easier than you think. With more than 500,000 local and national food options available on DoorDash, employees will find something to enjoy during a group lunch.
DoorDash for Business provides flexible solutions for catered office lunches to bring team members together. Whether virtually or in person, sharing food is a proven way to reinforce and enhance team culture.
