The Catering Bag: ezCater's Feeding the Workplace in 2024

ezCater released their Feeding the Workplace report for 2024. In this post from The Catering Bag, I will go over some of the key insights from this report and how you can advance your catering business this year. You can also find the report here: https://www.ezcater.com/company/lp/catering-insights-report/.

The Catering Bag: insights from ezCater Feed the Workplace report on

#ezCater has a lot of data around catering orders, caterers, employees and workplace leaders who place orders. They surveyed more than 2,800 people to collect the stats and data within their report. Here are some of the findings I find impactful that are important to know for your business:

Catering for offices is a great intro for direct orders

Based on those surveyed, 47% of people who tried a restaurant from their catered meal at work ordered directly from the restaurant later for a personal order. What this means is roughly half the people you cater to at work will order from you later. Catering is a great intro for customers to become long term fans of your restaurant. Put your best foot forward and give them a reason to come back for more!

People in the workplace are planning to spend more on catering

Companies are finding lots of reasons to invest more in catering: employees want meals on-site, it's a great added perk, and it builds morale. They are also finding new reasons to offer meals, whether it is event based, meetings, or their everyday lunch/dinner. There is an overall increase of 32% of daily and weekly meals year over year, and according to leaders who order food, 53% of them are planning to spend more money on food for work this year compared to last year. This means your orders should be growing by size and volume.

As the catering market grows, new opportunities are emerging

The regular catered lunch is still a big opportunity, but new "types" of meals are on the rise. The largest one being food trucks, with 49% of orderers being interested in them. 45% of orderers are interested in Grab and Go options. Other opportunities that companies are showing interest in are special events, pop-ups, and alcohol. If you are looking for new ways to grow, think about what these opportunities could look like within your current catering operations and see what you can offer!

Sustainability, variety, and delivery updates will make a lot of people happy

As the world changes, so do people's values and what they care about. For example, sustainability is proving to be very important. 64% prefer boxed meals over the typical family-style tray offerings. This is proving to be less waste. 43% prefer sustainable food packaging, and 37% actually have a requirement to order from caterers that have sustainable packaging.

The number one challenge orderers have is finding options everyone will like. They also are challenged with staying in budget and meeting specific dietary needs. The top needs right now are vegetarian, gluten-free, and vegan. Variety is key, so having a menu that fits needs as well as budget constraints is crucial.

People want to know where their food is and not worry about the order. It may be more than just a lunch; it could be a meal for executives, a very important client meeting, or just a special event that the orderers have worked hard to plan. 97% of orderers would like to have delivery tracking updates on their orders. Also, 90% are more likely to place an order from a caterer that has delivery tracking available. If you can offer this, you will be more desirable to customers.

Closing thoughts

As the years go on, it's important to adapt to the market and what the customers want. The corporate catering needs have changed. Keep up with the trends, look at what your close competitors are doing, and always try to provide more value to win more business. Bottom line: adapt to the current market, provide exceptional hospitality, and business will come back for more.

Cater on!