A thoughtful corporate lunch can make a world of difference to employee well-being, and in turn, your reputation. It’s an excellent but subtle way of showing that you care and appreciate them for their efforts. Corporate lunch breaks can also become an informal networking space where your employees mingle, exchange ideas, and get to know each other better.
In the long run, corporate lunches can even give you a competitive advantage over your peers as a considerate employer.
As long as you can curate interesting catered lunch ideas for your business event, rest assured, you’ll win their favor. And it’s always good to have happy employees. If you’re keen on successful event planning, continue reading.
Versatile Corporate Lunch Catering Ideas to Try
Whether you’re planning everyday meals, lunches, dinners, or a formal feast, these corporate catering ideas are versatile enough to suit any occasion (and requirement).
Plated Meals
Perhaps the most common in catered meals, plated dishes refer to food that is already pre-portioned and garnished before it is served to guests. Plated meals are a great corporate lunch idea for formal dinners, like milestone celebrations or annual parties. It is a hassle-free way of ensuring your guests enjoy their food while indulging in banter among themselves.
While you can play around with cuisines of your choice, individual charcuterie boards with an assortment of cheeses, caviar, cold cuts, and smoked fish make for excellent plated appetizers.
For mains, you can consider lamb chops, lobster tails, chicken alfredo, beef lule, and the like, served with a side of mashed potatoes and grilled/steamed vegetables.
It’s one of the classiest catering menu ideas for large-scale corporate events.
Buffet Spreads
But if you’re hosting a professional lunch or dinner where you want your employees to mingle and socialize without remaining seated at their tables, buffet spreads are your best bet. In fact, a buffet corporate lunch will provide the opportunity for your employees to get to know each other better, especially if it’s a big organization with multiple departments.
You can consider serving delicacies like tabouleh, hummus, beef lule, chicken lule, baked salmon, kashlama, falafel, and more — these items are easy to self-serve and light enough to be enjoyed with drinks. They can double up as both entrees and mains.
Customized Corporate Catering Menus
Alternatively, consider a customized corporate catering menu if the event is an annual affair. You and your guests can enjoy a menu that is tailored to suit the occasion and theme of the event. Take your pick from a wide selection of global cuisines, including Armenian, Mediterranean, and Mexican.
Healthy Food Stations
Looking for sustainable lunch catering ideas for work and also keen on ensuring the wellness of your employees? Consider a healthy food station. Assorted fruit platter, vinaigrette salad, Olivier Salad, cucumber yogurt, Armenian salad, and tabouleh are all healthy and light options that are flavorful enough to wow your employees.
Consider this if your organization serves lunch to its employees every day.
Kebab Corner
Last but not least, you can also go the route of indulgence and set up a kebab corner. It is one of those ideas for catering that’s sure to be a hit with your employees because who doesn’t like biting into a juicy, well-made kebab?
As for which kebabs you choose, take your pick from beef or chicken shish, lule, and similar dishes that are tasty but not heavy on the stomach.
After all, a heavy corporate lunch can make your employees feel bloated and sleepy. A protein-rich but flavorful lunch will keep them satiated but active.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Corporate Catering Menu
When brainstorming catering lunch ideas for the office, take the following factors into account. It will ensure that everyone enjoys their meal and nobody feels left out:
Time & Occasion
While there’s no dearth of corporate catering menu ideas, keep the time of the day and the occasion in mind when finalizing one. If it’s a formal daytime gathering like a conference or a networking event, then plated meals can work out in your favor.
But for largescale gatherings like annual parties or celebrations, buffets and finger food could be a hit.
The choice of dishes also matters because nobody likes to have heavy food on a day packed with activities. Meanwhile, slightly indulgent delicacies can work better for formal dinners.
Personal Preferences
A successful event should also be inclusive, and that’s why you need to consider your employees’ preferences when browsing catering lunch ideas. It is advisable to serve a balanced mix of meats and other proteins, plant-based, halal, and kosher options, so that everyone has something that they can eat.
Food Allergies
Food intolerances and allergies can cause mayhem in an otherwise peaceful event, besides causing a medical emergency. Never risk the well-being of your employees. Instead, ask them about allergies. Eggs, fish, crustaceans, milk, nuts, and gluten are the most common culprits in this regard.
You can either label each dish for possible allergens or simply have more options without them. The choice is yours, but do keep your budget in mind while finalizing the corporate lunch menu.
Hire a Full-service Caterer
Instead of racking your brains over corporate lunch menu ideas, outsource it to a full-service caterer. The benefits of full-service catering are many. From planning lunch catering ideas to calculating portion sizes, serving, and packing leftovers, we can do everything for you. You don’t have to lose your sleep over how to calculate catering portions
Just focus on hosting the corporate event.
In fact, consider renting a corporate-friendly venue that also offers catering in Los Angeles. Remember, your most important responsibility is to host and attend to your guests.
We can help you with lunch catering ideas and also a banquet hall in Glendale, tailor-made for hosting corporate events. Reach out to us to learn more about corporate event venues in Glendale, catering, and more today.
You can also fill up the form on the website to get a quote.
Make your next corporate event an all-round success with us.