Does your workplace order outside catering?

[Boglins]

If it does, please would you tell me what kind of food/drinks you order, with what frequency and what kind of business you are?

I'm looking to offer corporate catering from my existing food business so I'm looking to get an insight into where to target my efforts. Thanks in advance!

I'm afraid we just use Pret!

I think they just get platters of sainsbury sandwiches.

Yes, we have a normal caterers and a posh caterers.

Normal caterers do sandwiches, baguettes wraps etc, sausage rolls, indian bits
Its rubbish food tbh

The posh caterers do hot and cold buffets
Lasagne
Shepherds pie
Artizan rolls
Homemade coleslaw
Pasta salads
Rice salads
Etc

They supply the bowls and plates etc and just pop back to pick up 2 hours later

Yes, we have caterers for meetings and events - we use them for maybe 15 events/meetings per week.

For a basic sandwich lunch it's 8 pounds per head, we then have to pay catering staff charges for a minimum period. Lunch for 15 people can come to just shy of £200. This is mixed veggie / meat sandwiches, a piece of fruit, and piece of cake.

I now buy sandwich platters from M and S for my meetings for a fraction of the price and for a lot more flavour.

Where abouts are you based?

We also pay about £8 ph for:

sandwiches
canape-type finger foods: spring rolls, sliced baguette with toppings, mini sausage/veggie rolls, mini vol-au-vents, mini quiche
chicken skewers, veggie skewers
dips
fruit skewers
bite-sized sweet treats (brownies, flapjack, tablet, all 1 inch square)

They do a soup-and-sandwich option (no finger foods) for the same price. Soup delivered in an electric tureen which we plug in.

Full range of veggie, vegan, gluten-free, halal and all allergies and intolerances catered for, we just have to ask. They plate them up separately and label them.

Having staff, or a VIP selection costs more.

There are 5 main reasons we use them.

1. We're out in the sticks so supermarket platters are not an option
2. They will accommodate any request at all (the guy who runs it really wants to do business, he never says no)
3. They often have to provide at short notice (our fault not theirs), and they don't charge extra
4. Portions are generous
5. They are very reliable, ie deliver what you want, when you want it. Helps that they are out in the sticks with us, but the service is first class!

We've used them for 10 years, and the only time they let us down they failed to deliver teas and coffees for 100 people on time one morning, for a prestigious event. They came as soon as they could, they provided free tea & coffee twice during the day, the boss phoned me 3 times to apologise, and they gave me and my staff boxes of chocolates!

We only provide catering when we have visitors - public sector, and out in the sticks as I mentioned. If you are catering to the public sector, be aware that you may have to tender to supply.

My old company had sandwich and cake platters delivered from a local sandwich shop.

We use Pret (few times a week)
Mid range / naice buffet (a few times a month)
And uber posh / silver service (a few times a year)

Central London, software co.

Thanks all, this is really helpful. I'm based in a town in NW England and the businesses around us are a mix of public and private sector. There's no Pret locally but there is a Sainsbury's and an M&S so I will look at what they offer.

I like the soup and sandwich option Contender, that's definitely something I could offer which would give us an advantage over the supermarket platters.

Would you deliver? That would give you the heads up over M and S.

We have to pick up our M and S platters early (and sometimes the night before) which is a pain.

Something that's really popular for small meetings (

We order in from a local company who can deliver. The local supermarkets are a fair trek if carrying trays of sandwiches.

We get sandwich platters, fruit platters and tray bakes and some orange and apple juice. They can also provide individual dietary requests. The trays are also recyclable. The company can also do soup, or hot meals but our budget doesn't run to that.

We use a couple of local sandwich shops/delis for meetings and training courses, up to about 20 people.

Quality is variable, some decent bread and fillings, nice nibbles and salad bowls but sometimes a few cheap looking nibbles creep in.

They deliver and provide cutlery and crockery, which is obviously something we value although there's no reason why we couldn't sort this ourselves. We don't take drinks, we just get fruit juice and tea and coffee from a local supermarket and there's a water machine.

Have a think about packaging. Many clients will not want single use plastics, so see if there's anything reusable available to transport and present the food, while still complying with food hygiene rules obviously.

I'm in the NW too. We get sandwich lunches about twice a month - the main thing is delivery on time as we have no storage. Usually sandwiches, snacks, tray bakes etc. We have some halal, gluten free, nut free and vegan so they have to be trustworthy and know that dietary requirements need to be strictly adhered to, and that its all nicely labelled so everyone knows what they can eat. We pay about £8 per head.

Occasionally we have breakfast meetings with hot sandwiches, croissants and fruit and again delivery time is key. They bring everything on platters in insulated bags and collect them the same afternoon to be washed and used again.

It makes a huge difference to have fresh ingredients and interesting combinations rather than curly, dry supermarket sarnies.

We would deliver within a certain radius, so will definitely sell that aspect of it! Brown bag lunches are a great idea too and we can definitely do that.

We already cater for some dietary requirements in the existing business but will have a think about how/if we can cater for others.

We do use local suppliers as far as possible (the bread, meat and veg are all from local suppliers) so will definitely promote that in the pitch and on our flyers.

Packaging/display-wise, we would deliver on reusable platters which we'd collect afterwards. We can supply cutlery if we're doing a fork buffet and that can be whatever is preferred.

Thanks so much everyone, it's really useful to see what people look for. My previous employer used internal caterers so my experience of this is quite limited!

I'm in the US, but yes, we order for lunchtime meetings fairly regularly. It tends to be sandwiches, salads, fruit, and usually something simple for dessert (brownies or chocolate chip cookies). We always have vegetarian options as well. We try to use sustainable packaging, but that is not always possible.

Ours only do it when they have big important meetings with clients and head office visits and then there is usually a few platters from M&S

And On the odd occasion that weve had to work overtime at weekends

This is our gold standard supplier. They are so far away from you they can't possibly call you competitors:

picnic cornwall

The brown bags also mean less food waste and that people can take uneaten items home. There's something rather lovely about being given your own packed lunch - almost nostalgic. And people swap sandwiches and crisps just like they do on school trips