As workforces have evolved to include more telecommuters and flex-timers who don’t adhere to rigid lunch schedules, traditional corporate dining operations have suffered. Throw in competition with local fast-food outlets and casual, quick-service restaurants and it’s no surprise that Foodservice Equipment and Supplies reported lunch participation in corporate cafeterias has declined over the past four years.
“This doesn’t signal the end to corporate dining, but it does illustrate the need for companies to ensure their corporate foodservice operation remains competitive,” explains Brenda Rice, corporate dining marketing manager at Hobart. “This can be increasingly difficult as many of the trends in corporate dining mirror what’s happening with casual and quick-service restaurants. The result is less differentiation.”
But there is a solution. Successful corporate dining facilities are abandoning the traditional cafeteria-style setups for more cutting-edge yet speedy operations, including display cooking and grab-and-go options that attract and keep employees eating on site.
Display Cooking Puts Fresh Food in Plain View
Like many other foodservice customers, corporate diners are looking for fresh, high-quality, healthy meals, and display and exhibition cooking show off fresh ingredients right at the counter. Chefs can cook at highly visible food stations, preparing on-the-spot delicacies, ethnic specialties and made-to-order menu items such as omelets, healthy stir-fry and fresh salads.
Using multiple griddles with snap-action thermostat controls, cooks can jump from griddle to griddle at just the right temperature with even, efficient heat distribution. Undercounter refrigerators and freezers provide safe food storage without taking up floor space. The result: extended shelf life, fresh-looking products and great-tasting food.
“One of the challenges with display cooking is that it requires more space in the front of the house,” says Rice. “For most corporate foodservice operations, this means less space in the back of the house. When space is a premium, it’s critical that the back of the house be used efficiently. Key pieces of equipment, such as combi ovens, can serve double duty as both ovens and steamers. This significantly reduces equipment space requirements and allows staff to simultaneously produce a variety of foods.”
Dashing Off to Dine at Their Desks
Sometimes deadlines are as hot as the kitchen, and employees have to quickly grab a meal and eat at their desks. Healthier, tastier grab-and-go options keep hurried employees happier and profits a lot higher—portable food averages 18 percent of business and industry food sales. Examples include breakfast pastry items, fruits, salad bars, box lunches, wraps and deli sandwiches.
“Glass-front reach-in refrigerators put grab-and-go foods right at hand, while steadily maintaining temperatures to keep food fresh,” continues Rice. “High-quality meat slicers generate more slices per minute with better consistency and increased yields so foodservice staff can produce more sandwiches and wraps in less time.”
Quick Service Is a Must
Not only do corporate diners want fresh, quality food, but they also want it now. Most employees take lunch between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., so it’s important that foodservice staff be able to quickly prepare food. Using the right equipment, corporate dining operations can balance speed with quality, which is critical as employees demand more customized dishes such as cooked-to-order and made-to-order gourmet sandwiches.
Hobart FlashBake® Ovens, for example, use the power of intense visible and invisible light to cook sandwiches from the inside-out and the outside-in in just 30 to 90 seconds. FlashBake ovens can produce 150 hot gourmet sandwiches per hour, providing cooks with a new way to deliver perfectly caramelized and browned sandwiches quickly and efficiently.
Stay One Step Ahead
The corporate dining segment has to deal with several operational challenges including high overhead costs, labor, budgets and food quality. Add to this the changing corporate environment, and attracting and retaining customers becomes harder than ever before. However, by investing the right equipment and incorporating display cooking and grab-and-go options, corporate dining operations can stay one step ahead of the competition.
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