What is corporate catering ?
Corporate catering is present in both the private sector and public administrations, providing staff with affordable meals close to their workplace. Historically, this clientele was considered captive, but today it has become more unpredictable due to the availability of competitive alternatives from commercial restaurants. Therefore, price remains a crucial factor in corporate catering.
Corporate restaurants have adapted to various expectations. For example, some companies now offer meal tray delivery directly to offices for employees with limited time. Additionally, to avoid the costs associated with external dining and to provide a culinary offering that enhances the company’s image, some organizations have chosen to dedicate a more upscale dining space for executives, VIPs, and seminar meals. These executive tables or “management clubs” offer semi-gourmet services, where the on-site chef pays special attention to the quality of the ingredients used, with menus available on request, similar to commercial restaurant practices. A dedicated front-of-house team is present to provide attentive service to clients. These dining spaces, particularly common in banking and insurance companies, are ideal settings for signing major contracts.
Our best practices
One of the major challenges for corporate catering companies like Elior or Compass Group is customer retention through offering a multi-catering solution. This approach meets various expectations with different atmospheres and diverse services. Multi-catering services can take the form of a self-service with multiple options in each category (starters, sides, proteins, desserts) or “Scramble” areas with themed stations (world cuisine station, grill station, etc.).
Current culinary trends favoring seasonal, local, and high-quality products, along with a focus on organic produce from short supply chains, are essential to staying competitive by offering healthy and balanced meals. Integrating regional recipes into the menu plan and highlighting the quality origin of the products is therefore advisable.
To enhance the chef’s role within corporate restaurants, plating and finishing of dishes can be done in front of the customers. A clean and pressed work uniform and workstation are crucial for the chefs’ image. Additionally, this approach will allow for just-in-time production and help reduce waste.
It is important for the offering to be clear to guests through a coherent menu structure, clear signage, and an arrangement of buffets, stations, or kiosks that facilitates the customer journey. Since speed is a significant factor in satisfaction, this will help reduce congestion in queues.
The support we offer you
Committed to providing you with high-quality service perfectly aligned with your expectations and those of your guests, DUCASSE Conseil supports your teams in charge of your corporate restaurant. The expertise and pragmatism of the DUCASSE Conseil teams allow for maintaining a connection with operational needs and offering practical solutions, as well as ensuring effective implementation and long-term quality assurance.
We have successfully collaborated with public entities such as the Institut Social de la Gestion des Armées (IGESA) to develop a new culinary identity in line with the expectations of their guests across their hotel portfolio.
We have also gained experience working with private sector players like Elior Entreprise, for whom we developed new healthy and balanced recipes, which were then deployed across their concessionary establishments with team training.
Contact us for advice and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
