Operations

How QSRs can claim slice of catering pie

With more employees returning to the workplace post COVID, business catering is back: 85% of people who regularly order food for work say that providing food enables employees to be more productive. How can QSRs get a piece of that pie?

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May 23, 2023 | By Mike O’Hanlon, chief partnership officer at ezCater

Business catering is back — and bigger than ever. With more businesses adopting hybrid work arrangements, providing meals for employees is more popular than ever. It's a proven tactic for getting employees to work onsite, building relationships, and driving productivity and collaboration: 85% of people who regularly order food for work say that providing food enables employees to be more productive.

It's no surprise, then, that businesses are investing in food for work. In fact, 83% of orderers say their budgets are the same or higher than pre-COVID, and restaurant operators are seeing the potential: in our recent Feeding the Workplace report, 60% of operators surveyed told us that business catering is a big opportunity.

For QSRs looking to boost the bottom line, corporate catering is particularly attractive for two simple reasons: business customers order often, and they order a lot. Some 78% of them order at least once a month and 32% at least once a week, with an average order size of $350 for 25 people.

Take it from Sean Kennedy, president and CEO of Cowboy Chicken: "Catering adds revenue and profitability to every one of our stores and allows us to optimize our kitchen space and cost of labor. I love seeing a large amount of high value catering orders ready to leave the building before we even open for business."

Getting the most out of this opportunity takes specific expertise, though. To get business catering right, QSRs need to focus on three key areas:

• Rock-solid on-time delivery
• Helpful online ordering platforms and menus designed for large groups
• High-impact marketing and sales channels

Here's how you can get those essential pieces right and claim your share of this growing market:

Get delivery right — and get help if you need it

Getting a corporate catering order delivered on time is the single highest customer priority according to the business food orderers we surveyed, and it's no wonder: late deliveries mean unhappy employees, clients or prospects, and none of that is good for their business — or yours.

While QSRs already know that the quality of a delivery is important in any order, not enough are taking the necessary steps to ensure that every business catering delivery hits all the right marks:

• The food arrives on time or a little bit early (no more than 15 minutes early, though)
• The driver confirms that the order is complete before leaving the restaurant
• The customer can track the delivery in real time

Getting all of that right every time takes more than just experience and a good staff. Operators that want to ramp up their corporate catering volume are thinking hard about more resources and new options for delivery, including outsourced providers and new technology. Unlike consumers, business customers are willing to pay for deliveries, which can help offset the additional costs of those upgrades.

Build your menu and online ordering system to support groups

Restaurant operators tell us that the most critical technology investment they're planning is online ordering systems, and for good reason: online ordering is table stakes to get into business catering. In fact, 74% of customers order online, from both desktop and mobile devices.

Ordering platforms for business catering need to go beyond basic, though. People ordering food for their company need tools that help them estimate the right amount of food for their specific situation and number of eaters. They want to see an accurate picture of the total cost per person with all fees. And they want to be able to get that critical delivery information that was mentioned earlier.

The ordering experience for businesses isn't just about the platform, either. The ideal catering menu includes:

• A good variety of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options to satisfy a range of eaters
• The ability to package meals individually
• Buffets, packages and bars to accommodate different types of events

Make sure your ordering platform highlights these types of options and makes it easy for orderers to provide the best possible spread for their event.

Fine-tune your marketing choices

Even with all the right pieces in place, actually reaching those high-value customers and getting them to place orders can still be a challenge. To see lasting success, QSRs need to use specific marketing tactics that connect with the decision-makers in charge of ordering food for work.

According to the operators we surveyed, the most effective way to increase revenue from that precise group of customers is through third-party marketplaces that connect restaurants with businesses that need catering. Marketplaces offer catering customers access to a wide variety of cuisines and restaurants through a single platform — which is appealing when 46% of those business customers say variety is one of their most important considerations.

Using a marketplace also makes sense from the operators' point of view. In addition to a built-in audience of businesses that regularly place large, valuable food orders, marketplaces can provide the back-end technology, menu expertise and marketing resources required to make a business catering program successful.

Other marketing tactics restaurant brands use to successfully reach business catering prospects include creating dedicated catering sales teams and using channels with sophisticated audience targeting capabilities, like social media.

There's a marketing upside to catering orders, as well: they expose your restaurant and your food to new customers.

Taking food for work to the bank

For QSR operators who are ready to dive in, the opportunity is right there on a (catering) platter. Food for work is seeing incredible growth, and that's a chance to grow your business. But it's a high-stakes operation. One customer's pizza showing up 20 minutes late on a Friday night won't make or break your business — but lunch for 150 showing up late can lose you a big customer for good.

Getting three key areas right — reliable delivery, great online ordering and menu options, and effective marketing outreach — can serve up your share of the expanding business catering market, as well as building long-lasting relationships with loyal customers.

Mike O'Hanlon – Chief Partnership Officer, ezCater
Mike O'Hanlon has over 20 years of experience in business development, partnerships and investment banking. At Wayfair, Mike spent 12 years as VP corporate and business development where he developed key strategic partnerships with online marketplaces such as Amazon, Walmart, Staples and Tesco, media companies such as Hearst, Time and Conde Nast and leading consumer brands such as Sherwin-Williams and Mastercard. Mike founded and led Wayfair's Media Solutions business, launched and served as GM of Wayfair's European business, and led the company's buying team where he built relationships with over 3,000 supplier/partners. Prior to Wayfair, Mike spent 11 years as an investment banker, and six years as a submarine officer in the U.S. Navy. He earned an M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Virginia.