Expect big, pandemic-driven changes to corporate dining services and other perks when things reopen. Your beloved buffet? Gone. The microwave may be, too.
As states enter later phases of reopening and offices start to turn their lights back on, many changes are in the works to keep employees safe and minimize the transmission of COVID-19. One area in particular that’s undergoing an evolution is corporate dining. Gone may be the days of the grease-splattered communal microwave, heavily fingerprinted water cooler, and shared refrigerator where leftovers go to die. In their place, fresh protocols, setups, and technologies are helping companies adapt their corporate dining and food and beverage perks (like complimentary snacks and coffee) to a new, safer world—without losing the benefits that those things have long brought to workplaces.
“People are happy when they’re eating great food and, historically, doing this with their coworkers,” says Warren Leeds, founder and CEO of Dartcor, a New Jersey-based corporate food service provider that works with companies like RGA and Verisk Analytics. Here’s how organizations around the country are adapting their programs while helping to preserve this hospitality, with the help of innovative culinary companies: