Prepare an Inspired Menu for Your Next Corporate Event

It’s time to revisit the popular opinion on corporate event food. Depending on your experience, corporate breakfasts and lunches probably don’t stand out for their menus. When you team up with a reputable catering company, you get the professionalism and creativity to take that boardroom meal from bland to memorable.

What’s in Season?

There’s nothing quite like fresh fruits and vegetables. What’s a sure-fire way to plan business lunches you look forward to that will impress your guests? Think about what’s in season and create dishes around that. When you plan menus around what’s fresh, you have a framework to help structure your ideas.

For the winter/spring season (February, March, and April), consider incorporating these foods into the dishes at your corporate event:

• Rhubarb
• Beets
• Mushrooms
• Leeks
• Parsnips
• Squash
• Carrots

Your caterer will surely have plenty of suggestions and options for meals that can work around these stunning, in-season, and local ingredients.

Know Who’s Coming

An accurate headcount of how many people you expect at your event (and how many of those people have special dietary needs) is essential. Especially if you want to get creative with how you present and serve your food, it’s important that you come up with a system that makes it easy to access the serving stations.

Plan for the Occasion

Consider the purpose of your event. Are you throwing a celebratory luncheon? Is this a special training opportunity? Make an effort to reflect the goal of the event in your menu choices.

For something formal you might want to have a sit-down meal with time for everyone to mingle and network. If you’re hosting a fast-paced training event, then go for a contemporary take on the bag lunch with “boxed lunches” that people can take with them as they hustle to the next seminar. Whether you’re rewarding your employees or wooing new clients, the right food sets the tone for your event.

Serve an Inspired Lunch

Who doesn’t love a good lunch? But employees everywhere are getting bored with lunch, and corporate events are no exception. With things like work hour time constraints and your business objectives setting the pace for the day, it’s often the case that you’re fitting lunch into an already busy schedule.

Set up a deli station or a salad bar where guests pick and choose from a curated selection of vegetables, proteins, and dressings. You can also try and aim for a “brunch” atmosphere with an omelet or waffle station with savoury options to hit the mark for lunch. Try for plenty of fresh fruit and offer fruit juices of various types (no more than three) to give your guests some choice and a chance to pursue healthy options.

Look Around You

If your event is taking place in a unique venue, like a brewery, then work it into your meal. For example, you could serve beer-battered food options and German-influenced foods like sausage and schnitzel. The key to a memorable lunch is to find that kernel of inspiration and execute it well. An excellent caterer like The Food Dudes can do just that.