Here in St. Louis, we know a lot about good food. From pork steaks to provel cheese, we take our dishes seriously. Lunch catering in St. Louis is no different. It’s important to impress in a corporate or business setting, and choosing the right caterer for your working lunch is vital to the overall success of the event. You’ll need to know exactly what you’re looking for in order to make the best choice. There’s no shortage of great options, but which one will best serve your purposes?
In this article, we’re going to take you through a few things to keep in mind while you’re deciding on your ideal lunch catering partner in St. Louis. First, we’ll take you through how to understand your own needs and what you want to get out of a corporate caterer. Then, we’ll discuss the St. Louis culinary landscape in broad strokes, including why you will likely want to choose a catering company instead of a local restaurant. Finally, we’ll detail the trends in the corporate lunch catering industry that you should keep in mind.
Let’s start with identifying your needs for your event.
Understanding Corporate Catering Needs
Before you go about ordering lunch catering in St. Louis, you need to have a good grasp on what you need from a corporate catering provider. You’ll need to have the rough size of your group determined, and if there are any specific dietary requirements your team or guests have, make sure you know what they are so you can find lunch catering in St. Louis that can accommodate them.
Another important need you might need to address is how you’re going to serve your lunch. Do you have enough plates, silverware, napkins, and everything else to ensure a smooth corporate catering experience? Understanding your own needs in this department is going to help the ordering and serving process go as smoothly as possible, ensuring the best experience for your team or guests.
It’s important to not skip over this step. Hosting a successful working lunch is important for building successful business relationships and boosting morale for your team. Any snags in the lunch service could hinder your ability to achieve those goals. So, choose to partner with a professional, experienced corporate catering provider.
Key Features of a Reliable Corporate Caterer
So, now that you’re thinking about how important it is to choose the right lunch catering provider for all of your business needs, you need to have the features of a reliable corporate caterer top of mind. Here are a few of the top qualities you need to be looking for.
- Quality of food – This one goes without saying. Nutritious, tasty food is a must.
- Presentation – Of course, the quality of the food takes precedence to how good it looks. You don’t want to offend any of your guests’ taste buds. However, you also want to impress them with an appetizing spread. Don’t discount the proper professional presentation of your catered lunch.
- Menu diversity and customization options – Make sure your preferred lunch catering provider can accommodate everyone you’re ordering for.
- Dependability and punctuality – Starting the meal late is a fast track to cranky, hungry guests. You want a corporate caterer you can count on to arrive completely prepared and on time.
- Compliance with health and safety standards – You can’t risk anyone getting sick. Don’t choose a lunch catering provider who cuts corners.
Exploring St. Louis’s Culinary Landscape
The food culture here in the Gateway to the West is rich and varied. To help you get an idea of the best way to order lunch catering here in STL, it’s a good idea to have a thorough understanding of the main themes in St. Louis cuisine.
Modern St. Louis food culture is deeply influenced by its roots — in the 19th century, St. Louis saw an influx of German and Italian immigrants who significantly influenced its food scene. The Germans brought with them their love for beer, leading to the establishment of numerous breweries, including the famous Anheuser-Busch. Italian immigrants, on the other hand, settled in an area now known as “The Hill,” introducing the city to a variety of Italian cuisines, including toasted ravioli, a now-iconic St. Louis dish.
These early influences mix with modern sensibilities — the farm-to-table movement, for example, highlighting local ingredients and seasonal dishes. Today’s St. Louis lunch scene features world-class barbecue, St. Louis-style pizza, and all kinds of other delicious food. Ordering lunch catering in St. Louis will give you no shortage of delectable options.
Many options for corporate catering in St. Louis attempt to take the overall culinary landscape into consideration when building out their menus. There are lots of local favorites you might want to incorporate into your next event, and corporate caterers are happy to provide.
Restaurant Catering vs Catering Company
With all of the fantastic local restaurants that offer corporate catering in St. Louis, it might seem like a no-brainer to choose a restaurant instead of a dedicated catering company. That works out well sometimes, but there are a lot of benefits that come with opting for a company that only caters events. Here are some of them.
Customization
Catering companies are often more flexible and can offer customized menus that cater to various dietary requirements. If you have gluten-free, vegan, or halal team members, for example, you’ll likely find more accommodations with catering companies. They can also tailor the menu to fit the theme or tone of your corporate event. As great as restaurants in St. Louis can be, they usually have fixed menus with limited alternatives, especially on their catering menus.
Event Coordination
Many companies that offer lunch catering in St. Louis also provide event coordination services, including setup and teardown, table arrangements, and potentially even decoration. This can help make your job as the event organizer a whole lot easier. Catering companies do lunch catering all the time — it’s one of their main business operations. If you choose a restaurant’s catering services instead for your corporate catering needs, you run the risk of inexperienced staff without the expertise in event coordination.
Scalability
Catering companies are equipped to handle events of varying sizes, from small meetings to large corporate events with hundreds of attendees. Restaurants, however, may have capacity limits. Sifting through all your favorite St. Louis eateries to find the one that can provide the food for your big event could prove time consuming. However, developing a relationship with a catering company can mean a quick answer to your lunch catering needs, no matter the size of the group. From a smaller meeting to a larger event, catering companies handle all kinds and sizes of corporate catering in St. Louis.
Professional Service
Catering companies often provide professional servers who are experienced in handling large events, providing a higher level of service quality. This ensures smooth food distribution and can enhance the overall experience of the event.
Of course, many lunches don’t require much service. If they’re boxed lunches, everyone simply has to pick up their box, for example. Lunches tend to be less formal than other catered events, however, buffets are still a valid option. If you want to ensure that you’re getting the best service and the best expertise, choosing a dedicated catering service is going to be your best bet for lunch catering in St. Louis.
Current Trends in Corporate Catering
If you want to offer your guests a corporate lunch experience that will truly impress them, you’ll need to keep up with current trends in the industry. Don’t bore them with the same old fare they’ve been getting for years — switch it up with the trends we’re seeing in the broader industry. Here are some of the most prevalent ones.
Sustainability
Sustainable practices are becoming more prevalent in corporate catering. This includes using locally sourced ingredients to reduce carbon footprint, implementing measures to minimize food waste, and using eco-friendly packaging and serving materials.
Global Influences
There’s an increased interest in international flavors and dishes. Corporate caterers are now offering diverse menus that incorporate foods from various world cuisines, giving employees a wider variety of meal choices and a chance to explore different cultures through food. There have always been outstanding lunch catering options in St. Louis from all over the world, of course, but that influence has been expanding to more caterers and eateries in recent years.
Personalization
Customization is key in current corporate catering. It’s important for your team or guests to go back to work in the afternoon satisfied and happy with their lunch, so caterers are offering services that allow individuals to tailor their meals to their specific tastes. That means ditching boring, stale options like boxed sandwiches and turning toward exciting smorgasbords of fresh, inventive dishes. When you opt for buffet-style corporate catering, you’re allowing your guests to customize their plates exactly as their hearts desire.
Technology
From online ordering to contactless payment and delivery, technology plays a significant role in modern corporate catering. These new tools can make it easier than ever to order lunch catering in St. Louis. Catering companies are leveraging technology to streamline their processes and offer more efficient and convenient services to their clients. A tasty meal for the whole team is often only a few clicks away!
Wellness
Today, more companies are emphasizing employee health and well-being, which extends to their food choices. Caterers are now offering menus that focus on whole, nutritious foods, with plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and grains. This also includes options for dietary restrictions such as gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan diets. You might even see a keto-friendly menu when you’re looking for lunch catering in St. Louis!
The health-conscious have more choices than ever before, and that’s particularly good for companies that want to treat their employees to corporate catering as part of a larger wellness campaign. Eating a healthy lunch can keep you more focused, energized, and productive in the afternoons, which makes everybody happy.
Outside the Box
One trend we’re seeing in corporate catering in St. Louis is movement away from traditional boxed lunches. Here at Butler’s Pantry, we have reimagined our drop-off lunch catering service to go far beyond the possibilities of a boxed lunch. Instead, we’ve adapted our offerings to the needs of today’s businesses, offering biodegradable trays of innovative, tasty food.
We can drop off a hot or cold lunch straight to your place of business. You’re sure to find something to delight your team from our tailored menus. We can accommodate different dietary needs and build out a satisfying meal for everyone. And if you need more options, we have add-on items like extra sides, beverages, or hors d’oeuvres available for you to choose from.
Boxed lunches have been a go-to choice for many corporate catering events for a long time, and there are reasons they’ve had such staying power. They can be a convenient and efficient way to get everyone fed at a lunch meeting.
However, they also have a lot of downsides — the options are usually basic and boring, and they struggle to keep up with the other corporate catering trends we’ve identified so far. So, ditch the boxes and choose from our exciting and delicious drop-off catering menu. It’s more sustainable than all the waste you’d create through the packaging of each individual boxed lunch, and it’s a much more impressive way to show your team you care.
Hopefully you’re convinced, but if you need more reasons to switch from a boxed lunch catering service to our Business Collections, you can read our other blog post on the subject.
Butler’s Pantry: Premiere Lunch Catering in St. Louis
Now that you know exactly what you’re looking for in a corporate caterer, you should also know that Butler’s Pantry delivers on all the fronts we’ve outlined in this post.
Our expert team here at Butler’s Pantry can help you create the perfect menu for your office’s next lunch. Corporate catering in St. Louis doesn’t have to be stressful or overwhelming. We’ve been proudly serving the St. Louis area for 57 years, and we’re experts at making sure your event has excellent food your guests will go home raving about. Lunch catering in St. Louis is easy — all you have to do is reach out, and our team will do the rest.