Holiday Catering and Boxed Meals Delivered During the COVID-19 Pandemic post from Kara Anderson at C3.
Remember when we thought the pandemic would only affect our day to day lives for a few months? Now that we know better, making sure we keep everyone safe is a daily consideration. With Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, safely catering holiday meals during a pandemic is no exception. Luckily, caterers and restaurants have had great practice since March, so providing meals safely in Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio is not as big of a worry as it once was.
To minimize contamination, a lot of people have been opting for individually boxed meals for all their food delivery needs including holiday catering, virtual lunch and learns and the day to day office catering. How do you provide catered individually boxed holiday meals you ask? Corporate Catering Concierge has simple solutions that will work great for your guests!
1) Safety First
Minimizing exposure is the name of the game. Every caterer is offering contactless delivery, so if this makes sense for your office catering, simply let your concierge know and she will help make it seamless. The most common way to minimize exposure in the office, is to set a designated area where your guests can go to collect their catered holiday meal. Keep the usual 6-foot distance and wearing a mask are the best ways to prevent the spread of germs according to the CDC. Most companies have placed stickers or tape on the ground to assist. By doing so, your guests will know safe distances and be able to keep each other safe without much effort. Don’t forget to keep hand sanitizer nearby for those who may be uneasy. They can apply it before and after collecting their holiday meals.
Many clients are creating a schedule for in office meal pickups as well. They will invite a small number of guests to collect meals at a time. Using stickers on the floor, they can create small lines and making it fast and efficient.
Another great option to distribute your Thanksgiving and Christmas catered meals is having a designated person delivering meals to each office or cubicle. Grab a cart and go!
2) Different Meal Options
Most clients want to keep holiday meals as traditional as possible to offer normalcy, however some have opted for non-traditional catered holiday meals to make it simpler. Clients who are providing both Thanksgiving catered meals and Christmas catered meals also find the variety very helpful. Some popular options are Tex-Mex, BBQ and Italian cuisine. All are great comfort food and minimize the number of side options. Some clients have also decided to go totally different routes by having individually boxed appetizers or charcuterie boxes. Additionally, another catered meal option that we at Corporate Catering Concierge have found effective in preventing germ transmission is skewered buffets. This can be served buffet style in chafers to keep the meal hot while a gloved and masked employee or server distributes the meal.
The options are limitless. Give us a call and we will be happy to find what works best for your group!
3) Keeping Boxed Meals Hot
Keeping hot meals hot can be a concern, especially when they are boxed individually, but have no fear! All caterers have equipment designed to keep the food hot. Some are insulated bags, others solid boxes and some even have portable ovens! If you have an area in office with warming drawers, caterers can simply transfer the meals from their warmers to yours. Problem solved!
4) Other Serving Options
If you prefer to skip the pre boxed option all together, you can always have your holiday meals plated on site. Some clients are asking to include kitchen staff so that they can plate meals as guests come to collect them. They simply keep the items hot in a kitchen or staging area and plate meals as directed. This will keep the number of people who are exposed to the hot holiday meal to a minimum. Give your concierge at Corporate Catering Concierge a call for staff pricing.
5) Meals to Employees Homes
Unable to return to the office just yet? You are not the only one. Some companies have decided that they would like to provide holiday meals or an afternoon charcuterie box for their employees at home rather than having them come into the office for their holiday celebrations. We can make this happen! Just let Corporate Catering Concierge know the address and number of guests and we will make the food delivery arrangements. We will give everyone the option of contactless delivery by having the driver text the on-site contact once the holiday catering has been delivered.
Alternatively, some would simply like to have a one stop shop where their employees can place orders for their families rather than cook. We have all been doing so much cooking these days that the holidays may be a nice break! Have them give us a call! We can find the best caterer to deliver to their location in Houston, Dallas, Austin or San Antonio in their budget.
Let’s all give thanks for what we have and envision a brighter 2021. Corporate Catering Concierge’s has options that will make everyone happy. We are only one phone call away!
866-677-3493
