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For Office Occupiers, Onsite F&B Will Require a Rethink
Given the increasing drive to return to the workplace and the recognition that the post-pandemic workplace is going to look different, it may be time for occupiers to consider a key component of their employees’ daily onsite requirements: eating. A white paper by Newmark vice chairman Liz Hart anticipates several changes, ranging from an increase in remote ordering via mobile devices and kiosks to more soft seating with cross-functionality that drives informal interactions.
Onsite food and beverage service was once limited to employee cafeterias. Pre-pandemic, though, it had evolved into an increasing draw, “catering to a 24/7 work ethos and creating moments of organic connection and inspiration,” writes Hart. “At tech companies, employee-sponsored fresh meals had become the norm rather than a perk.”
At present, lunch breaks take place at the kitchen table. “The value of on-site catering has evaporated and with it the companies that provided meals,” Hart writes. “Rapid adaptation was critical, whether moving to individually packaged items for workers or transforming on-campus cafes into commissary kitchens or ‘ghost kitchens.’ Now, as we begin to contemplate a fuller return to the office, employers have a rare opportunity to change their approach to F&B service to meet a changing workplace—and workforce.”
As companies prepare to bring their teams back onsite, Hart predicts that “the office will be influenced and informed by a fundamental shift in how we view the office’s purpose. Employers will reconsider how F&B can be more efficiently and economically provided while continuing to drive employee engagement.”
For their part, employees should expect a point-of-sale process to utilize technology that enables remote ordering from smartphones and kiosks. Occupiers will need to eliminate bottlenecks and overcrowding for social distancing reasons, while still enabling employees to continue to engage with one another in person over meals.
“Companies may need to reconfigure and repurpose F&B spaces, including increased electrical and data drops to incorporate touchless technology,” writes Hart. “Managing policies for employees’ health and safety when returning to work is also an opportune time to address and rectify guest policies. Re-designing cafe guest flow will be required to finally create the efficiency that may have gone unaddressed pre-COVID-19 with bottlenecking and long lines.
“Employees should expect changes when they return to the office, and if spaces don’t look, operate and flow differently, employees may return to work with the perception that the environment is unsafe. Ultimately, this could diminish the productivity and innovation gains that employers achieve through F&B programs.”
