Say Goodbye to Boring Boardroom Lunches

Not all corporate lunches are created equal. We’ve all experienced boardroom catering of varying degrees of deliciousness, which has almost certainly included facing stale sandwiches or a lacklustre salad while you slog through a Powerpoint presentation. Working through lunch should be a rewarding, not depressing experience – and if there’s one way we know of to inspire, it’s with food! Creating an unexpectedly tasty menu for your next boardroom lunch event will not only fuel all that blue-sky thinking, it should help you score a few extra points with your boss along the way, too.

When it comes to energy reserves throughout a high-powered day, eating a nutritious lunch is the best way to avoid an afternoon slump. While it’s tempting to cater lunch meetings with giant box of sandwiches followed by a plate of pastries, the result will be attendees feeling bloated, drowsy and uninspired to power through that meeting agenda.

The solution? Exciting, healthy and creative food that makes everyone become a whole lot ++more++ engaged – not the opposite. They feel nourished, not over-full, and are energised throughout the afternoon. Take it from us, good food = happiness, productivity, morale, and the feeling that people actually care, which is bound to shine through in the meeting’s results. Read on for some foodie inspiration for your next working lunch.

Corporate Individual Lunch

While this is admittedly a COVID classic option, it doesn't have to be naff. We have put together Bento style lunch boxes together that include a selection of fresh and creative menu items. This provides a personal touch, particularly if you have researched any special dietary requirements prior, and catered to them. Think an eco-friendly lunch box branded and packed with sophisticated bites.

Go Global

A globally inspired menu can be a starting point to help mix things up. From a traditional Mediterranean Mezze, to a delicate Duck Pancake, a healthy Salad Roll, to a gourmet Bao Bun, channelling different countries’ cuisines can give a midday meal a fresh spin that will fire up fresh ideas, too. There’s nothing like a reminder that the world is a big place to provoke big thoughts.

East Meets West

On a similar note, with its eclectic range of colours, textures and flavours, a selection of Asian fusion dishes is a fab foodie theme to give your next boardroom lunch. Think Thai Chicken Salad with strips of chicken breast and a dressing of fragrant mint, lime, bean sprouts & cucumber. For a light, nutritious option (that’s also coeliac-friendly and flexible for vegetarians) go for Rice Paper Rolls filled with thin slices of vegetables, chicken or prawn, a zing of fresh herbs and a tasty dipping sauce. Finger foods like Wasabi & Coconut Prawn Skewers or Szechuan Beef Skewers are always reliable crowd-pleasers, too.

Light & Tasty

We’ve established the fact anything too heavy food-wise at a working lunch is never a good idea. Give the food coma a swerve with an array of colourful, fresh and nutritious salads at any daytime corporate event. Incorporate traditional favourites like a Chicken Caesar Salad, and add contemporary and colourful concoctions like a Heirloom Tomato, Cucumber & Radicchio Salad or Roasted Harissa Chicken Salad, that meeting attendees can mix and match to their stomach’s desire. Another light option is the Artisanal Dips with a mix of red capsicum, spiced hummus & baby ganoush dips, lavosh crackers, corn chips & crudites. Satisfying, healthy and full of vegetables for additional meeting brain power.

Work is hard enough. Lunch shouldn’t be!