With the nation gearing up to resume working at office, a key factor for individuals as well as organisations is going to be the food options at workplaces.
We spoke to Karan Totlani, Country Segment Director-Corporate Services of Sodexo India, (Sodexo being a leading French food services and facilities management company in the world), about what changes corporate kitchens will be incorporating.
Excerpts:
What advancements have corporate and partner kitchens taken post lockdown to make for an effective comeback for business?
Food preferences and the culture of eating food will see a huge transformation in the times to come. According to Food Business News / Kantar / Social media analysis, the following trends are shaping food at workplace.
Preference for home-cooked food: 32 per cent of adults plan to eat at dine-in restaurants less often due to COVID-19. Being home-bound with no option but to eat at home, this will slowly become preference rather than compulsion.
Cautious Dining: People will be more cautious of the places they choose to eat from. Value-added dining, home delivery kitchens for comfort, shall be the new rules for eating out.
Healthier Eating: People will seek to boost their immune system in response to the outbreak by eating healthier, and taking greater care in choosing what they eat.
Emphasis on food safety: Packaged food will see a rising preference among general public.
Local choices: With more consumers caring about the source of their food, people will choose locally grown alternatives. Digitalisation will be an enabler. From ordering food to delivery; everything will have to be made through an app.
Cash payments will need to be controlled; with virtual meal cards providing the desired solution. Apart from meals cooked daily in the kitchen, food will be made available in smart vending machines that have temperature controlled units to provide both hot and cold meals. ‘Grab & go’ packages will also be useful for employees in a hurry to reach a meeting or home.
Will cloud kitchens and contactless dining hold sway in post-lockdown, due to health concerns?
Organisations are taking cautious steps while reopening.
This means, in the near to short-term, organisations will work towards getting people at work in a slow and gradual manner. A significant part of the working population, barring essential services, will continue to work from home.
Given the current scenario, where domestic help is not easily available and concerns continue to mount over personal health and hygiene, food service for employees will become an important consideration for corporate workplaces.
While pre-packaged meals, grab & go and pop up outlets will support organisations with kitchen infrastructure and cafeterias; food delivery through partner kitchens and cloud kitchens will come to the rescue of organisation with ‘no-kitchen’ infrastructure.
Food in this case, will be made available from HSE-approved kitchens giving a home-like feel with the right amount of nutrition, comfort and convenience. More and more organisations will opt for service through partner kitchens and cloud kitchens, as they would like to offer meal services to employee working from home.
What impact do you see this having on corporate foodservice entities like Sodexo?
We see opportunities to reinvent the way food is cooked and delivered to our clients and consumers. From elaborate buffet spreads and self-service models; workplace cafeterias are looking at limited contact-based food service. It means revisiting the menu, identifying innovative ways to prepare food, supply chain efficiencies to source local and seasonal ingredients, fruits and vegetables and sustainable packaging. It has brought digital to the forefront, which we at Sodexo, have given tremendous importance to in the past. Leveraging on our association with Zeta, we’re furthering in our digital capabilities to maintain the same level of consumer experience in these unprecedented times as well.
What is going to be Sodexo’s focus areas in this pandemic?
We are entering into a new normal, bringing with it evolving client and consumer expectations. At the forefront of the “new normal” Sodexo has anticipated these needs to ensure the engagement of our stakeholders not only within but beyond the workplace with new services such as: digital retail services; new food options with pre-packaged lunch box, take home meals; preventive and reactive disinfection cleaning, sanitation and HVAC filter changes; health and wellness programs; benefits and Rewards Services such as virtual meal cards.