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The real decision: food or operating model?
For most teams, lunch isn’t a “food question” anymore — it’s an operating model question. Hybrid attendance makes demand unpredictable. Expectations around dietary needs are higher than ever. And the moment lunch becomes inconsistent, it stops feeling like a perk and starts feeling like friction.
This article helps you decide between an in-house company canteen and corporate catering using a simple framework and a practical scorecard you can copy/paste.
If you want the bigger landscape first: we also mapped out six different office lunch models (from canteens to allowances to modern catering programs) and when each one makes sense.
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Office Catering in Berlin: 6 Lunch Setups Compared (and What to Choose for Hybrid Teams) Read more
Corporate catering vs canteen: definitions + quick comparison
Company canteen (in-house model): A kitchen and service line operated on-site, with your own staff (or a tightly managed on-site setup). It’s built for stable daily volume and a “destination” lunch experience.
Corporate catering (outsourced model): Meals are prepared off-site (or by a partner kitchen) and delivered/served at your office. It’s designed for speed, flexibility, and shifting attendance.
Quick comparison (the stuff that actually matters)
Setup effort: Canteen requires space, infrastructure, and lead time. Catering can launch fast.
Flexibility: Catering adapts better to hybrid swings. Canteens perform best with stable demand.
Staffing & risk: Canteens mean hiring, coverage, and compliance ownership. Catering shifts more accountability to the provider.
Experience: Canteens can become a social hub. Catering tends to win on predictability and simplicity.
Dietary coverage: Both can do it well – catering often achieves it faster without operational complexity.
Important note: “Corporate catering” is a broad category – it can range from traditional buffet drop-offs to app-based lunch programs with individual ordering and predictable logistics. (That difference matters more than most teams think.)
The decision framework: 5 signals that decide 80% of the outcome
1) Lunch density (actual daily eaters)
Don’t decide based on total headcount – decide based on how many people reliably eat lunch at the office each day. If lunch density is high and steady, a canteen becomes economically and operationally viable. If lunch density fluctuates, catering usually wins by default.
If you’re unsure, start by tracking lunch attendance for 2-3 weeks. It’ll make this decision painfully obvious.
2) Attendance volatility (hybrid swings)
Look at your week: are Tuesdays and Thursdays packed while Mondays and Fridays are quiet? High volatility punishes canteens (overstaffing, waste, underutilization). Catering models can be designed around ordering, forecasting, and flexible production.
Related read: If your “catering” today is basically everyone ordering separately, you’ll want this comparison:
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Corporate Catering vs. Food Delivery Apps: What Works Better for Office Lunch in Berlin? Read more
3) Kitchen feasibility (space + infrastructure)
A canteen is partly a real estate decision:
Do you have space for kitchen + storage + flow?
Is extraction/ventilation feasible?
Are renovations even realistic given your lease?
If the answer is “not really,” you already have your winner: catering.
4) Ops ownership (how much complexity you want)
Ask one honest question: Who will own this every week? A canteen can be great – but someone will own staffing schedules, vendor procurement, audits, equipment failures, and service recovery. Catering reduces that internal workload if it’s set up with clear accountability.
Costs people forget (quick reality check):
Canteen: staffing coverage, equipment maintenance, energy/cleaning, downtime risk
Catering: admin work if ordering is manual, weak forecasting → waste/shortages, vendor switching overhead
Where ChefCoco fits: ChefCoco is one example of a modern corporate catering operating model designed for hybrid attendance: employees order individually (instead of guessing demand), dietary needs are handled by default, and delivery is planned as a reliable office route – so “lunch ops” don’t quietly land on HR/Office Management.
If your biggest pain is admin + unpredictability, this is the part to fix first. (And yes – we’re happy to sanity-check your current setup.)
5) Experience goal (social hub vs reliable perk)
What are you trying to achieve?
If lunch should be a campus-style hub and part of your employer brand, canteens can shine.
If lunch should be a reliable daily perk that “just works,” catering is usually the better fit.
The 10-question scorecard (copy/paste)
Use the scorecard below to choose a model in minutes. Add points to Canteen or Catering for each answer, then total them.
Daily on-site lunch headcount (typical day)
0–120 → +2 Catering
121–300 → +1 Catering
301–600 → +1 Canteen
600+ → +2 Canteen
Attendance volatility (hybrid swings)
High → +2 Catering
Medium → +1 Catering
Low → +1 Canteen
Very low → +2 Canteen
Office + lease horizon
<2 years/uncertain → +2 Catering
2–4 years → +1 Catering
4–7 years → +1 Canteen
7+ years/owned HQ → +2 Canteen
Kitchen feasibility (space + infrastructure)
Not possible → +3 Catering
Possible but painful → +2 Catering
Possible with effort → +1 Canteen
Already have kitchen → +3 Canteen
Operational ownership tolerance
Minimal ops burden → +2 Catering
Manage vendor, not kitchen → +1 Catering
Can manage staffing/compliance → +1 Canteen
Want in-house hospitality → +2 Canteen
Lunch experience goal
Reliable perk → +2 Catering
Variety/dietary coverage first → +1 Catering
Social hub → +1 Canteen
Flagship “destination space” → +2 Canteen
Dietary complexity
High → +2 Catering
Medium → +1 Catering
Low → +1 Canteen
Very low → +2 Canteen
Budget style (capex vs opex)
Low capex, flexible spend → +2 Catering
Some capex ok → +1 Catering
Invest upfront for efficiency → +1 Canteen
Major build-out ok → +2 Canteen
Reliability expectations + accountability
Need external accountability → +2 Catering
Need reliability, some internal firefighting ok → +1 Catering
OK owning service recovery → +1 Canteen
Strong ops team for disruptions → +2 Canteen
Multi-site reality
2+ offices, want standardization → +2 Catering
HQ + satellite → +1 Catering
Single location → +1 Canteen
Single large campus → +2 Canteen
Interpretation
If Catering wins by 4+ points, choose corporate catering. If Canteen wins by 4+ points, choose an in-house canteen. If the result is within ±3 points, you’re in the hybrid zone – consider a “light canteen,” outsourced on-site service, or a catering + pantry combo.
Conclusion
Canteens tend to win when attendance is stable, infrastructure is ready, and lunch is meant to be a destination. Corporate catering tends to win when reality is hybrid, you need speed, and you want lunch to be a reliable perk without owning kitchen operations.
Want a quick recommendation based on your numbers? Share your typical on-site lunch headcount, weekly attendance pattern, and office constraints — and we’ll recommend the most sensible model (including hybrid middle-ground options). Get recommendation.
See what this looks like in practice:
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How GetYourGuide Runs Daily Office Lunch for 800+ Employees with ChefCoco (Berlin) Read more
Q&A: Corporate Catering vs. Canteen
What’s the difference between corporate catering and a company canteen? A canteen is an in-house operation (kitchen, staff, daily service). Corporate catering is outsourced (off-site production + delivery/service), with less infrastructure and staffing ownership.
When should a company choose a canteen? When lunch demand is high and stable, you have long-term space + kitchen feasibility, you want a social hub experience, and you’re willing to own staffing, compliance, and service recovery.
Best company canteen alternative for hybrid teams? A flexible model: corporate catering with individual ordering (less guessing/waste), a managed on-site service without owning staff, or catering + pantry for low-attendance days.
Is a canteen always cheaper than catering? Not automatically. Canteens can win at scale, but hidden costs (staffing coverage, maintenance, energy/cleaning, underutilization) add up fast—especially with hybrid volatility.
What headcount justifies a canteen? There’s no universal number. What matters is daily lunch density: if daily volume is consistently high and predictable, a canteen becomes easier to justify than in fluctuating hybrid setups.
Biggest risks of an in-house canteen? Underutilization (fixed costs, low demand) and staffing fragility (sick days/turnover break service). Design for resilience and variability – not just peak days.
What can go wrong with corporate catering? Vague processes: no ordering/forecasting → shortages or waste; weak labeling/distribution → queues; no escalation path → issues linger. Great catering is mostly operations, not just food.
How do dietary needs affect the decision? Both models can cover dietary needs, but reliability differs. Clear labeling, transparent ingredients, and individualized ordering typically deliver broader coverage without added operational complexity.
What’s more sustainable: canteen or catering? It depends on execution. Stable demand + waste control can make a canteen efficient; accurate forecasting + optimized/reusable packaging can make catering efficient.
We scored “hybrid zone” – what now? Start with a flexible baseline (often corporate catering), add canteen-like elements selectively (space, moments, pantry), and reassess once attendance patterns stabilize.
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