Restaurant traffic may be down , but business catering is a bright spot this holiday season.
Holiday office parties are on the upswing, with 43% of companies planning to increase their budgets this year, according to ezCater’s Workplace Holiday Party Trends Report released Tuesday. On average, they plan to spend $44 per guest on food and beverage.
Channel Media Group, a targeted marketing company based in Cleveland, shares a similar sunny outlook based on its 2024 catering survey, claiming that 90% of businesses plan to order from local restaurants this season.
“With employee attendance and budgets trending up, holiday gatherings continue to be a big part of workplace culture,” said Kaushik Subramanian, chief revenue officer for Boston-based ezCater. “Employees are increasingly looking for ways to socialize and build camaraderie, and there’s no better opportunity for that than over a meal at the company holiday party.”
Indeed, 81% of employees in the ezCater survey said they plan to attend holiday parties this year, up from 69% last year. And for 78% of respondents, food is the part they look forward to the most, with 85% believing it plays a central role in fostering social interaction.
Interestingly, alcohol doesn’t rate as high as food when it comes to holiday office party success. Drinks and festive cocktails are a draw for only 48% of employees overall, although 52% of Millennials come for the free drinks. But 27% of decision-makers don’t feel comfortable including alcoholic beverages at a work party.
How can restaurants capitalize on the holiday party surge? Price and variety are the key considerations. Channel Media Group’s survey of close to 2,000 business administrators reports that nearly 38% of respondents cite price as the top factor in ordering catering from a restaurant, with menu variety and type of food accounting for around 22% and 21% respectively.
But mediocre food can be a deal breaker. In the ezCater survey, one in 10 employees said they skipped the holiday party because the food was unappealing, but 92% revealed that exceptional food made them more excited about attending.
As far as menus go, buffets are the overwhelming choice of employees, with 66% opting for that set-up. Heavy appetizers are party goers’ preference at 34%, followed by stations dedicated to salads, pasta, etc. at 28%. More formal sit-down meals and less formal build-your-own bars get a thumbs down for holiday parties, at 25% and 20% respectively.
The ezCater data comes from an August survey of 1,007 full-time employees and 608 decision-makers nationwide who are involved in the planning process to understand how they feel about workplace holiday parties and gauge their plans for the 2024 office holiday party season.
Channel Media Group conducted its survey in September, canvassing 1,931 business administrators from At-Work Freebies, the nation’s largest permissioned workplace network.
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