Ordering lunch for a workplace sounds straightforward. Then the headcount changes, three dietary requirements arrive, a client is joining at the last minute and somebody remembers the food needs to be on the fifth floor before the meeting starts.
The menu matters, but a good workplace lunch is usually decided by everything around it too: who is eating, why they are together, how much time they have, where the food will be served and how easily the organiser can get it all in place.
Whether you are ordering for a meeting tomorrow, a team lunch or a regular office day, a little thought before opening the menu makes a significant difference.
This guide covers what to decide, what to ask and what is worth checking before you place the order.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The organiser experiences the catering long before anyone takes the first bite. Clear choices, accurate numbers, known delivery times and good dietary information make lunch easier to organise - and give everyone else a better experience when it arrives.
1. Start with what the lunch is for
Before deciding between sandwiches, salads or something hot, ask a simpler question: What needs to happen around this food? A working lunch has a different job from a team lunch. Food for a client meeting needs to work differently from lunch during a full-day training session.
2. Count the people eating, not just the people invited
Headcount is one of the simplest parts of an order to get wrong.
A calendar invitation is not necessarily a lunch order. Check who will actually be in the workplace, whether external guests are eating and whether people are joining or leaving during the day.
Hybrid working makes this more important. CIPD research found that 74% of organisations had hybrid working in place in 2025, while 65% required some minimum workplace attendance. For an organiser, the practical consequence is that demand can vary considerably from one office day to another.
For recurring lunches, keep a simple record of:
• people expected
• people who actually ate
• dietary choices used
• food left over
• days when demand was noticeably higher or lower
A few weeks of information is more useful than guessing the same number every time.
Think in portions, not pieces
Twenty sandwiches does not necessarily mean lunch for twenty people.
Check how the caterer describes portions and what each platter or dish is designed to serve. If you are mixing formats, make sure the whole order works together rather than treating each item separately.
The aim is not to cover the table with as much food as possible. It is to provide enough choice and generosity without building unnecessary waste into every order.
3. Treat dietary requirements as part of the headcount
Dietary information should sit alongside the number of people eating, not appear as a note added at the end.
Ask early and distinguish clearly between an allergy or intolerance and a dietary preference. Then look at whether the main menu gives people a genuine choice rather than leaving one person with an obvious substitute.
For food businesses, allergen information is a formal requirement. The Food Standards Agency requires allergen information to be provided for both prepacked and non-prepacked food, and its current best-practice guidance recommends written allergen information supported by conversation. For delivered food, the FSA advises that written allergen information should be available before ordering and when the food is delivered.
When ordering workplace food, check:
• how allergen information is shown before you order
• how dietary items will be identified on arrival
• what happens if an ingredient or product changes
• who you should speak to when a requirement needs clarification
Good dietary planning is not about making one person ask where their lunch is when everything arrives. It is about making the choice clear from the beginning.
4. Choose food for the way people will actually eat
A workplace lunch is not taking place in a restaurant.
People may be eating around a meeting table, standing in a breakout space, moving between sessions or carrying lunch back to their desks.
That should influence what you order.
A focused working session usually benefits from food that is easy to pick up, serve and eat without taking over the meeting. A team lunch can make more of sharing food, colour and variety. A longer collaboration day may need something more substantial.
There should also be balance across the order. Rather than adding more and more items, think about how the whole lunch feels: something substantial, lighter choices, plenty of colour, different flavours and enough variation for different appetites.
The best menu is not necessarily the largest one. It is the one that fits the room.
5. Set a budget for the whole lunch
A per-head figure is a useful starting point, but it is not the whole cost.
Before comparing options, establish what your budget needs to cover. Depending on the type of order, that might include food, delivery, drinks, disposable service items, equipment or staffed service.
Also check whether prices shown include VAT and whether minimum order values or delivery charges apply.
For organisations ordering regularly, cost should be looked at over time rather than one lunch at a time. Repeated one-off ordering can create different menus, different suppliers, different delivery charges and more administration every week.
That does not automatically mean a regular programme will be right for you. It does mean it is worth comparing the whole process, not simply the price of one platter.
6. Set two times: delivery time and eating time
This is one of the details that makes the biggest difference.
"Lunch is at 12.30" is not a delivery instruction.
The food needs enough time to arrive, get through reception, reach the right floor, be checked and be put where people are going to eat it.
Work backwards from the moment lunch should be ready.
Give the caterer useful delivery information too: the full address, building or floor, reception arrangements, loading or access restrictions and a contact number for the person receiving the order.
If food is arriving ahead of the eating time, check how it needs to be stored and held safely until service.
This is particularly important in larger offices where the front door and the meeting room may be several lifts, security desks and corridors apart.
7. Know the order cut-off before you need it
Office plans do not always come together weeks in advance.
A new meeting appears. Numbers change. A client confirms late. An office day becomes busier than expected.
That makes the ordering cut-off an important part of choosing a workplace caterer, not simply a piece of small print at checkout.
For Sands meeting and office catering, orders can be placed online up to 4pm for next-day delivery.
That does not mean every lunch should be left until 3.59pm. It means there is more room to accommodate the way working days actually develop.
For regular catering, it is still worth agreeing a rhythm for headcounts and changes so the organiser is not rebuilding tomorrow's lunch from scratch every afternoon.
8. Decide where the food is going before it arrives
The room can change how well the same lunch works.
Where will the food be placed? Is there enough table space? Will everyone arrive at once? Do people need plates and cutlery? Will a queue block the meeting room door? Is there somewhere for packaging to go afterwards?
For a small meeting, the answer may be simple.
For 100 people arriving for lunch at the same time, the layout becomes part of the catering plan.
If the lunch is intended to give people time together, think about that too. A beautifully arranged spread in a space where nobody can comfortably stop and eat is a missed opportunity.
9. Make recurring lunches easier each time
If you are ordering workplace lunch every week, success should not depend on one person remembering everything.
Usual numbers -> dietary requirements -> preferred delivery window -> access details -> formats that worked -> feedback -> food waste
Then vary the food rather than the entire process.
This is where regular workplace catering starts to differ from repeated one-off orders. The organiser should spend less time rebuilding the detail, while the people eating still see enough changing dishes, flavours and formats to keep the lunch interesting.
For Sands, Eat Together is the regular workplace catering route, planned around office days, changing headcounts and how teams like to eat.
A workplace lunch ordering checklist
Before pressing order, check:
Purpose - What is happening around the lunch?
Headcount - How many people are actually eating?
Dietary needs - Have they been collected and clearly identified?
Format - Does the food work for the way people will eat?
Quantity - Do you understand the portions, not just the number of items?
Budget - Do you know the full cost of the order?
Ready time - When does the food need to be on the table?
Delivery - Does the caterer have the right address, access details and contact?
Equipment - Have you checked plates, cutlery, napkins and serving items?
Confirmation - Has somebody checked the final order rather than relying on the basket alone?
For a recurring lunch, add one final question:
What did we learn from the last one?
That is how workplace lunch ordering becomes easier over time rather than simply more familiar.
The Sands Perspective
The orders that run most smoothly usually have a clear brief behind them. Not a long one - just the right information about the people, timing, food and space.
For meetings and one-off office lunches, Sands keeps the buying journey deliberately simple: browse the menu online, see prices as you go and order by 4pm for next-day delivery. The food is made in our kitchens each day and delivered by our own Sands drivers.
Made Today. Sold Today.
For organisations ordering lunch regularly, the conversation changes. Rather than rebuilding a basket every time, it becomes about finding a rhythm that fits office days, headcounts, budgets and the way the team likes to eat.
Both routes begin in the same place: understanding what the lunch needs to do that day.
