Target offices with regular deliveries

The opening of company kitchens enables supermarkets to service nearby businesses in new ways.

A difference between an office meeting room and a company kitchen—besides the structure of one and the relative free form of the other—is that food belongs naturally in the latter. Where there’s food, people are more at ease with each other.

Companies could benefit from food-friendly cultures:  Workers could easily assemble meals, save money, and stay on premises to be more productive. Clients and vendors that visit could be encouraged to open up more in the informal setting of a kitchen. Companies could encourage workers to eat healthier—and possibly see health insurance premiums drop as a result.

The Lempert Report sees emerging opportunities for supermarkets that target nearby corporate markets two ways: One, prepared foods for meetings. Two, a regular weekly food plan and delivery routine to stock the kitchen with healthful foods employees say they’ll consume. The latter might resemble a community-supported agriculture (CSA) box, plus other staples that would replenish the office food pool.

This new revenue stream for supermarkets could expand further, if individual workers are able to ask for extra items in separate bags for their home use. If office deliveries could be timed for the end of the workday, the deli and prepared foods sections could play a big role in answering workers’ ‘what’s for dinner tonight’ question. Employees that don’t have to stop at the store on the way home could stay at their desk a little longer too.