Most restaurant groups that ask how to get corporate catering clients are really asking for a tactic: a flyer, a LinkedIn ad, a discount code for first orders. They try one, get a handful of orders from people who were going to order lunch from someone anyway, and conclude that corporate catering is a slow market.
It usually isn’t. What’s missing is a way to reach the specific person who places the order, plus a way to be found when that person goes looking. Those are two different jobs. Outbound: you pick the offices and go to them. Inbound: they search, ask around or open a catering marketplace, and you show up.
This post lays out both halves as one system: who to target, the outbound sequence, what inbound needs, how both feed one pipeline, and the arithmetic that tells you whether it’s working.
Key takeaways
- The buyer is a person, not a company. Office managers, executive assistants and workplace teams place the orders, so prospecting starts with names and roles.
- Outbound wins the accounts you choose. A short list of nearby offices, a booked tasting and a four-week follow-up give the buyer something mass email can’t: a taste of the food.
- Inbound catches buyers already looking. A real catering page, findable listings and a referral ask cover orders you’d never have prospected.
- Both engines feed one pipeline. Every lead gets the same fast quote, first-order standard and reorder follow-up.
- Judge it by accounts, not orders. Track new accounts and second orders, not one-off revenue.
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Why corporate catering clients don’t come from promotions
Corporate catering is a repeat purchase made by someone who is judged on the outcome. The person ordering lunch for a 25-person meeting doesn’t need a coupon. They need food that arrives on time, covers every dietary restriction in the room and doesn’t make them look bad. A discount solves none of that, so it mostly attracts buyers who shop on price.
The repeat part is what makes the effort worth it. In ezCater survey data reported by Restaurant Dive, 39% of businesses that order catering were ordering weekly in 2024, up from 32% in 2023. ezCater’s 2025 release, republished here, says “43% of organizations surveyed have a recurring meal program in place.” That’s a catering marketplace with an interest in the answer, so read it as direction. The direction is clear: offices that feed people keep doing it.
So the goal isn’t a first order. It’s a first order from an office likely to order again. We covered why the reorder is where catering money lives in Catering Marketing: How to Build a Catering Revenue Line That Compounds, and ranked the channels in How to Market a Catering Business. This post is narrower: the machinery for landing corporate accounts.
How to get corporate catering clients: two engines, one pipeline
Outbound is targeted and slow to start: you decide which offices you want and work them until they order. Inbound is cheaper per lead once built: buyers who are already searching find you. Groups that only run outbound burn out their staff. Groups that only run inbound get whatever walks in, often small one-off orders.
| Outbound | Inbound | |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts it | You | The buyer |
| Best for | Specific nearby offices, recurring programs | Urgent meetings, buyers already searching, referrals |
| Main tools | Prospect list, tastings, email and phone follow-up | Catering page, search visibility, marketplace listings, referrals |
| Time to first order | Weeks, sometimes a quarter | Days once visible |
| Typical failure | No follow-up after the first touch | A catering page nobody can find or use |
| What to measure | Tastings booked, first orders per 10 targets | Inquiries by source, quote-to-order rate |
Each engine has its own leading indicators, but they end in the same place: a quote, a first order, and a decision about whether the office comes back.
Build the prospect list: who actually places the order
Outbound fails most often at the list. “Companies within two miles” isn’t a prospect list. It’s a map. You need a person at each office with the authority and the reason to buy. Titles vary; the jobs don’t.
| Role | Why they order | What they care about |
|---|---|---|
| Office manager | Team lunches, all-hands, celebrations | Reliability, easy reordering, budget |
| Executive assistant | Executive meetings, board days, client visits | Presentation, punctuality |
| Workplace experience lead | Meal programs to bring people into the office | Variety, dietary coverage, per-head cost |
| HR or people team | Onboarding, training, recognition events | Dietary options, timing |
Start with 40 to 60 offices within delivery range of one location, not 500 across the city. For each, record the company, the buyer’s name and role, and what they likely order for. Sources are ordinary: building directories, LinkedIn, a front-desk conversation, your existing customers. Any office that has ordered once by phone or through a marketplace goes at the top.
Buildings multiply the effort. One multi-tenant building can hold a dozen prospects behind one front desk, and a friendly building manager can mention you to every tenant.
The outbound sequence: tastings and follow-up
The buyer can’t taste an email. A booked tasting does most of the outbound work: a small, well-packaged sample for the buyer and a few colleagues, with a menu and a name to contact.
| Week | Touch | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Short email or call to the named buyer offering a tasting | Gets permission and a delivery time |
| 1–2 | Tasting drop, labeled, allergens marked | Lets the food make the argument |
| 2 | Next-day follow-up: how did it go, any meetings coming up? | Turns a gift into a conversation |
| 3 | Two or three packages sized for their typical order, priced per head | Makes the first order an easy decision |
| 4 | Check-in tied to a real occasion on their calendar | Gives them a reason to order now |
| After | No order yet: quarterly nurture list | Keeps the door open |
Book the tasting rather than dropping it unannounced, or it ends up in the break room with nobody knowing who sent it. Keep it representative of a real order. Put one person’s name and direct line on everything.
Email follow-ups have to be legal as well as polite. The FTC’s CAN-SPAM compliance guide states that “the law makes no exception for business-to-business email.” Use accurate sender details, an honest subject line, your physical address and a working opt-out, and honor opt-outs within the 10 business days the guide specifies.
Inbound: be findable and easy to order from
Many corporate orders are urgent. Someone needs lunch for 20 on Thursday, so they search, ask a colleague or open the catering marketplace their company already uses. If you aren’t there, you aren’t considered.
- A catering page that sells. Packages with per-head pricing, minimums, lead time, delivery radius, dietary options and a form that reaches a named person. A PDF menu isn’t enough for a buyer comparing three options mid-meeting.
- Search visibility for catering intent. List catering on your Google Business Profile where it applies and link the catering page from every location page. Catering SEO gets its own post, so we’ll leave it there.
- Marketplace listings. Some companies order through approved catering platforms. A listing reaches those buyers at the cost of commission and some control, so treat it as a source of first orders and build the relationship directly where the platform’s terms allow.
- Referrals. Office managers talk to other office managers, and assistants change companies. After a good order, ask: who else in the building orders lunch?
Inbound has a byproduct too. ezCater’s 2025 release reports that “70% of employees who first try a restaurant through an employer-provided meal personally ordered” from that restaurant.
The handoff: quote speed and the first order
Both engines deliver leads to the same desk, and this is where most programs lose the account they worked to win.
A buyer with a Thursday meeting is collecting options now. If your quote arrives tomorrow, someone else’s arrived today. Name one catering owner per location, set a quote turnaround target, and use set packages so a quote is a template, not a project.
The first order is an operations test. ezCater data on the National Restaurant Association Show site found that “97% of surveyed food-for-work buyers would like to get delivery tracking updates with every order,” and the menu features buyers rated most useful were clearly labeled allergens (42%) and customizable individual items (41%). None of that is marketing in the usual sense. All of it decides whether there’s a second order.
Then follow up: a next-day check-in, a saved order and a reorder link. If the buyer was happy, propose the next occasion before they think of it.
The pipeline math: what the funnel actually needs
Run the numbers before you start. The table is an illustration, not client data or a benchmark. The rates are assumptions chosen to show the method, and the $420 order is ezCater’s reported platform average from its 2025 release, not yours.
| Funnel step (illustrative) | Assumed rate | From 60 targets |
|---|---|---|
| Named buyers on the list | n/a | 60 |
| Accept a tasting | 1 in 3 | 20 |
| First order within 60 days | 1 in 3 | about 7 |
| Reorder within 60 days | 1 in 2 | about 3 to 4 |
| Ordering twice a month by quarter end | 1 in 2 | about 2 |
Two accounts sounds small. At twice a month and $420 an order, each is roughly $840 a month you don’t have to win again, from a list one person can work alongside other duties. Repeat every quarter, add inbound and referrals, and the account base grows in steps.
The math also shows where to push. Few tastings accepted: the list or pitch is wrong. Tastings that don’t convert: look at packaging, per-head price or follow-up. First orders that don’t reorder: the problem is fulfillment. Swap in your real rates after a quarter and the model becomes a plan.
For a sense of steady progress, one published result from our catering program: Two Boots catering guests went from 5,792 to 6,646 (+15%), and catering revenue from $64,263 to $68,832 (+7%).
Setting up the first 90 days
Pilot one location before copying it across the group.
Days 1 to 30: Fix the catering page and form, set packages, name the catering owner, set a quote target. Build a list of 40 to 60 named buyers, starting with offices that have ordered once.
Days 31 to 60: Work the list in weekly batches of 10 to 15 so tastings don’t swamp the kitchen. Log every touch. Ask every new client for a referral in the building.
Days 61 to 90: Compare tastings, first orders and second orders to the illustration. Offer a standing order to any office with two or more orders. Move non-responders to nurture and start the next batch.
By quarter end you’ll know your real conversion rates, which source produced your best accounts and how much outbound one person can sustain.
Build the system once, then run it every quarter
If corporate catering depends on whoever answers the phone, the fix isn’t another promotion. It’s a named list, a tasting sequence, a findable catering page and one pipeline for every lead. Our Catering Growth Engine builds that: online ordering, corporate account management and lead capture, so new offices become standing orders.
We won’t promise a number of accounts. We will show you where your catering leads come from and where they drop off. Book a free consultation and bring last quarter’s catering orders.
Frequently asked questions
How do restaurants get corporate catering clients?
By running two engines together. Outbound means a list of named office buyers nearby, a booked tasting and about four weeks of follow-up. Inbound means a clear catering page, search and marketplace visibility, and referral asks. Both feed one quoting and follow-up process.
Who should I contact at a company to sell catering?
Usually the office manager, an executive assistant, or someone on the workplace experience or HR team. They place the orders and are judged on whether lunch arrives on time and works for everyone. Find the name before you reach out.
Do tastings actually work for corporate catering?
They work best when booked. Arrange a delivery time, send a small labeled tasting that reflects a real order, and follow up the next day. The tasting sells; the follow-up turns it into an order.
Is cold email legal for B2B catering outreach?
Yes, if it follows CAN-SPAM, which the FTC says applies to business-to-business email. Use accurate sender details, an honest subject line, your physical address and an opt-out you honor within 10 business days. This isn’t legal advice.
Should we list on catering marketplaces or rely on our own ordering?
Both have a place. Marketplaces reach buyers whose companies already use them, at the cost of commission and control. Your own ordering keeps the relationship and the margin. Many groups use marketplaces for discovery and their own channels for repeat accounts.
How long does it take to land the first corporate catering accounts?
Inbound orders can arrive within days once you’re visible. Outbound takes weeks per account because the sequence runs about a month. Expect a full quarter before you have reliable conversion numbers and a few repeat accounts.