Leverage Uber for Business

With meal planning, in-office meals are more enjoyable

November 28, 2023 / US

For many employees, working from the office reignites the collaboration and camaraderie they love about their jobs. However, it also creates additional responsibilities—from timing the commute to packing a lunch—that can be stressful for some employees.

Recent data indicates that people are happy to return to the office if companies can offer additional support with needs like commuting, meals, or childcare subsidies. Meals can be particularly enticing; two thirds of employees with the flexibility to choose their in-office days opt to go on days when food will be provided. These in-office meals give employees one less thing to worry about and one more to get excited about.

That’s why Uber for Business is launching a new meal planning feature on Uber Eats to make group ordering easy and enjoyable.

Meal planning is a comprehensive management tool that office managers and administrators can use to set up, customize, and manage meals for large groups. With the new tool, meal coordinators can establish multiple daily options in advance—sandwiches or salads on Monday, Italian or Thai food on Wednesday, and so on—and set it to repeat week after week. This allows them to handle a historically time-consuming process in minutes. Employees, meanwhile, will receive automated invites and daily reminders encouraging them to pick the daily option they’re most in the mood for (within spending limits and restaurant selections set by the company).

Meal planning is designed to address the pain points of existing delivery services. For example, traditional catering orders may not be ideal for a company where employee in-office attendance is unpredictable. On the other end of the spectrum, individual ordering is often cumbersome for employees and administrators alike as they juggle deadlines and ordering responsibilities. Meal planning offers a simple, satisfactory alternative that tailors the lunchtime experience to each company’s needs.

“When you work in a fast-paced environment, taking time to slow down or get everyone together for a meal can be extremely difficult,” said Day Gonzales, Operations Coordinator at Fox Sports. “Uber Eats has allowed our team the flexibility and convenience to do just that. With multiple user access, our staff is able to have a fresh meal at their leisure. Whether it’s a staff meeting or an individual late night meal, we’ve been able to accommodate everyone with ease.”

With meal planning, administrators can:

Automate lunchtime: Set the ordering schedule and forget about it as employees receive automated invites and daily reminders to add their order
Order at-scale: Easily manage orders for a large company or a small department without significant effort or hassle
Diversify meal options: Add multiple restaurants a day that employees can choose from to indulge their taste buds and accommodate their dietary needs and restrictions
Reduce waste: Allow each employee to select their own meal to prevent over-ordering and food waste
Control costs: Only pay for the meals they need and set spending limits to ensure meals stay on budget
Manage orders seamlessly: Easily modify delivery times, skip repeat order dates, change spending limits, and invite employees to participate
Customize payment methods: Choose to pay on one card or have each employee pay for their own lunch

How it works

Start your meal plan

Visit ubereats.com/meal-plan or select “Meal Plan” in the Uber Eats website’s left navigation menu. Then, choose “Create a Meal Plan.” Here, name your plan, add delivery details, and invite your employees.

Create an order

Select “Create Order” and specify the date, time, and restaurant(s) for your order. You can also set it to repeat and establish a deadline for order placement, making it easy to manage.