Even as the pandemic gradually recedes, businesses are still not witnessing pre-pandemic level involvement in corporate cafeterias. It is quite apparent that these cafeterias are still facing several challenges such as menu fatigue, long wait times, and unfulfilled customer demands, among others. And one way to overcome the challenge of waning employee interest in corporate cafeterias is to set up popup counters.
Pop-up counters, as the name suggests, are provisional food counters housed in cafeterias for a limited period. Popup counters represent an alternative to the challenges of running a conventional food court.
One week it could be a soup station and the next it could be a gelato parlour. A popup counter is a sure-shot way to enhance the cafeteria experience for people who wish to have something new. Such counters are not only useful in workplace food courts but can also prove to be useful in universities that cater to hundreds of students.
Here’s how popup counters help gain more footfalls at cafeterias:
1) Add novelty to the dining experience:
In addition to revitalizing cafeterias, popup counters infuse freshness into the everyday dining experience. When such new food counters emerge regularly, offering distinctive cuisine options, people tend to flock to the cafeterias in droves. Organizations can create a buzz around the popup counter by promoting it across various platforms, from signage, emails, digital menu board notices, mailed flyers, and citations in the company newsletter.
2) Test new cafeteria concepts:
Popup counters offer businesses new cafeteria concepts that can be implemented temporarily and find out how employees respond to them, based on which it can be made a permanent feature in the cafeteria.
3) Offer much more than menu variation:
Popup counters offer not just menu variations, but deliver an entirely transformed atmosphere. For example, a soup station will have a completely distinct décor when it is briefly converted into something like a chaat corner, with even the staff working the station dressed in different outfits.
4) Eliminate the monotony of everyday dining:
Popup counters function as a value-add and keep the dining experience stimulating and moving forward. And if a popup idea turns out to be quite popular, it can become part of an ongoing cycle. The popups could feature distinct cuisine ideas and can be set up as part of lunch.
5) Provide gourmet dining at lower prices:
With popup counters, organizations can offer employees creative cuisines at lower prices, such as flat ticket prices or price-fixed menus for exclusive gourmet dining experiences and the vendor also benefits with low start-up expenses, including less operating cost and labour.
Popup counters today are turning out to be a popular corporate dining trend and provide businesses with a chance to serve their employees without burning a hole in their pockets. At SmartQ, we arrange event-driven food services for corporates such as food trucks and popup counters and enable them to attract a large crowd in their cafeterias who love to try out new cuisines whenever they get an opportunity.