Win catering contracts by calling before the next office decision

Food at work is bought by people who have a building to run. A facility manager thinks about occupancy, the kitchen, the contract with the current caterer and complaints at the coffee machine. Calls from caterers that talk about menus first get a polite no. Calls that ask how many people are on site, and when the contract ends, start a real conversation.

The market: fewer people on site, but every office still eats

The buyers are employers with enough people in one place. In Belgium, Statbel counted 35,139 enterprises with 10 or more employees in industry, construction and services in 2023. In the Netherlands, the CBS business register counts 72,340 businesses with 10 or more working persons on 1 October 2026 (provisional), and 8,625 with 100 or more.

The supply side is concentrated. The same CBS register counts 1,140 businesses in canteens and contract catering, but only 45 have 10 or more working persons. Smaller caterers, lunch delivery services and event caterers compete for the companies that the large contract caterers do not serve.

Hybrid work changed the demand. According to Eurostat, 52.3% of employed people aged 15 to 64 in the Netherlands worked from home sometimes or usually in 2025, and 37.1% in Belgium. That makes daily volumes harder to predict and puts flexible formats on the table.

In Belgium, meal vouchers are part of the same budget discussion. Since 1 January 2026, a meal voucher can be worth up to 10 euro, with a maximum employer share of 8.91 euro. According to Lexgo, the increase is not automatic and needs a company agreement or a contract annex. This is general information, not legal advice.

Who you call and what you ask

• Facility manager or office manager: runs the building, the kitchen and the current catering contract.
• HR manager: involved when food supports wellbeing, recruitment or the return to the office.
• Procurement or finance director: joins for larger contracts and tenders.
• Property manager: decides in shared buildings and business parks.

Moments that make a call relevant:

• The end of a catering contract, or a tender for the next period.
• An office move or renovation: a new kitchen, a new restaurant or no restaurant at all.
• A new office policy: fixed office days often create clear peak days.
• A change in benefits, such as a new meal voucher arrangement in Belgium.
• Growth: a second site or a large group of new hires.

Discovery questions that work in this sector:

1. How many people are on site on a busy day, and on a quiet day?
2. Who provides lunch today, and until when does that agreement run?
3. Which days does your team come to the office most?
4. What do employees say about the food today?
5. What kitchen facilities does the building have?

Start with people and days, not with food. The answers tell you which format fits: a staffed restaurant, a lunch service on peak days or catering for meetings and events. They also tell you who else you need to speak to before anyone can say yes.

What slows a calling team down in this sector

• Tenders and long contracts. Larger companies tender catering for several years at a time. You call to be invited next time, which means planning a call years ahead.
• Uncertain volumes. "Nobody is here on Fridays" is a real objection. Without an answer about flexible volumes, the call ends.
• Busy gatekeepers. Facility managers are rarely at their desk. Repeated attempts at the right hour matter.
• Several decision makers. Facility, HR, finance and sometimes the property manager each have a say. Notes on who said what keep the next call short.
• Holiday periods. Summer and year end are slow for decisions and for occupancy. Plan call blocks around them.

One more pattern: the prospect who says "call me after the move" or "after the summer" means it more often than you think. Those leads need a call back on that exact moment, with the notes from the first conversation at hand.

For answers that keep the conversation going, see how to handle sales objections.

What it can bring you: efficiency, money and more

A catering contract brings revenue every working day, so one extra client can matter for a whole year. The table below is an example with assumed numbers, not a forecast. Replace every figure with your own.

In this example, one new client a month is worth 180,000 euro in revenue over the contract. Your own numbers will differ, which is why it helps to measure them. See how many calls it takes to win one customer.

Efficiency is the other half. Measure for one week how long your team spends after each call on notes, contract dates and remembering when a tender opens. Logging the outcome with one key, with the next call already planned, removes most of that. A lead whose contract ends in eighteen months is then in the calendar, not forgotten. Read how to follow up leads for a simple cadence.

Want to see the calling screen first? Try the demo.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Eurostat: Employed persons working from home as a percentage of total employment (lfsa_ehomp), 2025
2. Statbel: Demography of enterprises with employees, by NACE and size class, 2023 (Bestat)
3. CBS StatLine: Bedrijven; bedrijfsgrootte en rechtsvorm (table 81589NED)
4. Lexgo: Maaltijdcheques, de maximale waarde stijgt naar 10 EUR vanaf 1 januari 2026