How to ensure dining for office workers in office buildings?, Short lunch break time and limited dining facilities | People | Cafeteria | Takeout | Adults | Dining | Workplace | Small dining table
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Big cities have a fast pace, tight schedules, and high prices, and many professionals often worry about where to eat and what to eat. Some people rely on takeout to make three meals a day, some try to bring their own meals, and some see business opportunities by opening "adult small dining tables". To ensure that employees have healthy, nutritious, and affordable meals, it requires the joint efforts of relevant departments, industrial parks, and employers.
Recently, a dietary approach jokingly known as "vital sign maintenance meals" has become popular. Some young professionals start bringing a celery, washing two tomatoes, or a box of lettuce to offset their lunch with such "cold, vegetarian, and low serving" foods.
Like these young people, health, economy, and simplicity are the dining needs of the vast majority of professionals in the workplace. However, during interviews with reporters, it was found that the energy consumption generated by busy work in the city and the frequent hourly commuting time make it difficult for many professionals to find time and energy to cook. Where to eat and what to eat have become a long-standing problem for them.
Many professionals worry about "eating"
"When I'm at work, I order takeout three times a day." After finishing her busy morning work, Liu Qingyao, who is engaged in event planning, quickly walked to the takeout counter downstairs and retrieved her lunch for the day. She spent 36.9 yuan on a one meat and two vegetable rice combo.
The Baiyan Building where she works is located in the Xueyuan Road commercial district of Beijing, surrounded by numerous office buildings, only about one kilometer away from the shopping center around Wudaokou. There is a nearly ten meter long food delivery cabinet installed outside the building, and the hurried figures of food delivery personnel often come and go.
Liu Qingyao's lunch break only lasts for one hour. She once went to a nearby restaurant with her colleagues for a meal, and during peak dining hours, she had to queue for one or two hours to eat, so she had to choose to order takeout. "I've ordered all the restaurants nearby, and I work in a bustling business district, but where to eat has become a challenge."
In Beijing, many professionals are facing such difficulties. On a day in early August at 12:00, at the underground food city of the College International Building in Haidian District, there was a constant stream of people coming to eat, and many stalls lined up in long lines. Zhang Jian, who works in sales nearby, told reporters that the food city is his and his colleagues' cafeteria. "The taste is secondary, and the most important thing is having a place to eat and chat together."
The tight lunch time, the need to queue up at nearby restaurants, and high meal prices have made many professionals worry about "eating". For this reason, some people choose to order takeout, some go to convenience stores to take a few bites, and some try their best to make themselves eat comfortably.
"There may seem to be many options for takeout, but it is often greasy and heavy flavored. A simple covered rice or pasta dish costs 30-40 yuan, while light and fitness meals are more expensive. In order to eat healthily, Xu Yan, who lives in Shijingshan District, started learning to cook and brought her own meals to work.".
She searched online for some recipes to learn how to make. "At first, I was thinking about pairing meat and vegetables, making three dishes. After persisting for three months, I found that washing a tomato was also considered a dish. After all, I was already very tired by the time I finished work. I had to squeeze an hour of subway to get home, then buy, prepare, stir fry, cool, and pack, feeling powerless..." she said helplessly.
"Adult dining table" is highly sought after by professionals in the workplace
Eating healthy, nutritious, and affordable home cooked meals every day is a common aspiration among professionals in the workplace. So, some people turned their attention to the small family dining table, which is set up around the school and provides a place for students to take care of, eat and rest. Below posts related to student dining tables on social media platforms, people often leave messages asking if adults can join.
Gradually, this demand gave rise to the recently popular "adult dining table" in the workplace. The dishes provided by the small dining table are mostly stir fried at home by the operator, and then delivered by themselves.
Not long ago, the reporter received a lunch bento from a small restaurant near Gulou Street in Beijing through an appointment: shiitake mushrooms and vegetables, stir fried seasonal vegetables, tomato beef, accompanied by miscellaneous grain rice and a box of mung bean soup, for a fee of 25 yuan. The selling points of this type of small dining table are its light taste, nutritious and healthy taste, and affordable price. As a result, the small dining table has attracted the attention and booking enthusiasm of many professionals in the workplace.
"The daily limit is 20 servings, please book in advance." The reporter found in an interview that most operators consider "adult small dining tables" as a sideline. In July of this year, Wang Keke, who lives in Dongcheng District, Beijing, earned over 10000 yuan by operating an "adult small dining table". Her delivery range is within 2 kilometers of her home, and there are two types of meals priced at 25 yuan and 35 yuan.
In the process of managing a small dining table, delivery was the most challenging for her. Even if only taking orders from nearby homes, it is very difficult to deliver meals during the hot summer noon, which makes it difficult for Wang Keke to eat well himself. "The customer flow in the ordering group is strong, and over time, the novelty may also decrease." Wang Keke said he is not good at marketing and management, "this is not a long-term business, maybe I won't do it in a while."
According to a reporter's investigation, in Beijing, the existing "adult small dining tables" are mostly concentrated in areas where office buildings gather, such as Wangjing, Guomao, and Xierqi, or residential areas such as Tongzhou and Shijingshan. Due to manpower constraints, the size of small dining tables is generally not large, and the daily order volume is mostly below 30. These scattered "adult small dining tables" in urban corners are difficult to solve the common dining difficulties faced by professionals due to their uneven distribution, small quantity, small order volume, and different dietary habits.
Providing work meals helps attract and retain talent
Nowadays, whether employers have canteens has become a particularly important aspect for many job seekers. Wang Shujuan, a teacher from the Department of Human Resources Management at the China Institute of Labor Relations, told reporters that currently, the main forms of support for meal supply include opening canteens, unified ordering, or providing meal allowances.
"Solving the problem of employees' meals requires costs, and the most crucial role is that of the employer. Of course, not every unit is willing or able to afford it. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the dining time appropriately, and at the social level, reference can be made to the form of elderly canteens to provide employee canteens through social public services." Wang Shujuan said.
The issue of dining for employees has always been a concern for large science and technology parks and labor unions. In the first half of this year, Zhongguancun West District held a centralized catering promotion and docking meeting for commercial buildings, inviting more than 100 property representatives and enterprise representatives to taste and place orders on site. In June of this year, the Jing'an District of Shanghai established the White Collar Lunch Industry Trade Union Federation, which plans to pay attention to the urgent and difficult issues faced by white-collar workers through the characteristic work of white-collar lunch.
"In first tier cities, there are many fast food restaurants and takeout ordering platforms. For employees, it is not difficult to eat, but it is difficult to eat nutritious and low-cost food. This also reflects the high cost of living, high work pressure, and fast pace of life of employees in first tier cities." Song Jing, Deputy Director of the Employers' Department of the Shanghai Enterprise Federation, said in an interview with reporters.
She suggests that units with conditions and venues should try their best to help solve the problem of employee dining. If the conditions are not met, the ability is not mature, or the venue is not spacious, units can cooperate with other units or parks to jointly set up canteens, reducing costs and pressure from a scale perspective.
"Providing ordering meals or opening a cafeteria by the company will definitely increase operating costs and burdens, but it will also bring benefits. On the one hand, it can help employees not have to consider dining during working hours, thereby saving time and improving efficiency. On the other hand, it can increase employee happiness, demonstrate the company's humanistic care, help attract and retain talents, create a good working atmosphere, and enhance cohesion." Song Jing said.
