DoorDash, Restaurants Target Businesses as Office Workers Return

As more players in the food and beverage (F&B) space debut corporate meal solutions, DoorDash, the leading U.S. restaurant aggregator, is making changes to its own B2B program to better compete.

On Monday (Sept. 12), the aggregator announced new features for its DoorDash for Work product suite, which launched in 2020, and which offers DashPass delivery subscriptions for employees, expensed meals and gift cards for employees. New updates include Self-Serve onboarding for businesses to sign up more easily, a streamlined expensing solution in partnership with expense management company SAP Concur, a catering option and upgraded group ordering tools.

The news comes amid a wave of F&B businesses announcing new or updated B2B meal options. Nestlé-owned meal solution Freshly, for instance, recently announced the launch of B2B arm FreshlyWell, offering on-site and remote options for employers and a range of institutions.

“Most all organizations are really focusing their efforts on getting folks back to work in some capacity,” FreshlyWell Vice President Tom Futch told PYMNTS in an interview. “We’re seeing a major shift to that area now and serving their populations and trying to do that in both an innovative way but also meet the needs of their clientele. We see that continuing for quite a while.”

Restaurant brands are also directly making a play for this corporate spending. Quick service restaurant (QSR) sandwich chain Subway, for instance, relaunched its catering program in May. Additionally, it was reported in March that health-focused fast-casual brand Sweetgreen was bringing back its Outpost program by which companies set up pickup points in the office building for Sweetgreen orders, and employees can purchase meals to be dropped off without a delivery fee.

See also: Sweetgreen Revives Office Delivery Program as Consumers Return to In-Person Work

These programs come as brands look to remain competitive as meal expectations evolve. Stefania Mallett, CEO and co-founder of ezCater, an online marketplace startup connecting businesses with restaurants and caterers, noted in an August interview with PYMNTS that data from a company survey shows food in an incredibly powerful motivator. For instance, nearly two-thirds of workers who decide when to come into the office or to stay home would plan the days they work on-site based on which days their employer offered free meals.

“Today, employee lunch in many sectors is getting awfully close to a requirement as a retention tool,” Mallett said.

Related news: Caterers See Boost As Companies Use Free Lunch to Get Workers Back In Office

Certainly, brands hoping to win corporations’ spending must be more flexible than in previous years, meeting the needs of today’s hybrid workforce. Data from the February edition of PYMNTS Connected Economy series, “The ConnectedEconomy Monthly Report: Working in the ‘Whenever, Wherever’ Office,” which drew from a survey of roughly 2,500 U.S. adults, found that more than half (51%) of all adults reported splitting their workdays between working remotely at home and working at the office. Fourteen percent, meanwhile, were fully remote, and 35% said they worked on-site every day.

Read more: Remote Is How Two-Thirds of US Professionals Now Work