Perks Spotlight: City Pantry

Every company wants happy employees. But how exactly can you make sure your employees are satisfied? Well, it all starts with company benefits. These are the perks that attract potential employees and retain your current team — and one of these benefits is simple: food. 

In fact, a survey of over 1,000 full-time workers found that 56% are “extremely” or “very happy” at their current jobs — but that number jumps to 67% for employees who have free food at work.

And we have great news, Pleo customers have exclusive access to City Pantry, an office catering and food delivery service whose mission is ‘to make working lives better’ whether your team is in the office or working remotely.

Inside City Pantry’s Pleo Perks offer...

A survey found that weekly free lunches are one of the five most wanted workplace benefits. Not to mention how much it improves team cohesion and morale. So, why not consider adding this to your company perks if you haven’t already?

We spoke to Vanessa Lawson, the Senior Content Marketing Manager at City Pantry to learn more about the company and the importance of keeping your team connected.

How it all began...

City Pantry started back in 2013 after the founder, Stuart Sunderland, was working in finance and hated it. “Every Sunday he had the ‘Sunday blues’ and was dreading going into work. The best thing he got out of going to the office was seeing his colleagues and having that social interaction over lunch,” Vanessa said.

It was because of this that Stuart founded City Pantry. “He wanted to provide the one respite that he had to other businesses across the UK.”

Feeding your team at the office or at home

Before the pandemic, City Pantry partnered with over 600 different restaurants — which was anything from traditional caterers to high street favourites to independent restaurants — and they delivered high-quality food to businesses across a variety of different cities in the UK. It was so good in fact, that when Pleo first set up an office in a London co-working space, we turned to City Pantry to provide lunches. 

“It was the kind of hectic work environment where suddenly you'd realise it was lunchtime, your tummy was rumbling and the rest of the day was only going to get busier. So not only did the arrival of our City Pantry delivery keep us fuelled for a busy afternoon, it made sure we took a well-earned break,” Neil Brennan, Pleo’s Content Lead says. 

When the pandemic first hit, the team at City Pantry realised there was still a need for businesses to figure out ways to keep their teams happy and motivated. “This started with everyone doing a million quizzes and virtual games. But businesses quickly found that food provides that crucial social connection, even when working remotely,” Vanessa said.

Keeping your team connected remotely 

City Pantry quickly pivoted to create home-solutions for businesses looking to keep their team’s morale high. “We came up with our ‘teams@home’ solution, which is separated into two categories: the first being “Pantry Packages” where companies can send a food box or recipe kit such as pizza-making kits from Pizza Pilgrims, and the second being Just Eat gift cards”

We’re fully flexible and we really believe that flexibility is key for offices going forward — since it’s not the ‘new normal’, it’s the ‘next normal’,” Vanessa added. 

What’s the problem City Pantry is solving?

While it might seem simple, food is one of the easiest ways to bring people together — so why shouldn’t we provide that connection in the workplace as well?

“We really encourage people to get to know each other on a social level at City Pantry, and not just on a professional level,” Vanessa said. “The more you’re able to provide these shared moments and people are able to see each other as peers and friends, it’s so much easier to be productive in a work capacity — which is so beneficial for cross-functional works.”

And this is something we can vouch for at Pleo. “It was a step up from the familiar office lunch, which ensured that we took time to enjoy it together. People from the Marketing team mingled with Sales, managers chatted to new starters – it really brought us together,” Neil adds. 

Claim your discount today and make your team happy — they’ll thank you for it.