Mini Food Court at Large MFG's

[system]

Hello all. I just had a conversation with a buddy of mine that spends half his life in Europe and came across something interesting. He works for Siemens and while at one of their largest plants in Germany he came upon something… they had allowed 3 vendors to come in and setup shop in the factory to supply meals too the 1000 workers at this site. The 3 that got in where a sandwich/soup place, a more traditional type restaurant, and a pizza place that sells only slices. The prices are kept lower by free lease of the space and it keeps productivity up by having more options for the employees since the factory is outside of town and it is not really an option to leave on your lunch or dinner breaks and this gives them a hot options for meals. My question is has anyone that lives near a larger factory / employer ever thought about or have brought forward such a plan and what type of response did you get or think of the idea???

 

[brad_randall]

I seem to remember one of the pharmaceutical plants in Bloomington suggesting something similar. I think we passed because of the challenge of staffing/managing such on operation more than anything else - this was way back when we were struggling even to put warm bodies in the store during the daypart shifts.

Back in Columbus, IN many of the factories down the highway invited different delivery places to “cater” lunch each day of the week. Some took the worker’s orders ahead of time and others simply brought out a limited selection of premade items and sold them out of the back of the car/truck until they ran out of food or customers. Sounds much simpler and like a win/win for both companies - what about doing this instead or as another option?

 

[pcuezze]

I’ve seen places allow mobile setups right outside their business. Obviously, there is a cost of entry, but if you have something already…

 

[system]

I hear where you guys are coming from on the mobile ideas and such. I grew up in Chicago and every business had the meal wagons stopping by breakfast lunch and dinner. I know the set up and overall picture would need to be good for this too work…but with little overhead and knowing your estimated needs and sales… could really keep staffing to a minimum and a good margin on sales. It all would depend on the business you are serving.