Dive Brief:
- Meal programs are a lever that workplace operators can use to manage employee experience and bring workers back to the office, according to a DoorDash survey of 1,019 U.S. office administrators, finance managers, HR and benefits leaders.
- Over half, or 54% of respondents, say that meal program expectations have risen, along with their cost. The average monthly meal budget per eligible employee is now $425, or $21 per day, according to the 2026 Meal Impact Report benchmark report.
- The report says the focus on providing meal perks comes as workplace operators prioritize employee satisfaction over cost: 44% of companies ranked employee satisfaction as their top program priority, compared with 31% who said cost, per the survey.
Dive Insight:
The report echoes recent surveys by other workplace food providers, such as ezCater, which found that 66% of workers expect a recurring food benefit like daily or weekly meals. Food-related perks were the second most-named incentive to get employees back on-site, behind flexible work hours and ahead of “generous vacation time,” ezCater says.
DoorDash says meal benefits are becoming part of the core benefits mix. Forty-six percent of decision-makers now compare meal benefits against established offerings like commuter benefits, wellness perks or phone stipends, according to their survey.
But flexibility is more important than the cost of the meal program, DoorDash found.
“One pattern holds no matter how you cut the data,” the company said in its report. “Whether by growth stage, industry, or company size, the highest-rated meal programs aren’t the ones spending the most. They’re the ones managing the benefit most deliberately: refreshing it more often, extending it to employees wherever they work, and treating it as a business decision rather than a fixed perk.”
The report notes that while many organizations are using meal perks to attract employees to the office, efforts will fail if benefits only reach people at their desks. Because distributed and hybrid work has become the norm, companies are leaning on flexible formats, DoorDash says. The company’s business model is built around delivering meals to people’s homes.
About three-quarters of respondents make reimbursement available regardless of location, followed by discounts and memberships at 71% and meal credits or stipends at 67%, per the survey.
“The strongest programs do both,” DoorDash says. “They make office days more appealing while still supporting employees wherever they work.”
By setting budget and spending controls alongside rules for days, times and locations where employees can take advantage of these perks, organizations can give employees useful choice while managing spend, the report says.
