For a major class I have this year, my student group and I regularly meet with a company for a consulting project.
What would be an appropriate refreshment to offer during meetings? A box of Tim Horton’s Timbits (donut holes), large coffee and cold juice have worked in the past, but we might be meeting with someone higher up in the coming weeks. I think the beverages are fine (we’ll go with Starbucks next time), but I want an alternative to donut holes.
They are a small/medium sized private retail company and somewhat laid back in their head offices.
Bagels and cream cheese are always the standard “upgrade” from donuts in my company. Next would be catered lunch, which gets insanely expensive very quickly. Fruit plates have been tried, but they go gross too quickly.
Yes, bagels and cream cheese possibly including some muffins or pastry.
A fruit plate might be all right if it’s a short meeting and the fruit won’t have time to get yucky. But fruit can be drippy/messy so for some meetings that wouldn’t work at all.
It seems strange that the comapny (ie big money making entity) doesn’t provide the refreshments, they usualy have a budget for such things.
Anyway donuts are a bit standard but good for most occasions. Bagels are common but a bit messy. Is the food to be had during a break in the meeting (I’m learning) or to nibble at any tome?
My group of five students (including me) usually meets up with only one person in the company at a time, so catering wouldn’t be appropriate. It is they who give us their valuable time with interviews, giving us useful and confidential information for our project’s purposes.
For the record, we’ve been offered coffee, but I still think it’s best that we offer them refreshments instead of the other way around.
I agree that bagels and cream cheese are nice, and I think even a nice assortment of whole doughnuts (rather than doughnut holes! ) would be a step up.
Another vote for bagels, you can also throw in some croissants and pastries in the platter, if you’re having a bakery put it together for you. The mini versions of these really work well, you don’t wind up with half eaten stuff all over the place.
Try the real bakery donuts - the kind that are big and covered in yummy sugar powders and have blueberry or chocolate or whatever.
I live for that day every three months when we get them here.
Want to score some points? If you know who you’ll be meeting with ahead of time, ask if they’d prefer bagels/muffins or fruit. There are a lot of us out there who are on the edge of diabetes, and while I’d rather eat a bagel, I need to eat an apple instead. There is almot a universal idea that everyone can eat very sugary or high carbohydrate snacks that I’m shocked and appreciative whenever an alternative is provided, or when I’m asked.
I think I’d go with croissants or cheese and/or fruit danishes. They don’t require prep like bagels and cream cheese (well, my croissants don’t; maybe other people put stuff on theirs).
You really want to make them want to come back then. (if it becomes known Vision of Love has great catering, you will never be short of people wanting to be interviewed.)
Are there any local patisseries/bakeries/cake shops that are considered above the norm for quality. As it is only one person you can get away with sweet food (if they aren’t diabetic) since noone is going to observe them breaking diet or whatever. Also people are generally embarrassed to get real cakes for themselves.
Simlple ideas, share a Cheesecake factory multi-style cheesecake, plates and forks make it quite easy to eat cleanly. You want to beat the friday doughnut the guest might usually get at work, so that your interviews become something of an attraction.
Bagels are a little ordinary for this scenario (unless you have a very good supplier and can get them to the meating still warm). Doughnuts a right out (everyone does doughnuts at meetings) unless there is some old-fashioned high quality doughnut store you can use that knocks Krispy Kremes into the gutter.
Oh, and to echo what Shoshana said, it’s quite frustrating if you don’t eat those things to know that every meeting you ever go to means not eating any of the goodies available. Even though I suggested them, I wouldn’t actually eat those foods if I were the exec you were meeting with, because I don’t eat stuff like that except under very limited circumstances. I would love it if someone provided packets of sliced apples.
) would be a step up.