Feeding your team every day in London should not mean a daily scramble of orders, spreadsheets and chasing invoices. A digital staff canteen turns recurring office lunch into something that runs quietly in the background. Here is how it works, what it costs, and how to set one up.

What a digital staff canteen is

A digital staff canteen is a recurring office lunch programme run through an app, without the cost and space of building a physical kitchen. Your team browses a rotating menu, orders the meals they actually want, and food is delivered fresh to the office on the days you choose. heykantine! is heycater!'s daily office meals product, designed exactly for this.

It works best for offices from around 50 people who want a consistent lunch rhythm, whether that is five days a week or just the days the team is in together. For London companies with hybrid patterns, it is a practical way to make in-office days worth coming in for.

How daily office lunch works day to day

The whole point is that it runs itself once it is set up. Employees order through the app up to 14:00 the day before. Because people choose their own meals in advance, you are not guessing headcounts or over-ordering, which keeps both cost and waste down. Each person gets what they want, including dietary options, rather than a one-size-fits-all tray.

Meals arrive fresh on your chosen days, as individual bowls or as a buffet. With the full-service option, the food is set up on-site, so there is nothing for your office manager to assemble. The team eats, and the logistics stay invisible.

What it costs and how subsidies work

Pricing is per meal, so your spend tracks actual orders rather than a fixed catering bill regardless of attendance. That alignment is one of the biggest advantages over traditional setups.

You decide how much to subsidise. Many London employers cover part of each meal as a benefit and let employees top up the rest, which keeps the perk affordable for the company while still feeling generous to the team. Because everything is digital, the subsidy is applied automatically and the reporting is clean.

Recurring lunch versus ad-hoc delivery

Ordering food in every day from different places feels flexible, but it quietly costs time and money: someone has to place orders, reconcile receipts and handle the misses. Ad-hoc delivery is good for occasional meetings and one-off team days. A digital staff canteen is built for the everyday, with consistency, variety across the weeks and almost no admin. Many London teams use both: heykantine! for the daily rhythm and Meetings & Catering for one-off occasions.

Why it helps retention and wellbeing

A good daily lunch is a small benefit that people feel every single day. It gives the team a reason to eat together, supports healthier eating with balanced options, and removes the midday decision fatigue of finding lunch in a busy London district. For in-office and hybrid teams, a reliable shared lunch is one of the more cost-effective ways to make the office somewhere people want to be.

How to set one up with heykantine!

Setting up a digital staff canteen is straightforward. Define the basics first: headcount, which days you want lunch, and any must-have dietary coverage. Decide your subsidy, then launch and let the team order through the app while delivery handles the rest. From there it runs on its own, and you adjust days or subsidy whenever your needs change. The result is a daily lunch that is varied, fairly priced and almost zero-admin, without the cost of a physical kitchen.