What is Meal Program?
Meal Program is a recurring employee meal service. It brings individually packaged meals from local restaurants right to the workplace.
How it works:
Organizations set the schedule and subsidy amount
Employees order their own meals online or through the Meal Program app
ezCater handles all the logistics including delivery with Dispatch
You prepare and label orders, then hand off to delivery drivers
Orders are delivered by the scheduled delivery times to the office
Employees are alerted that their orders have been delivered
ezCater Meal Program can scale up or down for fluctuating headcounts, giving workplaces flexibility that corporate cafeterias can’t provide.
Key characteristics:
Recurring office demand: Scheduled meals for companies on specific days and times from a rotating list of restaurants.
Individually packaged meals: Each employee orders their own meal with a standardized label.
One delivery: All individual meals are delivered together in one single order to the company.
What Makes Meal Program Orders Unique
Meal Program orders have several distinct characteristics compared to typical catering orders on ezCater.
Marketplace | Meal Program | |
Who orders |
One organizer |
Each individual employee |
Menu type | Trays, platters, bulk catering | Individually packaged meals |
Order frequency |
Occasional, one‑off | Recurring, scheduled orders |
Packaging |
Bulk trays | Individual meals with labels |
Delivery | Dispatch or restaurant-powered delivery |
Dispatch |
Where you manage orders |
Partner Portal |
Partner Portal |
Preparation time |
Variable |
90 minute cutoff time |
Maximum order capacity |
Variable |
Customized meal cap |
Why restaurants love Meal Program
Exposure to a network of repeat, high-value customers
Delivery is handled by Dispatch
Orders are scheduled ahead of time and picked up before lunch rush
Orders are backed by our live customer support