Why Your Company Needs an Outdoor Kitchen on Campus

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You might have a cafeteria or perhaps a vending machine, but have you considered getting an outdoor kitchen for company use? Whether you run your business from a small office or a large campus, you and your team will benefit from having an outdoor kitchen. Not only will it give your employees the chance to bond over food, but being able to cook outside on a grill makes it easier to host company events and engage in team building activities. 

If you don’t have one yet, here are all the best reasons to get one.

1. Cooking and eating outdoors will help your team bond

Regardless of the reason, cooking outside will make it easier for your team members to bond with one another. If you have a gas grill, for example, some people might want to use it to cook lunch once in a while. If you give your employees an hour for lunch, they’ll have plenty of time to fire up the grill and cook some hot dogs or hamburgers on the grill.

Food is an excellent way to bring people together through shared experiences that engage all of their senses. Food is comforting, and when everyone feels comforted together, it can create a tight bond. However, it’s not just eating together that creates bonds between people; it’s also the act of cooking.

Team building is heavily supported by food, whether you cook for a retirement party, celebrate a promotion, or host a company event just for fun. Some people even have their team members attend collaborative cooking classes. It may not seem related on the surface, but cooking with others requires splitting up tasks, coordinating roles, and working together. Employees who can learn to cook together will bond over the experience, but they will also transfer those collaborative skills to their work.

Food facilitates strong bonds. The more your team members bond with each other, the better they’ll work with each other toward a common goal. Ultimately, the stronger your team, the better it is for your business.

2. Modular outdoor kitchens are great for small spaces

If all you have is a small area, then a modular outdoor kitchen will be perfect. They are designed to save space by keeping each appliance on a separate module. To build your outdoor kitchen, you’ll select the modules you want and then you can put them together in whatever order you prefer. For example, you might want your ice machine on the right of your grill, and the refrigerator on the left. You can put each module anywhere you like, or wherever there’s room.

Modular outdoor kitchens make it possible to cook outdoors in just about any space, and since the modules come premade, you don’t have to worry about taking measurements or contracting someone to build it for you from scratch.

3. People get tired of cafeteria food fast

If you have a cafeteria on campus, no matter how great your chefs are, your employees will grow tired of the food pretty fast. It doesn’t take long for the same recipes and dishes to be recycled frequently enough to make people lose interest in eating in the cafeteria.

Providing an outdoor kitchen, even if it’s just a grill, will encourage your employees to bring their own food to cook or warm up on the grill. Most people won’t get tired of barbecued food because it just tastes so good. They might even start cooking hamburgers ahead of time just to heat them up on the grill for some extra flavor.

If your cafeteria food is boring, monotonous, or lacks variety, consider getting a grill for your employees to use at lunchtime.

4. Grills are faster than going out to eat

Some employees prefer to leave campus for lunch, but that leaves little time for getting anything good. There isn’t enough time to sit down at a nice restaurant, and even waiting in line for takeout can be cutting it close. Often, employees spend almost their entire lunch hour just getting food and bringing it back to the office, where they clock back in and eat at their desk. They don’t really get a break this way.

With an outdoor kitchen available for their use, your employees will be able to cook or heat up a decent meal for lunch without leaving campus. They’ll feel more relaxed and less stressed out, which will also have a positive impact on their productivity and performance.

5. It’s cheaper than professional catering

If you host parties for various occasions, like holidays, retirement, anniversaries, promotions, and special achievements, you only have a few options for food. You can get it from the cafeteria on campus (if you have one), get it delivered, or have it catered. Takeout is expensive, and if you don’t already have a kitchen set up for catering, then your only option is to hire a local catering company.

Having events catered can be an amazing experience for your employees if it’s in the budget. Catering companies are masters when it comes to tasty recipes, being on time, and having a seamless setup and cleanup. However, if it’s not in your company’s budget, it will just be an unnecessary expense.

Having at least a barbecue grill gives you the option to skip the expensive nature of catering and avoid the unnecessary costs of takeout. It will also ensure the air gets permeated with the smell of whatever delicious food you’re cooking, which can increase everyone’s happiness. Granted, you’ll need someone to be the chef, but it shouldn’t be hard to find someone willing to take on the role for some overtime pay.

Your employees deserve tasty options

The food you serve at your company events is important. When the options are boring, routine, and monotonous, people will grow bored fast and events with food will no longer be something to look forward to. Do your team and your company a favor and get an outdoor kitchen for everyone to use. Whether you’re hosting picnics, team building activities, goodbye parties, or holiday events, your team will enjoy having access to a barbecue.