Maximizing Meeting Productivity with Food

It’s no secret that we are energized by what we eat. Food is fuel! When you attend a meeting, especially one that lasts all day, you need to feed your brain with healthy options to stay focused and productive. Kahn’s Catering often caters corporate meetings, conferences, and other events. We believe in providing a balanced menu to our corporate clients so that they can make the most of their meetings and have put together this helpful guide to maximize your meeting productivity through the foods you choose. Kahn’s Catering is proud to offer a variety of Meeting Packages to suit your needs for both small or large meeting and provide you with options for healthy alternatives and sweet treats all in one.

Foods to Love
In general, here are the main food types to include in your plans when you want to have a productive day:

• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Healthy fats such as avocado, olive oil, walnuts,  and seeds
• Proteins such as eggs and lean meats

Foods to Avoid

• Gluten items like breads and pastas are loaded up with gluten that can fill you up but leave you feeling heavy and sluggish.
• Fake or excess sugars can pick you up for a moment or two but can leave you with a nasty sugar crash
• Donuts, muffins, pastries, etc. If you are planning an all day meeting, this will create fatigue later on.

The Best Breakfast Foods for a Powerful Corporate Meeting
Eggs! Eggs are great for building up your brain power. Incorporating grains is also good for longer bursts of energy. Eating a full breakfast in place of pastries or donuts jump starts your brain to stay on task and remain focused during the many hours of thinking ahead.  View Kahn’s Catering Breakfast Menu.

The Best Lunch Foods for a Powerful Corporate Meeting
Serve plenty of healthy proteins – chicken being one of the best. If you have vegetarians in attendance, beans are a great substitute for meat based protein. Also, always serve salad and vegetables along with healthy fats somewhere in your meal – remember, those can include avocado, olive oil, and many types of nuts or seeds. View Kahn’s Catering’s Lunch Menu.

The Best All-Day Meeting Snacks and Foods
When you have long days full of meetings, conferences and workshops, getting a really healthy and powerful meal is important. However, what you serve as snacks between meals is just as crucial to maintaining the energy required for a productive day.
Some great choices include:

• Almonds
• Vegetable plates
• Hummus
• Fruit trays
• Dark Chocolate

These are packed with good energy to boost brain power!

Other Tips for Productive Meetings
Eating the right food plays a vital part in determining how you will feel each day. There are other factors, however, that are important to consider when planning such a long day of meetings and conferences. Consider the environment. Dark conference rooms and areas with no natural light can such the energy out of the room and don’t allow for optimal productivities. If you simply have to use a space that is poorly lit, do what you can to lighten it up, such as displaying flowers, adding light-colored linens, and providing a clean and elegant food table setup. Don’t forget to take breaks. At the very least your group need to take a break every 90-120 minutes. 10 minutes is an optimal amount of break time. Allowing people to stretch their legs and get their blood flowing a bit can do wonders for their energy and productivity!
Do something with music. Especially during your breaks, you will find that the music will uplift and re-energize the meeting attendees.