How company lunch catering starts
Setting up daily or weekly lunches for an office is a short process, and nothing is booked until you have tasted the food. Most office managers, HR leads and admin teams across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah follow the same three steps.
- Brief: Tell us the headcount, the site address, how often you need lunch (daily, a few days a week, or weekly), and any dietary patterns in the team. We ask about lift access, whether there is a pantry or breakout area, and preferred delivery windows so the plan fits your building from day one.
- Tasting: Before anything is confirmed, we arrange a free tasting so you and your colleagues can try the dishes being proposed. This is where portion sizes, spice levels, and the mix of hot mains, salads and sides are agreed. We quote after the tasting, once the menu and headcount are settled.
- Delivery: Once confirmed, our own delivery, setup and serving team takes over. We agree a start date, a repeating delivery schedule, and how the food is presented on arrival, whether that is buffet-style trays, individually packed lunches, or a mix depending on the day.
Because we operate our own kitchens in Abu Dhabi Industrial City (ICAD II) and run our own vehicles and crew, there is no subcontracted link between the brief and the plate. Menus can also evolve over the course of an ongoing service, so if colleagues want more variety after a few months, we rework the rotation at the next review rather than locking you into one fixed set of dishes.
Many clients start with a short trial period covering a couple of weeks before moving to a longer monthly supply arrangement, once the format, timing and food have been tested against the reality of a working office day.
Dietary needs and allergen handling
Most offices have a mix of dietary requirements across the team, and this is captured properly before service begins, not left to guesswork on the day. During the brief and tasting stage, we ask for a simple headcount breakdown covering vegetarian, vegan, and any specific allergen concerns such as nuts, shellfish, gluten or dairy.
- Vegetarian and vegan: Dishes such as chana masala, paneer makhani, vegetable lasagne, mushroom risotto and grilled halloumi skewers are available as full plant-forward or vegetarian mains, not just a side salad, so colleagues on these diets get a proper lunch.
- Allergen awareness: Our kitchens operate under ISO 22000 and HACCP certification, which covers how allergens are identified, labelled and kept separate during preparation. If a colleague has a specific allergy, we ask for this in writing at the brief stage so it can be flagged clearly on the day's delivery.
- Ongoing changes: Headcounts and dietary needs shift as teams grow or change. We ask your office contact to update us with any changes to the vegetarian, vegan or allergen count ahead of each delivery cycle, so the kitchen can plan quantities accurately rather than over- or under-catering.
For larger offices with a wide mix of requirements, we can run a small dedicated vegetarian or allergen-aware station alongside the main lunch service, so colleagues with specific needs are not left choosing around a shared platter. This is agreed at the tasting stage once we understand the makeup of your team, and it is built into the daily or weekly plan from the first delivery rather than added as an afterthought.
Delivery, setup and collection for your office
Office lunches need to land on time and require minimal handling once they arrive, since most admin and HR teams are managing several things at once during the middle of the day. Delivery windows are agreed at the brief stage to match your office's lunch pattern, whether that is a single fixed slot each day or a slightly earlier drop for larger headcounts that need more setup time.
- Own delivery team: Food travels from our kitchens in Abu Dhabi Industrial City (ICAD II) with our own delivery, setup and serving staff, rather than a third-party courier, so the same team is accountable for temperature, timing and presentation.
- Setup on site: Depending on your office layout, this can mean laying out a buffet in a breakout area, arranging individually packed lunches on a designated table, or a serving station if your office prefers a more attended lunch. We ask about lift access and space during the brief so setup is quick and does not disrupt the working day.
- Serving staff: For larger offices or those with an ongoing daily service, our own serving team can remain on site through the lunch window to manage the buffet, refill dishes and answer questions from colleagues about what is on offer.
- Collection: Trays, chafing equipment and any serving ware are collected after the lunch window, usually on the same visit or a scheduled return later in the day, so nothing is left cluttering an office pantry or meeting room.
Across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, delivery timing is planned around typical traffic patterns for each emirate, and we build in a buffer so lunch arrives within the agreed window even on a busy day. For multi-site organisations, we can coordinate deliveries to more than one office on the same schedule.
Why offices choose Dana Prime
Dana Prime has been cooking for organisations across the UAE since 1998, and today prepares more than 7,000 meals a day from our own kitchens in Abu Dhabi Industrial City (ICAD II). For an office manager, HR lead or admin team responsible for daily or weekly lunches, that scale and consistency matters more than a one-off impressive spread.
- Own kitchens, own team: Food is prepared in our own certified kitchens and delivered, set up and served by our own staff, not passed between subcontractors. This means one point of contact if timing, quantity or a dietary request needs adjusting.
- Certified processes: Our kitchens hold ISO 22000 and HACCP certification, covering food safety management and hygiene practice from preparation through to delivery.
- Proven at scale: We currently supply 22 client organisations across the UAE with ongoing lunch and catering services, and hold a 4.6-star Google rating built from real client feedback rather than a curated selection.
- Tasting before booking: We do not ask an office to commit to a monthly supply arrangement without first tasting the food. This lets your team confirm the menu, portioning and quality before any schedule is agreed.
- Wide coverage: We serve offices across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and the wider UAE, so multi-site organisations can work with a single supplier rather than coordinating separate caterers per emirate.
You can check references directly: ask us for contact details of a current client organisation of a similar size to yours, or request our capability statement and certificates ahead of any internal approval process. We are glad to have colleagues from your finance or procurement team review our documentation before a tasting is arranged.
