

ZeroCater (YC W11) is Feeding Silicon Valley - guiseppecalzone
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304022004577516912524877338.html

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tikhon
We were actually the first ZeroCater customer at Scribd, and we now use
ZeroCater at Parse too. We're huge fans. They take care of everything -- from
making sure the food actually shows up to changing up the menus based on our
feedback and handling dietary restrictions. Also with Leslie managing our
account we have absolutely incredible customer service -- she responds to
every comment we make on the meals on their site. ZC saves us a ton of time so
we can focus on our product and not on worrying about what/when to eat. The
catered lunch/dinner also gives our team a nice dedicated time to hang out and
chat. Congrats Arram and company on this story! Now don't get distracted and
forget about my dinner tonight! :-)

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physcab
So I work for GREE (the company pictured in the article), and while I do like
ZeroCater, I actually think Munchery is way better. Just a personal opinion.
ZeroCater's service is awesome and their food selection is good, but I always
feel kinda sick after eating. I think because they source their meals from
restaurants.

Why do I like Munchery more? Because its made by chefs who typically use
healthy ingredients. They change it up alot and I've even heard stories of
some employees calling the chefs to see what's on the menu for the evening.
Pretty cool! And after dinner, I feel great!

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arram
Hi Christopher, We actually have a ton of personal chefs and caterers. If you
talk to your office manager at GREE, we'd be happy to switch it up.

Employee ratings help determine what gets ordered, so what's probably
happening is that people are up voting restaurants more.

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physcab
Ah I see. I really like the personal style. I'll try to rally others to my
cause! Its nice to see where your food comes from and who makes it. I feel
privileged that we get food in the first place, but always prefer the lunch
that comes served by chefs over the stuff that comes dumped out of plastic
containers.

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jrockway
Ironically, the complaint goes the other way at Google. We have in-house chefs
that source the best ingredients and design the healthiest meals possible, and
then people complain about the food being too healthy. (Lately the pendulum
seems to have swung in the other direction, however. Last night I had waffles
with whipped cream, bourbon butter, and syrup for dinner. Oh well, you only
live once...)

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tt
Munchery chefs' rule #1: taste is King. By using fresh and local ingredients,
healthiness comes naturally.

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46Bit
A related note about UI design. I've lately been seeing a lot of ads (mostly
on Muni) for both ZeroCater and Cater2 (a competitor <http://cater2.me>).
What's interesting is how much better the clean ZC style looks compared to
Cater2's ... frankly, amateurish resembling-developer-designed logo.

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Aloisius
We were a ZeroCater customer and actually switched to Cater2.me.

Service-wise, they are both pretty much equal with Cater2.me maybe having less
repeats and being a little more friendly to special needs (vegans, gluten
allergies, etc). Our office manager is on some kind of mailing list for other
office managers and said there seemed to be widespread trend of offices
switching to Cater2.me.

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dpiers
We have made significant improvements to our service in regards to repeats and
special needs in the last 8 months.

We have a dedicated team of food scouts who are constantly searching for new,
exciting vendors to send to our clients. Our current repertoire includes over
one-hundred of the best, most reliable vendors in the Bay Area.

We also keep detailed notes on every company's dietary restrictions and
preferences and provide labels for all items that include notes if the item is
vegan/gluten free/etc.

If SeatMe ever decides to give us another shot, I promise I will personally
bake and deliver cupcakes for the entire office. And my cupcakes are pretty
good: <http://i.imgur.com/fFlC5.jpg> . :)

Daniel Piers - Engineer / Czar of Cupcakes @ ZeroCater

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zeruch
We've been using them here at SugarCRM for a few months and they have been
doing a pretty bangup job so far. Food selection has been pretty varied and
the quality has been solid...and from what I hear from the folks who do the
booking, their service has been exemplary.

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evanlong
PLEASE GIVE SCRIBD MORE KALE!!! THEY LOVE KALE!!!

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arram
We've just dispatched a courier with a big bag of Kale. ETA 7 minutes. I am
not joking.

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evanlong
thank you this is awesome.

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spicyj
What's the minimum number of people necessary to use ZeroCater?

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arram
Right now it's 15. One of the reasons that we're able to offer much higher
quality restaurants and caterers is that we focus on sizable groups.

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tikhon
At Parse we started using ZeroCater with just 9-10 people by ordering the
minimum food for 15 and splitting it with others or giving some away. Totally
worth it.

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spydertennis
good to see zerocater expanding beyond tech companies!

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vitno
ZeroCater looks pretty sweet. I'm at Etsy though and you know... our Eatsys
are pretty awesome too.

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dr42
_the free-food culture is so ingrained in the tech world that it would be much
harder to eliminate there._

free food in tech startups isn't free at all. You (as the employee) are just
donating more time & money to the employer.

I'm fortunate enough to work for a company that has a fabulous suite of
cafeterias that host a huge variety of foods, but in the startup world, free
food just felt like the NYC power lunches of the 80's

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mseebach
Literally, TANSTAAFL.

This falls in the class of benefits that serve to remove worries for employees
so they can spend that time thinking about work instead.

I really don't see how that's a bad thing. If you're feeling shortchanged by
the deal, let your boss know. Ultimately, quit.

My last job didn't have catered food. I was a daily chore to figure what to
get and go out and get it. Not difficult, but annoying and it broke my
concentration. Also we didn't have a lunch area, so most people ate alone at
their desks. In my current job (free catered lunch), I've experienced to drone
down to the cafeteria and get food without really breaking my train of
thought, and I've experienced meeting some people in the cafeteria and picking
up a great non-work related conversation.

