Company events are supposed to bring people together, celebrate achievements, and build team culture. But they often do the opposite for portions of the workforce who find themselves standing awkwardly at the buffet with nothing they can eat, or watching colleagues enjoy celebratory desserts while they have none. These moments might seem small, but they send a pretty clear message about who was considered when planning the event and who wasn’t.
Most companies don’t intend to exclude anyone. The oversight happens because whoever’s organizing defaults to what’s easy or familiar without thinking through whether it works for everyone attending. A pizza lunch excludes vegetarians and anyone who doesn’t eat pork. A cake celebration leaves out employees with dietary restrictions. A team dinner at a restaurant with limited options makes some people feel like afterthoughts. These aren’t deliberate slights, but the impact on employees who feel excluded is real regardless of intent.
When Food Becomes a Statement About Belonging
Food at workplace events carries more weight than just providing refreshments. It’s one of the clearest signals about whether the company thought about everyone or just planned for the majority. When an employee arrives at a celebration and realizes there’s nothing they can eat, it’s not just disappointing in the moment. It reinforces a feeling of being outside the main group, of being an exception that didn’t get considered. And that feeling sticks around long after the event ends.
The Muslim employee at a company event where all the catering contains pork products. The Hindu colleague at a lunch where beef is the only protein option. The Jewish team member at a celebration with no kosher choices. These situations happen regularly at workplaces that consider themselves inclusive, simply because nobody thought to ask about dietary requirements or make arrangements that accommodate different needs. It’s not malicious, it’s just careless, but the result is the same.
Religious dietary requirements are particularly important because they’re non-negotiable for many employees. Someone might try a food they don’t particularly enjoy to be polite, but they can’t compromise on religious dietary laws. It’s not about preference, it’s about faith and identity. When companies plan events, considering options such as halal corporate cakes for celebrations ensures Muslim employees can participate fully rather than watching from the sidelines while colleagues enjoy treats they can’t eat.
The effort required to be inclusive isn’t enormous. It’s asking about dietary needs when planning events, choosing caterers or options that can accommodate different requirements, and making sure celebration foods work for the actual people attending rather than just the majority. But the impact of getting this right, or getting it wrong, affects how valued different employees feel. That’s not a small thing.
Beyond Religious Requirements
Dietary inclusivity extends beyond religious considerations to health needs and ethical choices that are equally important to employees. Allergies can be severe enough to be life threatening. Someone with a serious nut allergy can’t just “try to avoid” the nuts in a dessert, they need to know with certainty what’s safe. Celiac disease means gluten isn’t a preference, it’s a health requirement that causes real physical harm if ignored. Lactose intolerance, nut allergies, shellfish allergies, these affect whether someone can safely eat what’s provided.
Vegetarian and vegan employees have made conscious choices about what they eat, and workplace events that ignore these choices send a message that their values don’t matter. It’s not about catering to preferences, it’s about basic respect for different ways of living that are increasingly common in diverse workforces. When the only options at a team lunch are meat based, vegetarian employees either go hungry or feel like their dietary choices weren’t worth considering.
The default assumption that everyone eats everything creates problems that seem obvious once you think about them but get overlooked constantly. Planning a lunch meeting and ordering only meat based sandwiches. Celebrating with a cake that contains eggs and dairy without checking whether anyone needs alternatives. Hosting a breakfast with nothing but pastries and ignoring that some people can’t or won’t eat those options. Each instance is minor on its own, but they accumulate into a pattern that tells certain employees their needs aren’t anticipated or valued.
The Engagement Cost of Feeling Left Out
Employee engagement surveys ask about whether people feel valued and included at work. Companies invest in culture initiatives and team building. But these efforts get undermined when basic things such as company celebrations make portions of the workforce feel forgotten. It’s hard to feel like a valued team member when the team celebration was clearly planned without considering whether you could participate. The disconnect between what companies say about inclusion and what they demonstrate through these small moments is noticed.
The impact shows up in subtle ways. Employees who consistently can’t eat at company events start declining to attend. They miss the informal networking and relationship building that happens around shared meals. They’re physically present but socially excluded, which affects team dynamics and their sense of connection to colleagues and the company. Over time, these employees become more disconnected from the informal networks that actually drive a lot of workplace culture and opportunity.
Some employees bring their own food to events, which solves the immediate problem but highlights the exclusion. They’re managing their own needs because the company didn’t. Others just don’t eat, sitting through celebrations hungry while explaining repeatedly why they’re not having anything. Both situations are uncomfortable and completely avoidable with better planning. It’s the kind of thing that seems like no big deal until you’re the one in that position repeatedly.
Cultural Sensitivity in Practice
Inclusivity isn’t just about individual dietary needs but about cultural awareness in how events are planned and executed. Some cultures have specific etiquette around food. Some religious practices affect not just what people eat but how and when. Scheduling a mandatory team lunch during Ramadan without considering that Muslim employees are fasting shows a lack of cultural awareness that affects how valued those employees feel. It’s not that the company can’t have lunch meetings, it’s that nobody thought about whether the timing created problems for anyone.
Holiday celebrations can be particularly fraught territory. Companies that only acknowledge Christmas create environments where employees from other backgrounds feel like outsiders. This doesn’t mean abandoning Christmas celebrations, but it does mean recognizing other significant holidays and creating space for different cultural celebrations throughout the year. When December rolls around and the office is covered in Christmas decorations while Hanukkah, Diwali, and other holidays pass without acknowledgment, the message is clear about whose traditions matter.
The way food is served matters too. Buffet style events where everything is mixed together make it hard for people with dietary restrictions to know what’s safe. Unlabeled foods force people to ask questions or skip items they’re unsure about. Clear labeling of ingredients, separate serving utensils, and keeping different food types separated shows thoughtfulness that makes events more accessible. These aren’t difficult changes, they just require someone to think about them.
Getting It Right Without Overthinking It
Inclusive event planning doesn’t require extensive training or elaborate processes. It requires asking questions and thinking beyond default options. Send a simple survey before events asking about dietary requirements. Choose caterers who can handle different needs, not ones who act like accommodating halal or vegetarian options is some impossible request. Order variety that ensures everyone has something they can eat, not just token options that get the box checked but don’t actually work.
Communication matters too. Let employees know in advance what food will be available so they can plan accordingly. If accommodating everyone isn’t possible for a specific event, being upfront about limitations gives people agency to bring their own options or make other arrangements without feeling surprised or excluded on the day. Nobody expects perfection, but they do notice when there’s clearly been no thought given to their needs.
Budget concerns come up, but inclusive options don’t necessarily cost more. They just require different choices. A fruit platter costs less than elaborate desserts and works for almost everyone. Rice and vegetable dishes can be cheaper than meat options while accommodating more dietary needs. The issue is usually planning and awareness rather than money. Companies that claim they can’t afford inclusive catering often haven’t actually looked into what it would cost.
What Inclusive Events Actually Achieve
When companies get event inclusivity right, everyone can participate fully. The celebration actually brings people together rather than creating subtle divisions between who was considered and who wasn’t. Employees feel valued because someone took the time to think about their needs. The event serves its intended purpose of building culture and connection rather than unintentionally undermining it. These outcomes are exactly what the events were supposed to achieve in the first place.
This consideration extends beyond food to other aspects of events. Timing that respects different schedules and obligations, not just whatever’s convenient for senior leadership. Locations that are accessible to people with mobility issues. Activities that don’t exclude people based on physical ability or cultural comfort levels. Inclusive planning means thinking about the actual diverse group of people attending rather than planning for an imagined homogeneous workforce that doesn’t exist anymore in most companies.
The return on this effort shows up in engagement, retention, and culture. Employees who feel genuinely included and valued are more committed to their work and their teams. They participate more fully in company activities because they know they’re actually welcome rather than just technically invited. The small effort of inclusive planning creates environments where diverse teams actually function as teams rather than groups of people who happen to work together. That’s worth considerably more than whatever extra time it takes to plan events thoughtfully.
