DoorDash Data Reveals How Workplace Meals Drive Productivity, Engagement, and Healthy Habits

The traditional 9-to-5 workday is continuing to blur. The 2026 DoorDash Workplace Meal Trends Reportfound that employees are staying later at the office, and relying on workplace meals to support extended in-office collaboration - a pattern that's visible across all industries, particularly AI companies.

Workplace meal benefits are no longer a simple perk; they are a strategic tool that allows employers to drive employee engagement, support sustained productivity during long work periods, and encourage healthier eating choices.

The report* analyzes workplace meal orders placed in 2025 from more than 700 companies across 4,800+ offices in AI, tech, banking, pharma/healthcare and consulting serviced by DoorDash for Business, in addition to workplace orders across DoorDash, offering a real-time view of how and when people are actually working.

A growing "9-to-whenever" workday

Across industries, DoorDash order data points to more flexible work days and a rising role for meal programs in supporting in-office productivity and collaboration - whenever work happens. Key findings from workplace orders placed in 2025 include:

• Lunch rush or dinner dash? AI companies. While most workplaces hit peak orders around noon, AI-driven companies are fueling up after hours, with the busiest hours between 5pm and 7pm. As company cultures evolve, so do their mealtime habits.

• Late-night activity concentrates in specific markets. The Bay Area leads all markets in late-night workplace orders (24% of orders after 6pm), followed by Manhattan (23%) and Chicago (20%).

"Workplace meals have evolved from a passive perk into a foundational support for in-person productivity," said Katie Egan, General Manager of DoorDash for Business . "Whether it's midweek collaboration peaks, a caffeine fix, or late-night ordering in fast-growing industries, meal programs are helping employees adapt to defining their own work schedules."

The Office is Back - and busiest midweek

While work hours are stretching later into the evening, in-office activity is concentrated midweek, highlighting the role of team meals in incentivizing and enabling important face-to-face time.

• Midweek momentum: Workplace orders on Thursdays are 20% higher than Mondays, suggesting midweek collaboration is especially active.

• Team collaboration drives larger orders: Large, team-sized orders grew 30% faster than regular ordering year-over-year, peaking during key quarterly planning months like March, September, and December, demonstrating how employers are successfully using food to drive essential on-site collaboration.

Meal Benefits Drive Wellness and Healthier Habits

DoorDash data shows that regular access to meal programs correlates with healthier ordering behavior.

• Meal benefits help drive healthier behavior: Employees who use employer meal programs more than once per week are 54% more likely to choose healthier meals than those who order once a week or less

• Healthy choices decline across the week: Healthy meal orders are 30% higher on Tuesdays than on Fridays, reflecting a clear shift from early-week discipline to end-of-week indulgence.

• The caffeine climb: Coffee and tea orders build steadily throughout the week, peaking on Fridays as employees power through to the finish line.

Workplace meals are emerging as a meaningful, strategic lever for employers to drive engagement, wellness, and employee retention. For restaurants, extended workdays and larger team orders present new opportunities and a chance to partner with employers on menu and service options that meet in-office needs.

To read more on the latest workplace ordering trends and see how meal benefits support productivity and wellness, visit our 2026 DoorDash Workplace Meal Trends Report.

* The report analyzes workplace meal orders placed in 2025 from more than 700 companies across 4,800+ offices in AI, tech, banking, pharma/healthcare and consulting serviced by DoorDash for Business, in addition to workplace orders across DoorDash, offering a real-time view of how and when people are actually working. AI companies are identified by DoorDash based on primary products or services. Work locations reflect each company's primary delivery location by submarket. Healthy orders are defined using DoorDash's internal restaurant classification model.