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A full workplace canteen with two staff. No chef. No management fee.
Chef-made breakfasts and hot lunches for offices, factories and distribution sites, finished by your own team in minutes. About £3.10 to £4.50 a meal in food, about 2 staff for up to 200 covers, and labour 25–50% lower than with a contract caterer.
No long contract. Nothing to defrost. Delivered anywhere in mainland UK.
- £3.10–£4.50food cost per meal
- 2staff for up to 200 covers
- 25–50%lower labour than a contract caterer
- £0management fee
Your canteen shouldn't depend on one chef.Or on a contract caterer's fee.
Running a staff canteen means choosing between a kitchen brigade you have to recruit, cover and manage, and a contract caterer who adds a management fee and runs the menu their way. Labour costs keep rising, good chefs are hard to keep, and the food changes with whoever is on shift. Chef-made food your own team can finish gives you a third option: the menu and the staff stay yours, and the cooking is done before it arrives.
Manufacturing, factory and industrial
Hot food for early starts, late finishes and split breaks, served by a small canteen team.
Logistics and distribution
Warehouse and depot canteens with changing headcounts and round-the-clock shifts.
Offices and business parks
A canteen that works as part of your employer brand. Running a co-working space? See co-working café food.
Multi-site estates and FM
One standard across every site. Contract caterers and FM companies: see supplying contract caterers.
How the numbers compare.A canteen serving 150 covers a day.
Estimated daily costs for a workplace canteen serving 150 covers, by the way it's run. With Nova Chef, the saving against a contract caterer is in the total; against an in-house brigade, it's in having no chef to recruit, cover or replace.
| Cost line | On-site brigade | Contract caterer | Nova Chef |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food cost per person | £1.50–3.00 | £4.50–7.00 | £3.50–4.50 |
| Daily labour (150 covers) | £480–580 | £350–600 | £370 (2 staff) |
| Management fee | None | 8–15% of revenue | None |
| Chef needed on site | Yes, plus cover | Their team | No |
| Estimated daily total | £705–1,030 | £1,100–1,900 (with fee) | £895–1,045 |
Estimates for illustration. Nova Chef labour is a two-person canteen team (a lead and a helper, 15.5 hours a day) supplied by us; with your own staff it depends on your wage rates. We work out your figures with you at the tasting.
Three busy moments.One canteen covers all of them.
- 6–9amBreakfastBacon rolls, sausage and omelette rolls and hot breakfast for early shifts and office arrivals.
- 12–2pmLunchBurgers, curries, pasta and vegetarian dishes, cooked to order or served from the hot counter.
- Shift changesNights and turnoversMulti-portion trays for shift changes, and hot food vending for nights and weekends.
What's on the menu.Proper hot food, every working day.
A selection from our range of 80+ chef-made dishes, including vegetarian and vegan options. We build a rotating breakfast and lunch menu with you, around your shifts, your staff and your budget.
Allergen information comes with every dish. Chicken, beef and lamb come from a certified halal supplier, and the few pork dishes are clearly labelled.
Feeding a whole shift at once?Serve it straight from the tray.
For busy lunches and shift changes, the same chef-made recipes come in 1.5 kg trays, each serving 6–7 people. Heat a tray from frozen in the combi oven and serve it straight onto the hot counter.
- 20–40 minutes in a combi oven, straight from frozen
- Mains, soups, sides and sauces, with lasagne in 2.7 kg trays
- Mix trays and single portions in one order
The station does the cooking.Your canteen team does the serving.
For single portions, staff scan the barcode on the pack and the Scan-to-Cook Station programs the combi oven, air fryer or microwave and runs the right setting. Anyone on the canteen team can run it after one training session.
- No settings to learn: the pack tells the station what to do
- The same result on a quiet Tuesday as on a packed Saturday
- Cooked to order, so nothing sits under a heat lamp or goes in the bin
Nobody on the counter after hours?Hot food vending, 24/7.
The same chef-made meals in a hot food vending machine, for night shifts, weekends and quiet periods. Staff choose, pay and eat, with no one needed at the point of service.
- Choose on the touchscreen, with allergen filtering
- Pay contactless; the meal is hot in under 7 minutes
- A 1m² footprint and a standard power socket
How it works.Tasting. Menu. Set-up. Deliveries. Service.
- 1Free tastingWe come to your site, cook a selection and your staff taste it. No commitment.
- 2Your menuWe build a rotating breakfast and lunch menu around your shifts and budget, from 80+ chef-made dishes.
- 3Set-up and trainingFreezer space, the ovens you have and the Scan-to-Cook Station if you want it. One training session for the team.
- 4DeliveriesFrozen, anywhere in mainland UK, usually within 3–5 working days. Orders from £500.
- 5ServiceScan the pack or load the tray. Heat, plate and serve.
Two formats.One for the café, one for the hot counter.
| Individual portions | Catering packs | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Cafés, à la carte, smaller sites | Hot counters, lunch peaks and shift changes |
| Serves | 1 per portion | 6–7 people per 1.5 kg tray |
| Cook time | 3–10 minutes | 20–40 minutes (combi oven) |
| Staff | 1 person, no cooking skill | 1 person, no cooking skill |
| Waste | None: cooked to order | Minimal: planned to headcount |
What workplace buyers say.On video, unscripted.
Buyers and facilities managers at Makita, ACO Technologies and English Provender tasted Nova Chef food on their own sites. Read how a UK logistics company runs its staff canteen with Nova Chef.
staff for up to 200 covers
management fee
chef-made dishes
What operators say about Nova Chef
“We found the food absolutely amazing. The food was exquisite.”
Buyer, Makita Manufacturing Europe
“I was a little bit sceptical about frozen food… I have to say I’m really impressed with what I’ve tried today.”
Facilities Manager, ACO Technologies UK
“Well-seasoned, well-cooked, not overcooked. All of the dishes were really nice.”
Site team, English Provender Company
“It tastes amazing. It’s zero labour, and it’s so easy.”
F&B Director, Hilton Hotels UK & Ireland
“An unbelievable product — you’d never know, from frozen to the plate, it comes out so good.”
Executive Chef, Pullman London St. Pancras
“The food is absolutely amazing, with great feedback from everyone. Highly recommended — a very professional company to work with.”
General Manager, Fraser Place Canary Wharf, London
What to expect.The questions operators ask first, answered.
| Kitchen | None needed. Counter space, power sockets and room for a freezer. No extraction, no gas, no fit-out. |
|---|---|
| Who cooks | Your canteen team, after one training session. About 2 staff for up to 200 covers. |
| Cost | About £3.10 to £4.50 a meal in food. No management fee. |
| Formats | Single portions and 1.5 kg multi-portion trays, mixed in one order, plus hot food vending if you want it. |
| Minimum order | From £500 per delivery. We confirm your free-delivery threshold when you enquire. |
| Contract | No long-term contract and no monthly minimum. One-month rolling. |
| Delivery | Frozen, anywhere in mainland UK, usually within 3–5 working days. |
| Storage | 12 months frozen. Nothing needs defrosting: everything cooks from frozen. |
| Equipment | The Scan-to-Cook Station, to buy or hire, installed with staff training. |
| Allergens and halal | Allergen information for every dish. Chicken, beef and lamb from a certified halal supplier; pork dishes clearly labelled. |
Book a free tasting. We bring the food, your team cooks it, everyone tastes it.
Tell us about your site and roughly how many staff you feed a day. We'll be in touch to arrange a tasting.
- Free tasting at your venue, no commitment
- No long-term contract, one-month rolling
- Delivered frozen anywhere in mainland UK
Questions about running a workplace canteen with Nova Chef
Can a workplace canteen run with just two members of staff?
Yes. Every meal arrives chef-made and only needs finishing, so about two staff can serve up to 200 covers a day, with no chef.
How much does a Nova Chef workplace canteen cost?
Food costs about £3.10 to £4.50 a meal, with no management fee. With about two staff for up to 200 covers, labour comes out 25–50% lower than with a contract caterer.
How is it different from a contract caterer?
A contract caterer runs your canteen with its own team and usually adds a management fee. With Nova Chef the menu and the staff stay yours, there is no management fee, and you need no chef on site.
Is it suitable for factories and shift work?
Yes. Single portions cook in 3–10 minutes for breaks, multi-portion trays cover shift changes in 20–40 minutes, and hot food vending covers nights and weekends with nobody on the counter.
Who plans the menu?
We build a rotating breakfast and lunch menu with you from 80+ chef-made dishes, around your shifts, your staff and your budget.
Do we need a kitchen to serve hot food?
No. Our chefs cook everything in our London kitchen and it arrives frozen. On site you need counter space, power sockets and room for a freezer. No extraction, no gas and no kitchen fit-out.
What about allergens and halal?
Allergen information comes with every dish. Chicken, beef and lamb come from a certified halal supplier, and the few pork dishes are clearly labelled. There are vegetarian and vegan dishes too.
What is the minimum order, and is there a contract?
Orders start from £500 per delivery, and we confirm your free-delivery threshold when you enquire. There is no long-term contract and no monthly minimum: it runs month to month.
Where do you deliver, and how fast?
Anywhere in mainland UK, usually within 3–5 working days. The food travels frozen and keeps for 12 months in your freezer, so you order when you need to, not every few days.
Can we try it before we commit?
Yes. Book a free tasting and we'll come to your venue, cook a selection on site and let your team taste it. No commitment.
Shifts a canteen can't cover? See the guide to hot food vending machines in the UK. Running a co-working space? See co-working café food. Out of hours? See hot food vending machines. Want the full price list? See catering food supplier.