You're already handling the bigger catering calls — lunches, client dinners, the occasional happy hour. Snacks are the small, recurring decision underneath all of that: something for the afternoon lull, a client meeting that runs long, or a desk that never quite empties out in summer. The catch in July is that heat rules out anything that needs to stay cold, and a mixed office means dietary needs multiply fast. Here's what to order so the spread survives a warm office and still works for everyone reaching for it.
A lunch buffet gets refreshed and cleared. A snack spread sits out for hours, gets picked at between meetings, and often ends up scattered across a few different desks rather than staged in one place. That means the right snacks are shelf-stable by design — no ice, no chafing dish, no Executive Presentation setup required.
Metro's Snacks menu is built around exactly this. Dark Chocolate Trail Mix Bark, Metro Energy Bites, N.Y. Pretzels, Bag of Chips, and Homemade Yukon Gold Potato Chips all hold their quality at room temperature for a full workday. None of them need a cooler bag on the way up in the elevator or a chafing setup once they land on the table. Order these when the spread needs to survive from 9 AM through the afternoon without anyone checking on it.
Metro's snack lineup leans nut-heavy — Snack Basket, Metro Energy Bites, Dark Chocolate Trail Mix Bark, Seventh Inning Stretch, and L.A. Snack are all tagged with nuts. That's not a problem as long as the spread also includes something nut-free, and a few items on the same menu cover that without any substitutions.
N.Y. Pretzels, Bag of Chips, Mixed Veggie Chips, and Homemade Yukon Gold Potato Chips are all nut-free and vegan, so they work for the widest range of dietary needs in the room. Pair one or two of those with a nut-forward option like Metro Energy Bites or Dark Chocolate Trail Mix Bark, and the spread works for vegan, gluten-free, and nut-allergy guests without a second order or a separate table.
Not everything on the Snacks menu is built for a warm office. Chocolate Dipped Fresh & Dried Fruit and Mini Parfaits both use fresh dairy and fruit, and they're at their best served cold and eaten within an hour or two — not left out on a desk from morning meeting through afternoon standup. If either one is going on the order, plan it for a specific gathering rather than an all-day spread, and have it delivered close to when people will eat it.
Crudité falls in the middle: the vegetables and chickpea hummus hold up for a few hours but do best refrigerated until service, so it's a better fit for a scheduled break than an unattended desk spread.
Between the heat and the mix of diets in most Midtown offices, summer snacking takes a little more planning than tossing a bag of chips on the counter. Build the spread around the shelf-stable options, pair a nut-free item with a nut-forward one, and save the fresh dairy and fruit picks for a specific occasion instead of an all-day table. Metro's snack menu has what you need for either approach — browse workplace dining options and get the order in before the week gets away from you.
Author
Chris Zamfotis
Managing Partner, Metro Catering
Chris Zamfotis is the Managing Partner at Metro Catering, a New York City catering company serving corporate offices, private events, and businesses across Manhattan. With a focus on reliable service, thoughtful menu planning, and polished presentation, Chris helps lead Metro Catering’s approach to modern corporate catering, from daily office lunches to executive meetings, happy hours, and large-scale events.
Metro Catering has been NYC’s trusted corporate catering provider since 1981, offering fresh, high-quality meals for office lunches, corporate events, and workplace dining—delivered on time, every time.
