CaterCow vs.
ZeroCater
Do you want a more attentive, responsive, and detail-oriented account manager? Are you stuck rotating through the same restaurants every month? Are you paying $20 per meal when you explicitly said your budget was $15? If you're having issues with ZeroCater, trial us out here at CaterCow. Many of our customers today made the switch!
We have an intense amount of respect for ZeroCater. Let's be honest, they were the ones who helped ignite the office catering service as we know it. However, if you're using ZeroCater and wondering if you can do better, we'd be honored if you trialed us out for 1 to 2 weeks to see what we can do. The downside risk is just a bleh meal and you move back with ZeroCater, but if you like us, we think we're going to be very helpful to you and your team for many years. A few of our customers decided to slot us in, and then rotated between us and ZeroCater in alternating weeks before ultimately making the switch to us full-time. We'd love to prove ourselves!
Why use CaterCow instead of ZeroCater?
Level of Service
Work with an account manager who is ready to bend their back for you 24/7. Our founder is an account manager, so if you're not obsessed with customer-centric service, responsiveness, and attention to detail, you're not going to last long at CaterCow. You don't get to be an account manager unless you've been at CaterCow for at least 6 months. Account managers also work intensively on the restaurant side, so you have someone who has an intricate knowledge of everything we can offer.
You are at the mercy of an account manager who is part of a large account management team. Good luck getting one of the better ones!
Better Pricing
Stick with your budget. You tell us $15, and we stay at $15.
Unless you have hundreds of people, with all the fees you're probably looking at a few dollars more than you want to pay. Why? ZeroCater charges a large customer fee. They also charge their restaurants 20% to 30% commissions, which means restaurants need to upcharge you on ZeroCater.
More Options
Ask our ex-ZeroCater customers. Our rotations go on for multiple months even if you're ordering daily.
Repeat options twice a month. Why? ZeroCater limits the number of restaurants they work with so they can guarantee their partners order volume, which allows them to charge their restaurants higher fees and also get exclusivity commitments — nothing wrong with that, but it limits customer options!
No Contracts
Use us whenever you need. If we suck or you find a better option for what you're craving, go there instead!
Do you seriously want to sign a 1-year contract? You don't sign contracts when you're ordering takeout — why should you do so at the office?
Transparency of Menus
Check out all of our options with photos of how the food comes here: www.CaterCow.com/search — if there's anything that strikes your fancy, let your account manager know!
Your account manager has sole control over what menus are presented to you.
Less Back and Forth
If you don't want to wait or know what you want already, just go to www.CaterCow.com/search — you can then tell us or order it directly!
Go back and forth with your account manager over many emails to finalize a menu.
Customers switch over to CaterCow from ZeroCater
CaterCow made the switch from ZeroCater a smooth and enjoyable process. The team at CaterCow was very flexible with our headcount as we still had to meet certain obligations with ZC. There is no contract, so there wasn’t that initial delay and we were able to start immediately. I promise, there is absolutely nothing to worry about once you’re with CaterCow! I would recommend to anyone in doubt, to give CaterCow the opportunity to show you that office catering can be a really simple process and a delicious treat to everyone in your team.
Administrative assistant
at electrical grid startup
There was an immediate difference once we switched from ZeroCater to CaterCow. We at first rotated between ZeroCater and CaterCow every other week, but eventually used CaterCow as our primary platform for lunch orders. Customer service has always been outstanding with CaterCow, and they worked closely with me to make sure our lunches stay within budget while also providing a delicious array of diverse cuisines. If I had to make any changes to orders CaterCow was always willing to accommodate. This was particularly difficult to do with ZeroCater. Also pricing was never consistent with the quotes that were given, and timeliness and accuracy of the orders were frequently not what ZeroCater said they were. Some lunches would be over an hour late! Overall, amazing service with CaterCow, I would highly recommend anyone using their services.
Office manager
at ad tech startup