Shifting trends in workplace birthday celebrations

Birthday celebrations are the perfect excuse to go out for lunch or order in cake, especially in the workplace. But online office catering company Order-In suggests these traditions are beginning to change.

With over 67,500 Australians celebrating their birthday every day, a large majority of those are going to experience a workplace birthday. While colleagues often make the effort to buy birthday cards and cakes, the celebration can sometimes feel a little generic.

Now other trends are starting to come to the fore, with Order-In Managing Director Jonathan Rowley noting that his company’s recent 18th birthday encouraged some research into what trends are rising in popularity.

“Although cakes continue to be the most popular choice, we have also noticed a trend in people celebrating slightly differently and thinking outside the box by ordering alternatives such as doughnuts and fruit towers,” Rowley said.

He also suggested that while cakes remain the core symbol of a birthday celebration, people are experimenting with different flavours.

“We have noticed that people’s palates are evolving. It seems that the most popular flavours in order of preference are chocolate mud, red velvet, orange and almond, cheesecake and carrot this year. Interestingly, banana was our highest selling cake flavour in 2016, but has not even made the top five this year,” said Rowley.

Changing palate preferences and dietary requirements are therefore driving this change, but Order-In also explored how Australian workplaces can celebrate birthdays differently:

• Celebrate once a month: Depending on the size of your office or department, celebrating every employee’s birthday can lead to several birthdays in a month or week, or even a day. Order-In suggests that instead of ordering cake for every occasion, consider grouping all of those celebrations into one, well-organised event. This will save time and money and allow colleagues to get the relevant cards and cakes together.
• Try something different: Rather than always ordering a simple mud cake, other sweet treats can make a birthday more exciting. Cupcakes, cake pops, ice-cream bars, chocolates and doughnuts are just a few options to try. Alternatively, allowing the birthday person to choose their favourite cuisine can bring some variation to the workplace, such as pizzas, burritos and stir-fries.
• Personalise the celebration: This can be as simple as finding out a colleague’s favourite flavour of cake or as complicated as ensuring you cater for their dietary requirements. There’s nothing more awkward than presenting a person with a birthday cake they can’t eat.

“The demand for gluten-free and special dietary cakes also continues to become more popular, with our gluten-free mango and macadamia, pear and raspberry and chocolate devil cakes making up 10% of cake orders,” Rowley said.

So whether it’s cake, chocolate or pizza, it is clear that food remains a staple part of a workplace birthday celebration.