Comforting options from Organic To Go's new catering menu include Chicken Pot Pie with free-range chicken and organic veggies in a nutmeg-scented sauce.

Currently 40 percent of Organic To Go sales are attributable to catering, 45 percent to guests who grab and go or eat in at the company's 34 cafes, and the rest to airport, university and corporate campus kiosks and coolers.

From the start, CEO Brown says the cafes were designed as “billboards” to put a face on the company's dual-pronged concept. Initially corporate crowds grabbing a bite at one of Organic To Go's cafes or ordering corporate lunches through the company's catering division were just glad to have a new option for sandwiches and salads made from sustainably harvested, organic foods. 

But Organic To Go's customer base is extremely loyal, with 60 percent of its guests saying they've bought food from the concept more than five times in an eight-month period. And, as frequency builds familiarity, the company is finding that “the more guests dine with us, the more comfortable they are asking for us to do 'clean' versions of the sorts of food they take comfort in at home, whether that's pizza, a hot dog or hamburger, or veggie chili,” says Brown. “They'll say something like, 'I love soup—what are you going to do that's new with that?'”

The addition of fast-cook ovens means cafe sandwiches can now be served “Hot 'n Toasty.”  Cafes also just added induction cookers to allow for service of pasta dishes, formerly only served through catering.

Warming things up for guests at the rest of the cafe units, this year Organic To Go outfitted units with fast-cook ovens and induction pasta cookers, allowing service of hot sandwiches, pasta and individual-sized pizzas to order.

The company also launched a new fall/winter catering menu in September that features comforting options among the 27 new dishes. The menu includes Chicken Pot Pie, half pan (serves eight to 10) for $129.95 and full pan (serves 16 to 20) for $259.99, with free-range chicken breast, carrot, celery, onion, peas and potatoes in a nutmeg-scented sauce; Beef Stew, $16.95 per person (served with two side dishes, one side salad and one dessert), with pot-roast meat and winter root veggies; a breakfast Egg Strata, half pan (serves eight to 12) for $39.95 and full pan (serves 18 to 24) for $42.95 with sourdough bread, red potatoes, sweet peppers, ham and cheddar cheese baked in eggs and cream; and battered and baked cinnamon ciabatta-roll French Toast, $9.95 per person, served with fresh fruit salad and including beverage service of juice, coffee and tea.

Consulting Chef Greg Atkinson says the menu evolution has been an interesting progression. “We are now defining comfort for a much broader palate,” he says. Initially, reflecting the baby boomer status of top brass at Organic To Go, “we limited our definition of comfort foods to midcentury Americana classics we loved like pot roast and meatloaf,” says Atkinson. Anecdotally, those dishes have done well on the catering menu. “But what's surprised me has been the interest in dishes with an ethnic twist that younger diners count as comfort foods, too—things like our Thai Veggie Wrap, Teriyaki Chicken Skewers and, most recently, our vegan Pad Thai with tofu—all very popular sellers.”

Vegetarian chili, for example, was not on the company's menu. “But it was something guests really wanted us to serve,” says Brown. Atkinson prepared a batch, brought the recipe to the commissary kitchen for tasting and translation into large-quantity (50 gallon) batches. The final three-bean version, which rolled out in September, is a mix of pinto, kidney and black beans with crushed garlic, cumin, oregano, crushed chili and black pepper.

Recipes for cafe pasta-sauce varieties were developed in the same way and are now prepared in the chain's four commissaries—in San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington, D.C.—for distribution to the cafes. Sauce varieties include chicken pesto, $7.99, with chicken, fresh basil, Parmesan cheese, garlic and pine nuts; chicken Alfredo, $7.99, in Parmesan cream; primavera, $6.99, with sauteed summer squash, onions, peppers, tomato, broccoli, olive oil and herbs; marinara, $5.99; and carbonara, $7.99, with bacon, carrot, celery and onion.

Pizza, another growth area, is served two ways at Organic To Go. The commissaries have wood-fired pizza ovens to prepare 18-inch scratch-made pizzas sold through catering for $26.95. For cafe service, the commissaries prepare individual pizzas on parbaked dough. These are then finished off in the cafes in fast-cook ovens to order. The company started out with cheese, pepperoni and veggie pizzas, but has since added barbecue chicken; Hawaiian with Canadian bacon and pineapple; and Supreme with organic pepperoni, sausage, sliced mushrooms, red and green bell peppers, red onion and marinated black olives.

Biodegradable packaging is good for the planet but lacks marketing pizazz. So Organic To Go works hard to make displays "pop" visually.

In keeping with this passion, packaging and transportation for the food fit the “good for the planet” theme. Bicycles and a fleet of hybrid and low-fuel consumption vehicles deliver food. This year Organic To Go switched from plastic-wrapped sandwiches to windowed, brown-kraft triangular boxes for its sandwiches.

Other biodegradable and compostable packaging materials the company uses include recycled-paper pizza boxes, cardboard coffee carafes, salad-bar takeout boxes and sugar-cane plates. And catered food is delivered in biodegradable, handled bags. For an extra fee, catering customers can order disposable bamboo tableware and utensils.

The Thai Veggie Wrap is the bestselling vegan sandwich.

For example, while a classic Caesar salad may be tasty, it's not much to look at. At first, Atkinson says the purist in him was reluctant to break away from the classic recipe for the sake of presentation. “But when I put a few organic pear tomatoes and a big wedge of lemon in there with the salad, the presentation really popped,” he says. While he can't say exactly how much, “We saw sales of the salad increase with that simple change.”

Looking ahead, Atkinson is working on new soups, more varieties of pizza, and more hot and toasty sandwich options in the cafes. He's also reducing the fat in some recipes, keeping them big on flavor with the use of spices, citrus and vinegar. “We're also going to watch guest reaction to the grilled hot dogs and hamburgers at the new store to determine if we should expand that to be included at other units,” says Brown.

And for catering? “We've dabbled in doing completely custom menus for catered events, with some success,” says Atkinson. “So we're hoping to do more of that.”