Pastiche *: whatever happened to the $15 business lunch?

• Author: McCorkle, Vern
• Position: From the Publisher

The legendary two-martini lunch fell from favor years ago and now, apparently, so has the $15 business lunch.

Once the hallmark of networking and fellowship, the casual, collegial, informal institution seems to have gone the way of mom-and-pop stores and neighborhood bars. There aren't many left.

If one is in business or must be out and about in the line of duty, membership in local service and social clubs is de rigueur. Often there are two or three business lunches that business people must attend every week, plus the occasional dinner. In the past, when lunch tickets ran about $15 each and a dinner could be had for about $20, someone could run up about $65 a week going to meetings and supporting sponsoring organizations. Annualized at eight such events a month, out of pocket meal expenses could conservatively hit $1,700.

However, since many organizations now look upon these business lunches as profit centers, the $15 lunches have gone up to $30 to $35 and dinners are going for $45.

Partaking of just one $30 lunch and one $45 dinner repast each week, in addition to a couple of "cheaper" lunches and a dinner a month, expense accounts will hit $2,400 per year per person. If one takes a colleague or contact to a meal a couple times a month, you're talking annual costs of $2,500!

No wonder some attendance figures are trending downward.

* Pastiche. Noun, from the French and Italian. "Having satirical intent."

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