Food as a business trade secret

I'm going to let you in on one of my secrets. Food works. As my mother used to say -- "if you can't beat them, feed them".  And she did that well -- she was a master of sweets.  Growing up, we had a cupboard of Hostess twinkees and suzi q's. Our house was the house all the kids in the neighborhood flocked.  I learned early that food could bring people together.
When I started abuzz, I used to say that "the company that dines together, succeeds together". This was my adaptation of my mothers saying. Since that time, I've used food, meals, coffees, wines as a means of inviting people to break bread, have fun, talk and ultimately do deals. In my opinion, food is an underrated and under discussed business tool -- think about it over a piece of cake. And buy your employee or boss a cup of coffee and see what you learn.