Food fuels Employee Performance and Productivity

💡Giving employees the fuel they need to perform at their best pays off.

Food for work doesn’t just feed employees, it fuels business results. Companies looking to create a vibrant in-person culture know they need to “earn the commute” and food for work can play a huge role. For companies, though, the expense is relatively low, especially when compared to other perks that can be less noticeable to employees. Meeting centric food can incentivize in-person attendance and boost productivity. Employer-provided food is also a powerful and cost-effective perk with great ROI for hiring and retention, according to a new interesting research published by ezCater called “Food For Work 2023: Fueling America’s Workforce” - using data from 3 key groups during the first quarter of 2023,  621 people who regularly order food for the workplace, 1,002 people who work onsite at least one day per week and whose employers provide free or subsidized food and finally 633 restaurant owners and operators.

👉 Food ranks as one of the top five perks in terms of return on investment (ROI), according to employers, and HR professionals are almost 20% more likely to say that subsidized food provides the best value for its cost, compared to other perks.

✅Food attracts employees to the office

Researchers discovered that 86% of employers say food encourages employees to come to office by making the office more attractive and it's more effective than enforcing strict policies

This new research revealed that employees also feel more productive when food is provided. Meeting centric food can incentivize in-person attendance and boost productivity.

✅Food fuels Performance and productivity

More than half of workers feel more productive when provided with food, and younger workers are even more likely to say so - as employees spend less time traveling to get lunch.

Cutting down or eliminating that travel time lets workers enjoy the mental break that lunch provides, refuel their bodies, and enjoy a more productive second half of the day. 

And it’s not just the quantity of work that’s impacted — it’s the quality, too.

Having lunch also means taking a break: researchers found that 30% of workers say they rarely get away from their workstation for a meal, which could lead to burnout or lowered productivity.

✅Foods help employers to attract employees

Researchers found that free food is the favorite perk of employees , but only 43% of companies mention free coffee, meals, or snacks during the recruiting process.

Since food can help with hiring, make sure it’s called out on job listings, careers pages, and in hiring conversations.

✅Food increases engagement and retention

Researchers believed that food for work can provide an opportunity to build connections that lead to engagement.

They noticed that 82% of workers said that free food gives them a chance to collaborate and connect with coworkers. Interestingly, 46% of workers say employer-provided food makes them more likely to stay at their current company so food become a retention strategy.

✅Food for work is the #1 perk

Researchers noticed that food relieves employees stress, makes them feel valued, and helps relieve some of the financial burden of coming to work

indeed, researchers found that 63% of employees say they spend at least $10 per lunch in US, meaning that a full-time onsite employee spends at least $200 per month when they have to provide lunch for themselves. 

For individuals, not pulling out their wallet is noticeable and meaningful.

✅Employees want to eat healthy food

Researchers also found that employees who can’t easily access food at work also wind up skipping meals or eating fast food, snacks, or vending machine food.

This could be due to a lack of time to travel, a remote location, transportation challenges, or simply working in an industry where breaks are limited, such as education.

🚀 Finally researchers conclude that as hiring becomes more challenging, productivity becomes more critical, and just getting the team into the office becomes an ongoing issue, a food for work program can provide benefits for companies of all kinds.

This research revealed 4 main reasons that food for work has such an outsized impact on businesses today:

✔️ Food motivates attendance

✔️Food improves performance and productivity

✔️ Food helps with hiring and retention

✔️Food increases engagement

Thank you 🙏  ezCater  researchers and contributors team for these insightful findings:  Stefania Mallett Briscoe Rodgers Janine Allo, Ed.D. (she/her) Erin DeCesare and all cited persons in this report: Melissa A. Samantha Shaw

Dave Ulrich George Kemish LLM MCMI MIC  

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