The Fully-Stocked Fridge: Best Perk Ever, or Our Secret Downfall?

A tech favorite — free snacks for everyone!

My favorite snacks change every year. It’s collateral from moving so many times. Every country has its own tasty munchies. Just like every office has its own snack culture.

In New York, I had bagels pretty much everyday. Because bagels are life, obviously.

In Los Angeles, I learned to like healthy snacks… like a kale-cucumber-ginger smoothie. (Juice cleanse, anyone?)

Here at the Jobbatical HQ in Estonia, I’ve discovered… the rye crisps.

Our office magician Triin keeps stocking the kitchen with bags of these delicious treats from Finland, and I can’t stop eating them.

Which leads to the question, is a “fully-stocked fridge” a brilliant, indispensable perk like it’s usually made out to be, or is it the downfall of all hardworking employees?

We’ve all heard of the jaw-dropping perks of Silicon Valley.

Evernote’s Japanese sushi chef makes sushi for everyone once a week. Facebook has a bakery and an ice cream shop on its campus. And Google? I mean, what don’t they have?

Though I’ve never been granted entry into these hallowed halls of the Bay Area, the day I saw an exclusively rented food truck in a Los Angeles studio lot with the sign,

Courtesy of Shonda Rhimes. Happy first day of shooting on Scandal!

I wished I was working on Scandal. (Okay, let’s be real. Who wouldn’t want to work on Scandal, on any day?)

Like Silicon Valley, Hollywood is no less immune to the “free snacks” gossip. The production with the big budget and fantastic catering becomes the envy of the town.

But for the rest of us folk, we’ve got Donut Tuesdays and Pizza Fridays. Still exciting, but on a smaller scale. So, let’s dig in — pun intended — and examine some pros and cons of this alleged awesomeness.

Perk: Healthy snacks equal healthy employees.

Recently at our office, we’ve been experimenting with our snacks. Once Triin noticed that the candies and chocolate were being consumed at an alarming rate, she started making a not-so-subtle shift to vegetables, nuts and fruits.

As it turns out, most of us just eat whatever has been provided. Our berry-consuming rate spiked up to 100% over a single week!

Mindlessly munching on berries, almonds and cucumbers sounds amazing, but it also begs the question: what does this mean for the weeks we were provided with junk food?

Downfall: Unhealthy snacks equal unhealthy employees.

Following our if A then B method, let’s see what happens if the kitchen table is laid out with candies and donuts all the time.

Recently, a UK dentist warned against the harmful effects of the ‘office cake culture,’ saying it leads to obesity and poor oral health.

Depending on how many of your colleagues have birthdays in a given month, you can have as many as a dozen pieces of cake a month. For example, last month we had three cake days in a single week. Yikes.

A more famous example of how this can all end badly is what is known as the “Google 15,” the tech industry’s take on “Freshman 15,” which led the tech giant to go on a self-imposed diet.

And in a survey conducted by science journal PLOS ONE, 69% of respondents reported gaining weight since working in tech. Reasons for the gain range from receiving no fitness help from companies to plain old stress eating.

Perk: It’s a great way to support local farmers.

One thing that has been great about some of snacks at our office is the local produce. From yummy summer strawberries to freshly picked cucumbers, these treats tend to be among the tastiest and healthiest snacks we’ve consumed so far.

Recently we’ve also made a change in the dairy department, substituting plain yogurt for flavored ones, and bringing in delicious cheese from Saaremaa, an island with amazing produce here in Estonia.

Getting to taste local produce is especially fun for foreigners in the country, but that’s beside the point. Simply switching to healthy snacks has given us the unexpected benefit of shopping more locally while searching for fresh food.

Downfall: It can create a lot of food waste.

On the other hand, in an effort to keep employees satisfied at all times, companies can overspend on food. After all, everyone knows that one of the many startup faux pax is to have an — brace yourself — empty kitchen.

Even well-meaning efforts to donate the surplus food to nonprofits can backfire and create more work than the oft-shorthanded sector can handle.

Striking the right balance can be tough, and whether it’s better to be short on food or go overboard is a question individual companies must answer on their own.

(Case in point: As I’m writing this post, I’m munching on leftover chocolate from a party that our friends from Mindvalley threw at the office over the weekend.)

Perk: Food creates a bonding experience.

Perhaps one of the most popular reasons for retaining the ‘free snacks’ culture, the unique bonding experience shared over food cannot be overlooked when it comes to employee morale and camaraderie.

Sure, cakes make you fat, but it can also draw out the people from behind their laptops for a short get-together session.

Sweden — a country that implements mandatory coffee breaks called fika — has some of the lowest stress levels worldwide. Furthermore, these short fika breaks are also linked to increased productivity.

The traditional “breaking of the bread” is a powerful force that has existed in our culture for centuries, and, like it or not, our modern office culture is not exempt from its influence.

Downfall: Let’s face it. It can be distracting.

Just where do we draw the line between a stress-free break that boosts productivity and water cooler chatter that goes on a bit too long and takes away from productive hours?

A survey by BambooHR found that trips to the water cooler or the break room was the #1 distraction reported by workers at the office. Interestingly, results were split when it came to whether they thought the distractions boosted or reduced productivity.

So, are trips to the kitchen good or bad?

We want your thoughts.

In your opinion, is free food more of a perk, or a downfall? Has your place of work dealt with any of the issues above? We’d love to hear what you think!

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