Canadian brewer Labatt hit the headlines this week for announcing it is phasing out its ‘free beer for life’ scheme for retired employees. Inspired by the news (and the uproar it caused), we asked UK food & drink employers what food-related benefits they offer their staff. Here’s our roundup of their responses.
Apetito
At Apetito, all employees receive a turkey at Christmas.It’s light hearted yes but It is also is clear demonstration of the way our business cares about employees - we believe everyone has the right to a meal at Christmas, so as well as providing meals for care homes, hospitals and meals on Wheels all of our employees around the Uk will be given a turkey to enable them to have a fantastic Christmas meal.
Bel UK
The company says: ”We believe a healthy balanced diet and lifestyle should be encouraged through many small initiatives, often lead by everyone, not just leaders of our business, on a volunteer basis. In the last year, initiatives have included: a selection of balanced snacks both sweet and savoury including vegetables, fruits and nuts on offer in our community kitchen; encouraging correct hydration in the office and on the move. We have offered to all our staff a Fill and Go Brita bottle; in-house short nutrition information workshops during lunch breaks with easy to take away practical snippets of information, often associated with some fun topic about the technical aspects of our products; some healthy snack recipes share forum for all to share their favourite special snack moment.”
Branston
Staff potatoes each week and fresh fruit is available in all our staff canteens. Every member of staff gets a hamper at Christmas (food & drink). These are packed by all the office staff on a specially rigged up production line. We usually pack them on the first Monday of December towards the end of the day. We also get to place an order at Christmas for all the potatoes we need over the festive period. And an Easter egg for everyone at Easter.
Dishoom
All of our Head Chefs and General Managers are taken on a tour of Bombay when they join us and from next year (trip planned in Feb) we’ll also be taking anyone who has been with us for five years or more (8 people). It’s a money can’t buy, all expenses paid trip to Bombay for four nights (five days) staying at the five star Taj Mahal Palace. We show them the Irani cafes and bakeries Dishoom is inspired by (Kyani, Yazdani bakery, B Merwan & Co, Sassanian, Leopolds, Brittania (Mr Koohinor), Paris bakery, Radio Restaurant). As well as street food hot spots – Kemp’s Corner, Bademiya, Chowpatty Beach, Mohammed Ali Road. We can’t take our whole team to Bombay, so also filmed Bombay Bootcamp last year. We show the full video to new team members at initiation to give them a real Bombay immersion.
General Mills
All team members at General Mills’ UK head office in Uxbridge are able to help themselves to free Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Employees are free to eat as much or as little ice cream as they please, although it is intended for on-the-day consumption. Additionally, each quarter, team members receive vouchers enabling them to purchase General Mills (Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Fibre One, Green Giant, Betty Crocker and Jus-Rol) and Yoplait products from retailers.
“We believe it is hugely important for all our employees to understand and experience our brands as consumers do and also to equip them with the knowledge and passion to be ambassadors for the goods we produce,” says a spokesman.
Kellogg’s
Kellogg’s food benefits include 1) free cereal and milk for all members of staff in the mornings between 8am and 10am in the Manchester Talbot Road head office; 2) training in food and nutrition, ensuring all employees have an understanding of the nutritional values of the food they eat and how we produce it; 3) cereal and snacks shops. All employees of Kellogg’s (including retired staff) have access to the discount shop, which is open twice a week for an hour. Each employee is allowed to purchase six items per week; regular sampling of new products head of launch.
“Here at Kellogg’s we are leaders in breakfast cereal therefore it is important we practise what we preach,” says a spokesperson. “This why we ensure everyone in our office starts the day with breakfast. The breakfast bar is also an opportunity for staff to experiment with their cereal choices and socialise outside of their direct teams.”
“As an employees of Kellogg’s it is important you are passionate about our food and our brands. Therefore we ensure we equip staff with the best knowledge and understanding of the nutritional values of our products and how they are made.
“Our discounted product shop is an established company benefit and is a nice way to reward employee loyalty and hard work, both present and in retirement.”
Macsween
The company says: ”Macsween of Edinburgh is famous for haggis, but we make lots of other great tasting products too, like burger, sauce and sausages and we have always offered products to staff but at a discount. Then, a few years ago, we starting making lots of new products and I wanted to encourage my staff to try them, so we made all our product available to all staff free of charge and up to a maximum of 10 items every month. This had a dramatic effect: more staff started eating our products, you would hear staff talking about how great our products were and they say they are more likely to recommend to their friends and family.”
Sacla’
Anyone based at head office in Beaconsfield is entitled to as many pesto, pasta sauces and antipasti ingredients as they like on an ongoing basis. Friday lunch is provided weekly by the company and employees take it in turns to cook a different type of food, with the company paying for all ingredients whatever these may be. Finally, each week a pesto cake is provided on a Thursday at the tea point, baked by a local lady with our Free From Pesto. The cake is green in colour and gluten free.
Yumsh Snacks
Tony Goodman, CEO of Yumsh Snacks, says: “We encourage employees to enjoy our range of ‘Free From Plus’ products whenever they desire to do so. Every employee is a brand advocate and they expand our community by sharing tasty snacks with their friends and family too.”
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