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Free Snacks at Work!

Food is definitely a way to show someone that you care. There is an old Indian saying, “Food is the only way to man’s heart”; Well, let me not comment on its validity in today’s millennial generation but this theory has partially entered the corporate world and is considered as one of the perks to retain millennials. Google does it and so does Facebook and Twitter.

At Digicorp, we too felt the need to offer free snacks. Not to attract and retain talent, not even to encourage them to stay late in the office. So what could be the reason otherwise?

Well, you will agree that hunger pangs strike usually at a wrong time; before lunch or dinner time ruining your appetite.

At Digicorp, most people have lunch between 1 to 2 and by 5 or 6 in the evening, most Digicorpians start gorging junk food, which are really high in sugar, salt and fat. So, we wanted to prevent Digicorpians from making poor snack choices. And instead make them realize that healthier food consumption would lead to a healthier life and eventually fewer sick days and fewer medical problems.

And this gave rise to our idea of offering free snacks. Initially, we started with giving free fruits on daily basis.

No, we did not only serve bananas! We served a variety of fruits including Oranges, Chickoo, Banana, Grapes and a lot of seasonal fruits available in the market.

This went on for a few months. Feedback too started pouring in; While everyone appreciated the initiative, there was always a demand for more.

So we started hunting for a food service provider, who could make healthy dishes to support our health and wellness program. Fortunately we found one and changed our weekly offerings to:

Monday – we serve beverages

Tuesday – counts for a fruit day

Wednesday – becomes a salad day and

Friday – a proper home-made snack day to enjoy the weekend

We follow the same menu today. Check out:

I received a thank you note from one of our Product Managers saying, “This initiative has tremendously helped us avoid eating packaged foods in the evening time. Thank You!”

Honestly speaking, the grass in not that green but I see a lot of changes in the eating habits of people. Also, we believe in “Libertarian paternalism” at Digicorp. That means we don’t enforce our choices on Digicorpians. They are always free to choose their options. However we do nudge them towards the best choices for them. The same is applicable to offering Free snacks in evening. Digicorpians are still free to eat junk food but many of them don’t because they inadvertently opt for healthy snacks provided by Digicorp. And I’m happy that we have created a healthier option to help them change their eating habits.

Needless to say that our offerings might change as we firmly believe that “Change is the only constant in life” but we would make sure that we Eat Well, Work Well and Be Well all the time. 🙂