How to stock an office kitchen with healthy snacks your team will love

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    It’s no secret that free food is an excellent work perk. A survey by Peapod.com found that office employees who got free snacks or beverages at work were happier. 

    But if your office kitchen looks as empty as the rest of your office space, your lack of product variety could be the culprit. Master the art of setting up your kitchen and stocking it with a wide variety of snacks and drinks, and you’ll be walking into a crowded office kitchen full of happy employees in no time!

    Below, we’ll show you how to stock an office kitchen, including ideas for what foods to buy to get started. 

    The importance of product variety

    Keep this in mind as you buy

    Your competition

    Keep in mind you’re competing with the comforts of home (where your employees keep all their favorite snacks!) and the novelty of coffee shops (where they get to try something new every now and then). You can bring both comfort and novelty to your office kitchen by introducing a wide variety of products. We’ll show you how with our best snacks for the office checklist below!

    Dietary restrictions

    When choosing the right snacks for the office, keep in mind the increase in dietary restrictions. Roughly one-third of Americans try to avoid gluten, and food allergies are on the rise, with 10 percent of U.S. adults estimated to have a food allergy. The top culprits? Shellfish, milk, and peanuts.

    Stock your office kitchen with allergy-friendly snacks and beverages so your food & beverage program can be inclusive of everyone. The right snack provider will have a variety of treats that are mindful of allergies. Crafty even lets you filter by dietary restrictions (nut-free, gluten-free, vegan, etc.)!

    gluten free office snack options

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    Nutritional goals

    Nourishing your employees’ bodies and brains helps them do better work. A peer-reviewed study of 20,000 U.S. workers published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that workers who ate healthy the entire day were 25% more likely to have a higher job performance. And those who ate five or more servings of fruits and veggies four plus days in the past week were 20% more likely to have a higher job performance.

    Values-aligned food

    The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that values are essential when choosing brands. Eighty-two percent of consumers want a brand's values to align with their personal values, and 39% said they'd boycott a brand permanently if there's a moral mismatch. That means that, when stocking your office pantry, considering what the brands stand for might be just as important as what’s inside the packaging.

    One way that Crafty helps office workers stay true to their values is by making it easy to filter by product characteristics of the kind of brands they’d like to support, such as woman-owned, Black-owned, or B corp. For example, if you select the “social enterprise” filter,  you’ll find Mavuno Harvest, an organic dried fruit company that’s cultivating higher incomes and more job security for small farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. In our brand descriptions, you’ll get more information about what each company stands for and what your purchase is contributing to before you place your order.

    Sustainability

    Speaking of values, consumers worldwide are increasingly mindful of sustainability when choosing what to eat. A 2021 Cargill survey of about 6,000 shoppers in 11 countries found that more than half said they're more likely to buy sustainable food items, an increase of four percentage points over 2019.

    Phew! If all of those things to keep in mind as you stock your office kitchen seems overwhelming—don't worry. Below is a long list of drinks and snacks for work that'll please everyone at the office: 

    products for your office kitchen fridge

    What to buy for your office fridge

    Best snacks for work for everyone

    • Babybel Mini Babybel, Original
      These creamy cheese snacks are full of calcium and protein and are great if you're craving something savory. Eat them with nuts for an extra protein boost, or enjoy them alone.
    • Chobani 0% Greek Yogurt Variety Pack
      Reach for one of these Greek yogurt containers for something sweet and nutritious. This pack comes with black cherry, blueberry, peach, and strawberry flavors, so you'll never get bored.
    • Wilcox Farms Hard Boiled Cage Free Eggs
      Are eggs nature's perfectly packaged protein snack? We think so! These cage-free hard-boiled eggs are great as a breakfast food or an afternoon pick-me-up to refuel.
    • Oh Snap! Dilly Bites (Fresh Dill Pickle Snacking Cuts)
      If you’re craving something crunchy, these sliced pickles are for you. Add them to a salad or sandwich, or eat them like potato chips. They’re packed without brine, so you don’t have to worry about leaks!
    • Fresh Produce Baby Carrots (Bulk pack)
      Another crunchy snack packed with nutrition, baby carrots are great on their own or dipped in hummus or guacamole.
    • Organic Valley Organic - Reduced Fat 2% Milk
      Milk is a staple for any office fridge. Use it for making lattes, pouring over cereal, or blending smoothies.
    • Kirkland Signature Three Berry Blend
      Toss these frozen berries into the office blender with some milk, and you’ve got yourself a cool treat. They’re also delicious eaten on their own once they’ve thawed a bit.

    Vegan snacks and drinks

    • So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Milk Yogurt, Blueberry
      The blueberry So Delicious Dairy-Free Coconut Milk yogurt will surely be a hit for vegans and dairy-free folks. It's creamy, free of artificial flavors and colors, and full of flavor.
    • Wholly Guacamole Classic Guacamole Mini Cups
      Who doesn't love some good guac? These mini cups are ideal for snacking—whether you dip some chips or carrots or simply spoon it out of the package.
    • Kirkland Signature Organic Hummus
      Another dippable delight, these snack-sized hummus cups are USDA organic, kosher, vegan, and dairy-free! Pair them with cucumber slices, tortilla chips, or carrot sticks for a healthy snack.
    • Oh Snap! Carrot Cuties
      These carrots have a kick. Because they're pickled, they have a vinegary tang that makes them way more interesting than your typical veggie. Even better, there's no brine added to the package, so this snack is mess-free!
    • Oatsome Organic Oat Milk Barista
      For a dairy-free alternative to use in that office espresso machine, use this barista-grade oat milk to get the perfect light and creamy froth.
    products for your office pantry breakroom

    Best snacks for office pantry

    Healthy snacks for the office for all

    • Sahale Snacks Trail Mix, Classic Fruit + Nut
      Everyone needs a little savory-and-sweet treat. This trail mix comes with pistachios, cashews, whole roasted almonds, apples, and cranberries. 
    • Rule Breaker Deep Chocolate Brownies
      Brownies—on a healthy snacks list?! Hear us out. These brownies are made with chickpeas for extra protein and fiber, and they have about half the calories of your typical brownie. (But even if they didn’t, it’s okay to treat yourself!)
    • Oranges
      You can’t go wrong with placing a bowl of fresh oranges on the office kitchen counter. These citrus treats last a long time, are full of Vitamin C, and research has found that the scent of oranges can be a stress reducer!
    • Bananas
      Another excellent office fruit, bananas are naturally individually packaged and have the essential nutrient potassium.
    • Dot's Pretzels Original Seasoned Pretzel Twists
      These pretzels are some of our bestsellers! Crunchy with a unique seasoning that’s made Dot’s a cult favorite.

    Nut-free snacks

    • MadeGood Foods Granola Minis, Chocolate Chip
      Pop these minis into your mouth for a sweet treat that also has one whole serving of veggies.
    • Kettle Brand Potato Chips, Sea Salt & Vinegar
      It's tough to resist the tangy crunchiness of sea salt & vinegar potato chips. These chips are nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan, too!
    • Chomps Jalapeno Beef
      Made with grass-fed beef and jalapeno peppers, this snack is just spicy enough to perk you up during that afternoon slump.
    • free2b Dark Chocolate Sun Cups
      This is the treat for anyone wishing to enjoy the deliciousness of chocolate peanut butter cups without the nuts! It's made with creamy sunflower seed butter and is gluten-free and vegan too!

    Gluten-free snacks for work

    • Mozaics Veggie Chips, Salsa
      These flavorful chips are popped—not fried—and are embedded with peas and beans. So next time you snack, you can nourish yourself with plant protein and fiber.
    • Verb Energy Caffeinated Snack Bar, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
      An energy bar that tastes like banana bread and an espresso shot's worth of caffeine? Sign us up! Plus, the caffeine comes from green tea, so it's less likely to give you the jitters. In addition to being gluten-free, it's also dairy-free and vegan.
    • Partake Foods Crunchy Cookies, Chocolate Chip
      For those who like their cookies to come with a crunch, these cookies are sure to please. They're just the right sweetness, packed with lots of chocolate chips, and they're gluten-free too!

    Vegan snacks for work

    beverages for your office kitchen

    Best office drinks

    Caffeinated beverages and energy drinks for work

    • Rise Brewing Co. Nitro Cold Brew, Oat Milk LatteIf you need a quick caffeine pick-me-up, open a can of this nitrogen-infused cold brew with dairy-free oat milk.
    • Red Bull Energy Drink
      There’s a reason Red Bull’s a classic. Each 8.4 oz can contains 80mg of caffeine (a bit less than your typical cup of home-brewed coffee) and the amino acid taurine.
    • Aspire Raspberry + Acai
      This lightly-carbonated energy drink has caffeine from green tea and guarana seed extract, and it's got B & C vitamins.
    • CELSIUS Sparkling Orange
      This zero-sugar energy drink contains green tea extract, guarana seed extract, vitamins B &C, and no aspartame. This 12-oz can contains 200 mg of caffeine.

    Caffeine-free drinks for office

    How to stock an office kitchen: Other things to consider

    Now that you’ve got an idea of what to stock your office kitchen with (and why product variety matters!), here are two other aspects to consider before you get started:

    • Sizes. While it might seem like a great idea to buy that family-size tub of hummus, it's not ideal for a communal kitchen. Instead, you'll want to find snack-sized packaging that your employees can quickly grab and go. Plus, it'll be more hygienic than having several people double-dipping!
    • Inventory management. It's challenging to track snacks for an entire workplace (any office manager knows that!). The best snack provider will have an app that makes tracking inventory and restocking much easier.

    Written by Amy Rigby 

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