New York businesses that are serious about keeping their 
employees happy at work have more options today than ever before. Providing food and refreshments at work remains one of the most important benefits New York employers can provide their workers. Employers should, however, consider all possible ways to keep workers happy on the job.
Over the last two years, employers have focused more on workplace amenities, reports The Wall Street Journal. Many New York workplaces are offering free snacks and drinks and some are going far beyond that with places employees can relax and recharge. Such amenities keep employees happy and they keep top-performers from changing jobs.
As companies try to put themselves on a path to faster growth, some are mimicking the workplace practices—and lavish perks—at technology behemoths like Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.
In industries as varied as insurance, electrical contracting and auto loans, managers are spending on office upgrades and amenities like free food and comped vacations, claiming that such trappings elevate jobs in even the more unglamorous industries. This helps to recruit employees and to convince high performers to stay.
John Bremen, a managing director with human-resources consulting firm Towers Watson, has seen squash courts and lap pools at some companies, and at one bank, rest areas for employees complete with sofas and soothing music—something that wouldn’t have occurred a decade ago.
Alterra Chief Executive David Royce says the writings of Zappos.com Inc. CEO Tony Hsieh prompted his focus on employee happiness, which Hsieh claims breeds corporate success. Royce spent hours scrolling through photos of tech-company offices online, concluding “it’s not fair that they have all the fun.”
Royce says he now invests more than 10% of Alterra’s profit in food, events and amenities each year, and claims it is paying off. Employees hailing from competing pest-control companies increase their sales by 70% in their first full year at Alterra, and 96% stay at the company for at least a full year.
Tech giants have long used recreational workspaces and generous perks to impress recruits and set themselves apart from typical corporate offices. Workplace designers like Primo Orpilla, whose design firm Studio O+A has created offices for Uber Technologies Inc. and Yelp Inc., say they are hearing from finance and contracting firms looking for similarly eye-catching amenities—even as some Silicon Valley companies play down some of the wackier touches.
Scott Lesizza, a founding principal of WorkWell Partners, which sells office furnishings, says about half the clients he meets cite Google as a model for their workplaces.
The New York office culture is changing, slowly but surely. The economy, the need for a work/life balance, rising costs and stretched budgets all influence the culture of an office. Where some companies will offer employees many perks, others will offer few and try to compensate in other ways.
Healthy Vending is experiencing this metamorphosis in New York. Healthy Vending can meet the future needs with trendier offerings and ways to help locations offer affordable, yet quality perks.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to the vending industry, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671 to discuss your customized break room solution.
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Convenience Drives Consumer Breakfast Choices in New York City
Health experts have long noted that breakfast is the most important 
meal of the day. Many New York workers are aware of this, but because they are rushed for time in the morning, they often skip breakfast. The availability of healthy breakfast choices has increased in recent years, and this makes the work place vending machine an important benefit for busy New Yorkers who want to eat breakfast.
A 2012 study entitled, “The Benefits of Breakfast Consumption to Combat Obesity and Diabetes in Young People” found that skipping breakfast was strongly associated with obesity. It reported that young people eat breakfast regularly have a higher-quality diet, eat fewer unhealthy snacks and have better body weight management compared with those who skip breakfast.
According to Mintel, the U.S. breakfast foods category is set to increase 26 percent between 2012 and 2017. Consumers have noticed the importance of breakfast and they have appealed for convenient, healthful who and tasteful products to start their day. But for many New Yorkers, getting breakfast has been difficult due to time constraints.
A new study by Instantly indicates more than half of Americans still do not consistently eat breakfast every day of the week. Twelve percent rarely eat breakfast at all. Those who rarely eat breakfast cite lack of time is the second most-selected reason for not doing so, next to not having an appetite in the morning.
Less than half of the respondents (47%) eat breakfast daily and only 25% eat it three or more times a week.
When asked which meal they are most likely to skip, 40% answered breakfast, the most common answer.
“In the U.S., with longer work days that break out of the 9-to-5 model, timing and convenience has become a deciding factor in what many Americans eat in the morning,” said Andy Jolls, chief marketing officer at Instantly. “But that doesn’t mean demand for breakfast foods is low. If companies can provide breakfast in a format that accommodates busy schedules while appealing to taste and nutrition, they could see significant incremental growth.”
When time is a constraint, consumers are likely to grab something on the go (43%) or skip the meal all together (21%). Sixty three percent of respondents eating on the go said they might grab something from home, while 45% will go to a drive-thru restaurant and 31% will stop at a convenience store or gas station.
Only 14% said they would get something at work.
When choosing breakfast, the biggest consideration is taste, cited by 31%; followed closely by health, cited by 30%; followed by convenience, 21%; cost 9%; quality, 6%; and portion size, 2%.
The low number of people getting breakfast at work likely reflects the perception that tasty and healthy options are not available at work. This is where a service like Healthy Vending can provide an important benefit to New York workers.
When we announced Healthy Vending, the positive consumer reaction in New York City confirmed everything we believed about the demand for these products. One of the most unique aspects about our company is that we provide these healthy products conveniently for consumers.
Healthy Vending provides a service that will allow New York City locations to offer their employees and/or patrons the ability to remain on-premises for their nutrition and energy needs.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to the vending industry, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671 to discuss your customized break room solution.
Good News For New Yorkers: Major Food Brands Are Jumping On The Healthy Bandwagon
New York consumers, like people everywhere, are calling for 
healthier food, and major brands can no longer ignore the call. In the past few months, several major brands – General Mills, Campbell Soup, Kellogg and Nestle – announced they are removing unhealthy additives.
This is good news for New York employers who have known for years that employees want to follow healthy lifestyles. As major food brands remove unhealthy additives, New York employers will have even more choices to help employees follow a healthy diet.
This month, General Mills Cereals committed to removing artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources from all of its cereals in response to consumers’ changing preferences. More than 60 percent of General Mills cereals are already without artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources.
According to a survey conducted by Nielsen on behalf of General Mills, 49 percent of households are making an effort to avoid artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources.
General Mills Cereals plans to have more than 90 percent of its portfolio free of artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources by the end of 2016. Trix will now use ingredients like fruit and vegetable juices and spice extracts such as turmeric and annatto to achieve the fun red, yellow, orange and purple colors.
In August, Kellogg announced Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies will soon be all-natural. Kellogg said it is aiming to stop using artificial colors and flavors in its cereal and snack bars by the end of 2018. The company said 75 percent of its cereals in North America were being made without artificial colors and more than half without artificial flavors.
In July, Campbell Soup said it would stop adding monosodium glutamate to its condensed soups for children and increase its organic offerings as part of a broader strategy to cater to changing consumer tastes.
Campbell also said it would remove artificial colors and flavors from nearly all of its North American products by July 2018, and that it would move away from using high fructose corn syrup in certain products, such as its line of Pepperidge Farm fresh breads, by the end of fiscal 2017. Most new products it is launching in 2016 also will not contain corn syrup.
Additionally, Campbell will launch new organic products, such as purees under its Plum line for kids and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers made with organic wheat.
In June, Nestlé pledged to improve the ingredient quality and 
nutritional profile of some of its most popular frozen pizza and snack brands without affecting taste. Nestlé announced the improvements, which encompass more than 250 products across six brands in the U.S.
By the end of 2015, Nestlé will have removed artificial flavors from every product within these brands. It will have reduced sodium by 10 percent across the entire portfolio of six pizza and snack brands compared to 2013 levels. It will incorporate guidance tools on packaging across these brands to help educate consumers on choosing appropriate portion sizes and the importance of eating vegetables and fruits as part of a balanced plate.
Healthy Vending applauds these companies for listening to consumers and making it easier for New Yorkers to follow healthy lifestyles.
For more information about healthy snack and beverage options available to the vending industry, contact your New York City vending partner, Healthy Vending, at 917-572-3671 to discuss your customized break room solution.