The best office snacks aren’t “just food.” They’re tools for building a healthier culture and stronger employee engagement. While research indicates simply offering complimentary food is a morale booster, the quality of your snacks impacts employee mood, focus and productivity — all of which can trickle down into your culture. Harvard Business Review research declares, “You are what your employees eat.” Stocking your NJ breakroom with the best office snacks from today’s smartest health-conscious brands could give your company culture a serious advantage.
The 5 Best Office Snacks to Stock Today
There are office snacks and drinks that never go out of style. Is there any better way to start off a Monday morning than with a single-serve pod of freshly brewed dark roast coffee and a bagel or gluten-free bagel? Same goes for classic mid-day munchies like heart-healthy raw almonds packed with protein, unsaturated fat and vitamin E.
However, paying attention to some of the latest innovations in healthy treats can ensure your office is stocked with all the snacks your talent really wants to nosh on. Here are a few buzzworthy favorites.
1. Bear Nibbles’ Yoyos
Dried fruit and fruit roll-ups are delicious, but not every option is the healthiest. Registered dietician Jackie Arnett recommends reading labels. After discovering major brands had tons of added sugars, she says she’s “certainly more wary of what I eat.”
Bear Nibbles’ Yoyos are like fruit roll-ups but better: pure fruit rolls made with ingredients such as apples, pears, raspberries and natural veggie extracts. Instead of high-fructose corn syrup that could lead to a sugar crash, your talent gets to enjoy a high-fiber treat with no more naturally occurring sugar than you’ll find in an apple.
For major companies such as Google, the best office snacks encourage healthier employee behaviors. Business Insider reports it still offers chocolate candies but prominently features healthier options such as dried fruit to their staff members who are known internally as “Googlers.”
2. True Jerky
Many beef jerky products are a bit of a mixed bag, nutritionally speaking. Nutrition Professor Dr. Jeff Volek believes the right jerky is a great snack for individuals with weight loss goals since it’s protein-rich and won’t spike blood sugar. However, Volek recommends “chemical-free products,” such as True Jerky, instead of options packed with unhealthy sodium nitrate and MSG.
Each single-serve bag of True Jerky contains no mystery meat or hard-to-chew strips. Made from carefully sourced eye-of-round steak, organic spices and all-natural marinades, it’s a savory treat with robust flavor and zero scary chemical additives. For Boston-based tech startup Salsify, stocking the break room with beef jerky became a clear employee favorite for non-stop “snacking madness.”
3. Mozaics Chips
If you’ve ever felt that crunching on something refreshed a tired mind, you probably weren’t just imagining it. ShapeUp contributor Jessica Toussaint confirms “some people find that crunchy foods help them focus or relieve stress.” Some everyday companies that stock their break rooms with healthier crunchy snacks, such as better chips, popcorn and nuts, include Wayfair and SnapApp.
Veggie chips definitely beat out fried options for nutrition, and companies such as Mozaics are committed to making better chips fun to eat. These organic chips are popped instead of baked or fried and made from healthy real foods such as green peas, black beans, potatoes and extra virgin olive oil. Options like Mozaics Organic BBQ chips are making crunchy, satisfying comfort food a healthy reality.
4. Nakd Fruit & Nut Bars
For the busiest days at the office, the right type of bar can satisfy a growling stomach. Bars vary widely in nutritional impact, however, from options such as Nakd’s offerings that are all natural, to other choices that aren’t much healthier than a piece of candy. Registered Dietitian Susan Moore advocates for homemade bars or the next-best thing: “bars with a short ingredient list, essentially whole grains, nuts, seeds and real fruit.”
Nakd bars are gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. Flavors such as Nakd Cocoa Delight and Berry Delight are satisfyingly chewy and crafted from all-natural ingredients such as real raspberries, cashews and cocoa. You’ll find the same real-food ingredients stocked in the break room at Jigsaw, an “elite” New York think tank, to give hard-working employees a performance edge.
5. Live OWYN
Nutrient-rich beverages are on their way up. Whole Foods tells Business Insider that smart drinks are one of the top 10 things “everyone” will be consuming in 2018. The report states beverages made from ingredients such as spirulina, kale, herbs, roots and clean proteins are making their way into shopping carts and Instagram posts. Not far from your NJ office, health-conscious brands like New York-based TimeHop are stocking the break room with a variety of healthy protein sources is a must.
Inspire your talent to fuel wisely in 2018 with smarter, nutrient-dense protein drinks. Live OWYN “milks” plans to serve one of the healthiest drinks on the market. Each single-serve bottle of OWYN features 20 grams of vegan protein, organic green tea, fiber, probiotics and brain-friendly omegas. Best of all, it’s free of the eight most common food allergens.
Commit to Offering the Best Office Snacks
Free food may offer a built-in cultural advantage, but the best office snacks can improve employee mood, performance and health. To build a better break room culture at your NJ company, consider sourcing smart, trending options. You should look into some of the five offerings profiled here as a valuable way to improve employee morale.
Corporate Essentials offers many options for the best office snacks, including healthy jerky, bars, chips and protein beverages. Through partnerships with brands such as Bear Nibbles and True Jerky, we’re committed to helping NJ offices offer the right break room options for 2018.
