Hoop jumping for staff feeding?
The role of employee food is complex but understanding its impact is essential. It doesn’t need to be vastly trying but does require a long-term mindset. It will bear fruit for those who want their people to thrive for years.
Whilst everyone will have heard of the caterer apetito, their venture into the retail space is perhaps a little unknown. Quite fair as they are new to this area, but they are developing at speed and using their experience in many sectors, have established an offer which impacts that recurring headache – staff feeding.
When looking at other sectors, there are clear signs that the role and importance of food for staff dining isn’t being supported. Brexit is playing a role and operations are struggling with retention or finding the right staff level, there are rising costs of raw materials and wages, portion control and wastage. It is becoming hard to provide a consistent offer. apetito have recognised this situation and believe in the power of food in nurturing staff but also retaining them. With the current situation, they have developed a solution which removes the operational headache and delivers a consistent food offer to support employee welfare.It’s pretty much a given that feeding hospital patients adequate nutritious food can play a role in their recovery. However, when one makes the argument that this also applies to workers in terms of their performance and productivity, it’s not appreciated in the same way. The grumbles range from cost to time to effort to desire. There is an excuse for every suggestion. But the truth of the matter is when you look at the alarming stats in the UK today; 7.8 in 100 people suffer from mixed anxiety and depression, plus it appears how people cope with mental health problems is getting worse as the number of people who self-harm or have suicidal thoughts is increasing; 20.6 in 100 people have had suicidal thoughts. [stats from mind.org.uk]This is just one example, there are also concerns given productivity, the FT in August wrote;
“…the UK has experienced a slump in productivity growth since the financial crisis that shows no sign of coming to an end. The slowdown has been more acute than any other western country.” [FT]
It is a worrying time but despite these concerns, it is important to not forget the power of food and how they are solutions available for those who want to learn how to counter some of this within their own businesses.On 4th October apetito are showcasing their delicious range of dishes in a complimentary food tasting being held in central London. Mark Smalley, Business Development Manager at apetito and his team are providing an example of how their food offer can support the headache over staff feeding.If you would like to attend or find out more about the apetito food tasting on Thursday 4th October from 12 noon to 1pm, please contact Ben.Butler@epmagazine.co.uk