Regardless of how much you are able to offer to your employees, the reality is that this type of perk provides more benefits to you, the employer, than you may think. But, we’re not talking just about any type of snacks and drinks. We’re talking about the nutritious kind. Read on to learn why you should consider healthy snacks as the ultimate employee benefit. 

1. Attract and Retain the Best Talent

Companies that invest in their employee’s well-being are more attractive to today’s top talent. According to a survey conducted by Glassdoor, 57% of respondents said they take perks and benefits offered into consideration before accepting a job offer. Glassdoor also reported wellness programs, inclusive of healthy snacks, as one of five job benefits that attract top talent.  

The job market is so competitive right now. The only way to differentiate your company from the pack is by offering the best benefits and perks you can afford. Seriously. Realize that you’re not just offering healthy office snacks and drinks. You’re sending the message to prospective and current employees that you care about their well-being and value their contribution to the success of your business.

2. Increased Productivity

This should be the most compelling reason to consider switching to healthy snacks for your company. Think about this: When people are busy and on-the-go, they tend to reach for whatever is easy and available. 

A study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology demonstrated that healthy eating throughout the day isn’t just good for the body, it is also good for the mind. The more healthful foods people consumed during the day – the happier, more engaged, and more creative they were.

3. Foster a Sense of Community

Where there’s food, people will follow. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the office kitchen is typically the place where most people will gather and mingle. Post-COVID, the water cooler chats look a bit different on Zoom, but regardless of how you engage with your team—offering healthy snacks in a kitchen or by delivery can motivate, inspire, and help increase productivity by the sense of community that is formed by eating the snacks together. According to Gallup, people who incorporated social interactions at the office (or on Zoom) felt more supported and had higher job satisfaction. 

4. Tax Benefits

You may think that your company is not yet at the point of offering perks like free snacks and drinks. Think again. Earlier this year, the IRS ruled that, when offered on a consistent basis at work, healthy office snacks are tax-deductible. While full business meals are no longer fully deductible, you can still deduct 50% of the cost from now until 2025. 

There are a number of changes relating to business meals and entertainment, so be sure to consult the IRS for any questions you may have about the recent amendment.  

Why the Healthy Alternative

Eating the right foods can play a central role in combating chronic health issues like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. And we know for a fact that not all snacks are created equal. Our Founder & CEO, Michael Heinrich, realized that the office snacks offered by his past employers were making him feel sluggish in the afternoon. There was plenty of research that explained why.

In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a study of employees across the U.S. and found that the foods they were getting at work contained high amounts of salt, sugar and empty calories. A study out of Brigham Young University  found that “employees with unhealthy diets were 66 percent more likely to report having a loss in productivity.” 

Unhealthy habits are expensive—not only for individuals and society in general but also for employers. Over the past ten years, chronic diseases have increased by 25 percent in working-age adults, and the CDC estimates that productivity losses due to missed work cost employers $225.8 billion (yes, with a B), or $1,685 per employee, annually. 

This information and remembering what his grandmother—a medical doctor—taught him: “what you put in your body impacts your health,” led Michael to create garten, formerly Oh My Green.

garten is on a mission to transform the office into a destination for healthier living. If you’re not a garten customer, get on board now and make the upgrade!

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Listen to the podcast below:

Original content can be found on the Authentic Avenue page.

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Five years ago, I started this company with the vision to bring a modern approach to wellbeing in the workplace. Prior to starting Oh My Green, I was working long hours and engaged in poor health habits. During that time in the finance industry, I saw how corporate culture prized productivity over health and thereby burnout. Long hours and all nighters were a badge of honor. I found this perspective flawed, as strong productivity comes from strong health and further reflected on the wisdom of my 85 year old grandmother Erika. She taught me about the power of using food to nourish and heal the mind and body in her German organic garden. After some deep meditations and self-reflection, I felt energized to make my own health a priority again. Once I did change my wellness habits, I started to feel amazing. garten, which is the German word for garden, pays homage to the roots of the company. I’m so grateful to my grandmother and her garden, for being the inspiration. 

We’ve accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. Today, garten partners with hundreds of companies across the country to bring nutritious food and wellbeing services to their employees. At garten, we believe that teams filled with inspiration and positive nourishment change the world. We see high-quality food and a holistic approach to wellness as critical ingredients in creating a team of happy, thriving employees. Born from a desire to democratize wellness, we’ve set the standard for healthier living in today’s workplace. And while the landscape of the workplace has shifted over the past few months, we know that the focus on health & wellbeing has not. 

The rebrand signifies a turning point as our company moves to a broader full-service wellbeing service provider focused on the mind, body, and environment. With a dynamic shift in the workplace happening as companies explore longer-term onsite and remote workplace options, we know that now more than ever, employers are looking for solutions to support all aspects of their employees’ wellbeing and immunity — both offsite and onsite. 

The next several months will continue to challenge us around the globe, but I am deeply motivated by our mission and committed to staying the course. I hope that you’ll peruse our new website, see our range of services and more.

In good health and with deep gratitude,

Michael

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Through certified organic farming practices, Riverdog Farm cultivates vegetables and fruits year-round. More than eighty different crops are grown on the farm, as well as chickens and hogs, all with great care!

Trini and Tim’s driving forces are creating a better food system, minimizing environmental impact, and taking care of people. In the early 2000s, livestock was introduced to the farm. Trini and Tim knew how disruptive this could be to the rest of their operations, but that didn’t stop them from pursuing their vision of contributing to a healthier local economy. Bringing livestock to the land enabled them to employ a symbiotic system, in which the chickens provided a nutrient-dense fertilizer composed of the same organic soils they grazed. Chickens feed on the organically grown alfalfa, clovers, and rye.

The farm sells to local customers through the Community Supported Agricultural Program, Berkeley Farmers’ Market, wholesale distributors, and select retail markets. Selling locally allows them to minimize environmental impact and nurture relationships with customers. The high quality of their products, as well as their commitment to social responsibility, are the reasons why we love sourcing from Riverdog Farm. 

We’re on a mission to transform the office into a destination for healthier living. Oh My Green’s corporate culinary services are currently offered in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, and Boston. If you’re not yet customer, get on board now and make the upgrade!

Be sure to join our community on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Find us as @OhMyGreenHQ.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Teresa Liu is a Certified Nutritionist and member of Oh My Green’s amazing culinary team. She works alongside Oh My Green chefs to promote healthy eating and wellness throughout our customers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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We source our coffee beans direct trade from a family farm in Chirinos —located in the San Ignacio region of Peru — a lush, majestic forest outlined by the beautiful mountain landscapes of the Andes. The region offers the perfect environment of mountain, forest, diverse microclimates, and rich soil that allow for unique and quality coffee production.

And of course, the product is organic and fair trade. We have forged long-term relationships and sustainable practices to positively impact the local community, to elevate the farmers and our customers. 

Our coffee is roasted in California and crafted one batch at a time. Available in three distinct and delicious roasts —light, medium and dark— our coffee will satisfy even the most discerning tastes.

Light Roast coffee offers hints of Graham crackers, honey, floral tones, and citrus. Our Medium Roast coffee suggests chocolate, toffee, and mandarin. And our Dark Roast coffee has dark chocolate and sweet dried fruit undertones.

We’re currently conducting private tastings are our customers’ offices. If you are an Oh My Green customer and would like to sample our coffee, please contact your Happiness Manager. 

Oh My Green is on a mission to transform the office into a destination for healthier living. If you’re not an Oh My Green customer, get on board now and make the upgrade now to nutritious and delicious!

The post Organic and Fair Trade Coffee – Our First Branded Product appeared first on garten.

Oh My Green will provide unattended storefronts within workplaces, hospitals, government facilities, universities with 24/7 access to fresh foods and beverages, while algorithmically customizing the assortment of options provided at each location, offering a healthy mix of salads, sandwiches, breakfast items, meal-kits, snacks and drinks.

“The storefronts will expand the array of food and beverage offerings currently available to Oh My Green customers and allow for further distribution of Oh My Green’s healthy food services to a variety of organization sizes and budgetary needs, while helping us continue our mission of empowering people to live healthy and blissful lives,” said Michael Heinrich, founder and CEO of Oh My Green. “We believe companies of all sizes should be able to have accessible options to offer healthy food and services to their employees.”

“The acquisition of Byte Foods is an important milestone in becoming the ‘go-to’ technology partner for Oh My Green,” said Megan Mokri, CEO of Byte Technology. “Byte developed this technology from the ground up to meet the growing demand for convenient access to fresh food, anywhere. Byte Foods is a thriving business built on the principle that employers don’t need a budget to provide fresh food for their employees. The acquisition of Byte Foods allows Oh My Green to serve this very large and underserved market while empowering Byte Technology to become a pure-play technology provider for food companies everywhere.”

Oh My Green will expand the Byte Foods product offerings alongside their Micro Kitchens and Culinary programs in their existing nine markets. For more information on Oh My Green, visit garten.co.

About Oh My Green

Oh My Green is creating workplace wellbeing through healthy food and wellbeing services. Founded out of the Stanford-StartX Incubator and Y Combinator, the company offers a wellbeing platform that brings nutritious snacks, meals, drinks and wellbeing practices to the workplace through micro-kitchens, micro-markets, catering, subscription boxes and more. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oh My Green works with startups to Fortune 500 companies across a range of industries. Visit https://garten.co for more information and join our community on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @OhMyGreenHQ.

About Byte Technology

Byte Technology allows food companies to sell their products anywhere, using small unattended stores. The small footprint of Byte Technology-powered stores enables them to be easily embedded in non-traditional retail locations like offices, universities, gyms, apartments, hospitals and more. Byte Technology’s proprietary hardware and software platform provides unprecedented real-time visibility. into inventory, purchase, and restock data. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Byte Technology works with food companies across the United States. Visit https://www.bytetechnology.co for more information.     

The post Oh My Green Acquires Byte Foods appeared first on garten.

Ingredients

This recipe serves 12 portions

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 sticks of vegan butter at room temperature
2 egg replacers (We used Bob’s Red Mill)
8 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
4 tablespoons fresh, grated ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoon powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line an 8-by-8 inch baking dish with parchment paper
3. In a medium bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, spices, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to blend.
4. Mix the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
5. Beat in the egg replacer and molasses.
6. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture.
7. Spread batter evenly. Let sit for 10 minutes.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Let it cool, add powdered sugar as desired. Enjoy! 
   

Tips from Oh My Green’s Chef on Whole Wheat Flour

When using whole wheat flour, the finished product of your baked goods will be of a darker color. It may also turn out more crumbly and less fluffy. Letting the batter rest for 10 minutes before baking will allow the bran and germ to soften, making the baked goods less coarse. Letting the baked products rest overnight before serving allows the bran a chance to soften, negating any possibility someone will notice the typical branny and coarse texture. 

Reaping the Benefits of Whole Grains

All whole-grain kernels contain three parts: bran, germ, and endosperm. Whole wheat flour contains all three parts. Fiber, which helps lower cholesterol as well as move waste through the digestive tract, is found in the bran. Fiber also helps to slow down the breakdown of starch into glucose, keeping you fuller longer. Healthy fats, protein, B vitamins, vitamin E, iron, and calcium are all found in the germ. Unfortunately, these nutrients are removed in the process of making refined all-purpose flour. The endosperm, mostly made of starch, is the only part in the grain that is found in all-purpose white flour. “With grains, I always say that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” says Dr. Frank Hu, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

This holiday season, try adding whole wheat flour to your traditional recipes for baked goods to add more nutrition.

We’re on a mission to transform the office into a destination for healthier living. Oh My Green’s corporate culinary services and catering are currently offered across the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, and Boston. If you’re not yet customer, get on board now and make the upgrade!

Be sure to join our community on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Find us as @OhMyGreenHQ.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Teresa Liu is a Certified Nutritionist and member of Oh My Green’s amazing culinary team. She works alongside Oh My Green chefs to promote healthy eating and wellness throughout our customers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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SAN FRANCISCO, December 17, 2019 –Oh My Green, a leading provider of healthy food and wellness services for corporations of all sizes, today announced that the company is teaming up with The FruitGuys, the nation’s leader in providing farm-fresh fruit and thoughtful snacks to the American workplace, for its popular subscription box service.  This partnership complements Oh My Green’s broader corporate kitchen and culinary services, by providing a premium subscription snack offering that’s ideal for offices of any size. 

“The FruitGuys is a world-class provider known for its fresh products and relationships with family-run farms,” said Michael Heinrich, CEO and Founder of Oh My Green. “This partnership complements our growing healthy snack and micro kitchen business that we offer in nine cities across the U.S. with a subscription box service for teams and businesses across the rest of the country.” 

Oh My Green is creating workplace wellbeing by focusing on nutrition as a key driver of health and happiness within businesses of all sizes. Family owned and operated, The FruitGuys shares a similar commitment to product quality, premium service and community, and has forged relationships with an expanding network of local farms in regional hubs across the country.  Each subscription box customer will not only have a wide range of fresh, delicious snacks to choose from, but will also be assigned their own personal FruitGuys concierge to ensure timely, personalized service.

“We’re excited to be working with Oh My Green,” said Erik Muller, President of The Fruit Guys.  “Together, we’re offering high quality, nutritious and sustainable food to a wide variety of organizations, and helping these companies improve the eating habits and health care outcomes of their employees.” 

For more information on the subscription box service, please reach out to us at box@ohmygreen.com with any questions.

About Oh My Green

Oh My Green is creating workplace wellbeing through healthy food and wellness services. Founded out of the Stanford-StartX Incubator and Y Combinator, the company offers a wellness platform that brings nutritious snacks, meals, drinks and wellness practices to the workplace through micro-kitchens, micro-markets, catering, subscription boxes and more. With clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies across a range of industries, the company is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit https://garten.co for more information and join our community on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @OhMyGreenHQ.

About The FruitGuys

The FruitGuys delivers wellness to workplaces across America through boxes of farm-fresh fruit and thoughtful snacks in an effort to replace breakroom junk food and promote healthy snacking. The FruitGuys supports many small, independent and family run farms across the country and also serves communities in need through weekly donations to homeless shelters, food banks and other nonprofits. Founded in a one-bedroom San Francisco apartment in 1998 by CEO and founder Chris Mittelstaedt, The FruitGuys is still family owned and operated and maintains its commitment to giving back as well as expanding its network of family farms in each of its regional hubs across the U.S. Today, The FruitGuys is the nation’s No. 1 provider or farm-fresh fruit to business. For more information, visit fruitguys.com.

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1. Traffic flow: When a company is in hyper-growth, employee headcount increases rapidly and so does kitchen usage. For example, the flow that worked before may now be creating a bottleneck at the coffee station.  At Oh My Green, we have already thought through office kitchen design for optimal flow and glow, no matter the number of employees. When you partner with us, we take a look at the smallest of details to be sure your space is being utilized most efficiently. 
   
2. Product Placement: Implementing a healthier food program into the office can be met with some resistance, but we have learned that the strategic placement of products helps. Our  “nudge don’t push” approach has proven to be successful. Initially, we place the less healthy food items on the bottom shelf versus removing them cold-turkey. Then, we place healthier items, such as produce, at eye level, making it easier to make a healthier selection.  Product placements are designed to inspire productivity and contribute to overall well-being. 
   
3. Visual Display: Our expertise doesn’t end with kitchen layout or product placement, it extends into visual merchandising. Every item — from the appliances and shelving to the organization of products — is thoughtfully selected. Through the use of natural elements, varied textures, and eye-catching pieces, we take the time to ensure that each client receives a truly handcrafted experience. 
   
4. Elements of Delight – Our care goes even farther. It is important to us that we create an atmosphere that is not only inviting but also educational. Every piece of signage we place on the snack shelf is intended to provide functionality and a nugget of nutritional education. Beyond just providing healthy snack options, we want our clients to be aware of the potential nutritional benefits of the food that they consume. We also throw in a fun food fact here and there. 
   

An inviting kitchen environment is a key element in fostering a positive workplace culture. Oh My Green creates a high-end experience, making the office kitchen a hot-spot for building a community that is centered around delicious and nutritious food. 

We do the heavy lifting, you get all the credit. 

At Oh My Green, we’re on a mission to transform the office into a destination for healthier living. If you’re not an Oh My Green customer, get on board now and make the upgrade! 

The post Why You Should Let Experts Manage Your Office Kitchen appeared first on garten.

Poor nutrition directly correlates to the three biggest health epidemics in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), per-year absenteeism costs can range from $8,065 for a single condition like obesity to more $40,000. As an employer, you know you have a responsibility to provide the best possible work environment for your employees. But, change is hard, especially as it relates to the deeply personal and ingrained habits of a person’s diet.

People don’t like to be forced to change. An all-or-nothing approach to altering your company’s culture is definitely not the way to go and simply will only set you up for failure. Taking a gradual approach to implementing changes will bring the most success as you transform your workplace into a destination for healthy living. Nudge don’t push.

Start with small adjustments, such as swapping out a few ultra-processed snacks with less processed and healthier versions. Reduce the number of sugary sodas and replace them with flavored sparkling waters or other unsweetened beverages. Another great way to gain engagement is by hosting snack tastings events. This way you give employees the opportunity to sample foods they may not ordinarily eat and/or be curious about and they can provide feedback before you got through with a full implementation into the office.  

Making these changes won’t be as difficult as you may think. According to Goldman Sachs, the Millennial generation —now one of the largest segments of the workforce— cares deeply about wellness, especially when it comes to exercise and food. While not everyone will be on board right away, you may encounter less resistance than you imagine. This is also true because there’s an incorrect assumption that nutritious snacks don’t taste good. Of course, that’s not the case! Every product we carry is vetted by our team of nutritionists and supertasters so that good-for-you = good tasting.

Ultimately, altering the corporate food offerings to be more in-line with health shouldn’t feel like a forced mandate, but an invitation to try new healthier things. New food options should be offered in a low-pressure environment, with changes occurring slowly. 

At Oh My Green, we work with you to make the right decisions on what and when small changes should be implemented. This will ensure a comfortable transition into a more comprehensive health food program that will foster a new culture of wellness in your company. 

We’d be thrilled to help you get started with a food program for your office. We’ll help you create the right environment that is key to a great workplace culture with a focus on wellness.

Remember to join our community on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Find us as @OhMyGreenHQ. 

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