Offering a healthy lunch at work pays off. It provides health benefits for employees and is financially attractive for society as a whole. Consider, for example, the ever-increasing healthcare costs. It is especially worthwhile for employers to offer a healthy work lunch. This is evident from a cost-benefit analysis conducted by Gibbs Analytics Consulting on behalf of the New Lunch Culture. The Province of South Holland supports the lunch movement and the results of the report.
The results of the cost-benefit analysis show that offering a healthy lunch in the workplace has a clear positive impact on public health. If employees consistently eat a healthier lunch, the risk of overweight and obesity decreases by an average of 11 percent, type 2 diabetes by 7.6 percent, and cardiovascular diseases by 9.6 percent. Converted to the size of the Dutch workforce, this means over 200,000 cases of overweight, nearly 100,000 cases of type 2 diabetes, and more than 350,000 cases of cardiovascular diseases fewer.
Social Benefits
The social benefits of offering a healthy work lunch amount to between €9.0 and €11.5 billion per year, depending on the chosen healthy lunch variant (Schijf van Vijf or Eat Lancet). This means that every euro invested is recouped 2.4 to 3 times over time. The benefits consist of a combination of economic and social effects: less absenteeism, less disability, higher productivity, less early exit from the workforce, and a higher quality of life.
Unhealthiest Province
“South Holland is one of the unhealthiest provinces in the Netherlands. Half of the adults are overweight. Lifestyle diseases lead to high healthcare costs and absenteeism, and there are also large health disparities between population groups and regions,” says Mariëtte van Leeuwen, Deputy for Health & Welfare. At the same time, South Holland is a food province par excellence, with a high-tech greenhouse horticulture cluster, innovative agriculture, and leading knowledge institutions.
Worthwhile for Employers
It is especially worthwhile for employers to offer a healthy work lunch, the analysis shows. Think of less employee turnover, higher vitality and sustainable employability, more job satisfaction and connection with the employer (positive employer brand), and the chance to make a positive contribution to the food transition and social equality. At the same time, employers also face costs if they offer a free healthy lunch at work. This is because the Tax Authority considers offering a free lunch as remuneration in kind. An 80 percent tax rate then applies.
Rob Baan, initiator of this report, prefers that employers can offer a free healthy lunch without it being taxed. “Employees only have to participate by eating the meals. Offering it for free is the ultimate temptation.”
Fair Cost Distribution
Since this is not yet possible, the New Lunch Culture advocates for the costs of offering a healthy work lunch to be fairly distributed among employers, employees, and the government. Currently, the costs of a healthy lunch are borne by employers and employees; they pay for the lunch. The current tax system makes it less attractive for employers to invest in offering a healthy lunch. By making smart choices here, offering healthy work lunches can become a more attractive business case for employers, benefiting society as a whole.
Van Leeuwen endorses this and calls on: “As a province, we want to help residents improve health and reduce health disparities. Our Food Vision focuses on the transition to a healthier, more sustainable, and fairer food system. A healthy lunch at work can play a key role in the movement towards a healthier food system, a healthy society, and sustainable employability in the workplace. We call on other governments, employers, caterers, and the national government to join us.”
If you want to read the cost-benefit analysis, you can request the report here: www.nieuwelunchcultuur.nl/kosten-batenanalyse (opens in new window).
This report was initiated by Rob Baan (Koppert Cress) and carried out by Gibbs Analytics Consulting, with cooperation from, among others, Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Leiden University Medical Center/The Hague University of Applied Sciences, and Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (Health Holland). Clients include Veneca, GroentenFruit Huis, Top Sector Horticulture & Propagation Materials, The New Lunch Culture, and the Province of South Holland.
