Catering in the workplace
Healthy catering in the workplace is an important part of helping staff, clients and visitors to be healthy.
Workplaces may offer catering for a number of reasons, for example during meetings, conferences, events or social activities.
You can find out how the food and drinks you offer through catering are classified under the Healthy Choices guidelines, with a free online menu assessment through FoodChecker.
The guidelines for healthy catering
For healthy catering in the workplace, the Healthy Choices guidelines recommend:
- foods and drinks from the GREEN (best choices) category are the main choices offered
- GREEN choices are promoted and encouraged
- RED (limit) foods and drinks are not provided
For the healthy catering, you can offer AMBER (choose carefully) foods and drinks, as long as the majority of choices are from the GREEN category.
Remember, AMBER choices should not be encouraged at the expense of healthier GREEN options.
Providing healthy catering
Making sure the policies in your organisation include requirements for healthy catering is an important part of the whole of setting approach to supporting healthy eating.
The Healthy choices: catering and policy guidelines for workplaces includes a healthy eating policy template that you can adapt for your organisation.
The simple actions you can take to provide healthy catering in your organisation depend on whether or not you currently have a catering provider, or a set process for ordering catering.
First steps to providing healthy catering within the workplace
Gain support from management
First speak to your organisation’s management about providing healthy catering that meets the Healthy Choices guidelines. You can explain to managers that healthy catering:
- promotes the health and wellbeing of staff and visitors
- can lead to increased productivity
- shows that the organisation is committed to supporting good health
Develop a healthy catering policy
Having a healthy catering policy will help make sure that providing healthy foods and drinks is part of your organisation’s regular procedures and that it becomes part of your workplace culture.
Sourcing healthy foods and drinks
Find healthier catering options for your workplace that are good for people, good for the environment, and good for the community. Visit the Catering for Good Directory.
Assessing your catering menu
Assess against the Healthy Choices guidelines using FoodChecker, a free online menu assessment.
Contracts with providers
If your organisation is putting out a tender for a new caterer, make sure you include requirements for healthy foods and drinks in the tender specifications.
Once you have found a caterer that provides healthy options, you can sign a contract which includes a catering service agreement, which specifies that healthy catering is required for your organisation.
This will help ensure that healthy catering is sustained and embedded in organisational procedures.
Workplaces with catering providers
If your organisation has a catering provider, follow these steps to make sure that healthy foods and drinks are provided.
Who supplies catering in the workplace
First, it is important to understand who provides the catering for your workplace. Catering may be supplied by a provider (either on-site or external) or purchased by employees from a supermarket or retail outlet.
Your workplace may have a contract with a preferred caterer, or may use different providers as needed.
Working with external suppliers
If your organisation has a contract with a caterer, work with the caterer to make healthy changes. First you will need to understand the terms of the contract. Be sure to find out:
- who the supplier is
- the length of the contract and expiry date
- whether the contract states that healthy foods and drinks are required.
It is important to make sure that any contracts with caterers clearly state that having healthy foods and drinks on the menu is a requirement and that no RED food and drinks are to be provided.
If you are able to change your current contract, if your contract will soon be renewed or if you are about to sign a contract with a new supplier, you can include a service agreement in the contract which states that the catering menu needs to meet the Healthy Choices guidelines.
If you have a contract with a caterer that cannot be changed and is not up for renewal, you should encourage the caterer to make healthy changes before the contract expires.
Catering purchased by staff
If catering is bought by employees from a supermarket or local retail outlet, make sure they are aware that the organisation will only pay for catering that is in line with organisational policy.
Having a list of recommended healthy options is helpful, and this list should be included in your organisation’s policy about healthy catering. The policy should also outline products that cannot be offered due to dietary requirements (e.g. allergies).
For more information please phone 1300 22 52 88 or email heas@nnf.org.au
Except where otherwise indicated, the images in this document show models and illustrative settings only, and do not necessarily depict actual services, facilities or recipients of services. This document may contain images of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In this document, ‘Aboriginal’ refers to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. ‘Indigenous’ or ‘Koori/Koorie’ is retained when part of the title of a report, program or quotation. Copyright © State of Victoria 2016
Written and reviewed by dietitians and nutritionists at National Nutrition Foundation, with support from the Victorian Government.
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The Healthy Eating Advisory Service acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we operate. We pay our respects to them, their culture and their Elders past and present.
The Healthy Eating Advisory Service is delivered by experienced nutritionists and dietitians at National Nutrition Foundation, with support from the Victorian Government.
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