I need some snacks advice

[Thecross]

I work in an office with two really nice hardworking ladies. They snack a lot with their daily cups of tea but are fairly healthy. As their manager, I thought it might be nice to bring a fruit bowl in but I also wanted to bring a treat bowl in. I'm after ideas of little pick me up treats I'm thinking skinny crunch bars and options hot chocolate sachets so far.

What do they have as snacks now? I would get in those. Or ask them what they'd like.

Me personally, I'd be a bit 🙄at someone bringing me in some sugar free/diet snacks options as it would imply I needed to lose some weight or maybe that I shouldn't be snacking at all, but if I was going to, you thought I needed the 'options hot chocolate'. If that's what they already eat, that's different.

I think dried fruit and nuts (assuming no allergies) which you could put in jars to keep fresh. We have ryvita and peanut butter (again, if no allergies) and biscuits, everyone likes the occasional biscuit.

I think this is a bit odd actually!

There's nothing very healthy about low fat snack bars sadly and if food is left out it tends to get eaten even if people aren't really hungry so it's counter-productive to providing healthy snacks. I'm a healthy snacker but to be honest if you wanted to give me a pick up I'd rather just have a dirty big sticky bun or bacon roll occasionally!

I wouldn't do that.

Why would you do that?

I mentioned it last week to them and they thought something like that would be nice 🙂

If they normally eat healthily some nice fruit would probably be more appreciated than processed sugary crap. Or maybe some humus and with carrot and cucumber sticks.

I think a crudités platter would be lovely.

A fruit bowl is fine, but if you want to bring "treats" then bring treats - a cake or some biscuits or something, not a halfway house of a low fat snack bar!

Yeah snacks are nice. Low fat processed stuff not so. They can just bring that from home if they wanted

Nice offices I have been in had:

• Good selection of herbal and black teas. Milk in fridge kept topped up
• Fridays morning’s pastries bought in
• jar with nice cookies in
• fruit bowl

I personally really dislike diet foods. Most of them are full of crap. I'd rather some normal chocolate that some sort of skinny diet bar. At least there are nutrients in chocolate!
However, if your colleagues like these sorts of foods then go for it. I do think think the fruit bowl is a lovely idea. I'd certainly have that. In our office, we take it in turn to buy a packet of biscuits or some chocolate and people can either tuck in if they feel like it or resist. There's no pressure for anyone to eat the snacks if they don't want to.

popcorn, nuts, raisins, mini babybel cheeses, small dark chocolate bars, fruit, vegetable crisps

I would absolutely love that in my office

It sounds like a nice idea, but I wouldn't fill it with "diet" snacks like skinny whip and fibre ones.

Actually I think Options sachets could go either way - they're one of the more common single serving ones I see. If you filled the bowl with diet snacks it would feel like a diet food, but if its filled with "normal" snacks, it would come across as just what they had in Tesco, rather than the "healthy choice"

That's not to say you need to go straight to full size chocolate bars, and packs of crisps.

Perhaps "lunch box" biscuits - like rocky or clubs, possibly some more cereal bars - brunch bars or similar.

I'd be very happy with latte or cappuccino sachets

Of course, the best thing is to ask them what they'd like in the bowl - if skinny whips etc are their thing, go ahead. Perhaps unnecessarily - if you get guests in your office, it might be worth chucking in something not "diet" in case they interpret it as a secret dig.

Fruit bowls are nice if they'll get eaten - but won't last nearly as long as snacks.

Moot point, as it sounds like they like the idea, but I'd rather not have a snack bowl, but a weekly/month treat with a "fresh" snack - like pastries or cake.

I'd also go with a proper treat once a week or so, rather than diet bars and drinks with sweeteners. That wouldn't feel like a reward or a treat to me, but some really nice cookies or cake once a week would.

Sorry but that is a bit weird. I'd find it very strange if my boss did this. And definitely do not put so called 'diet' options in there -sends a negative message, and they're all full of crap. Leave them to it, they can feed themselves. Or bring in a nice treat like cookies every now and then.

At Slimming World Head Office they have fruit readily available to snack on.

I'd do fruit, not ultra processed bars, tbh.

This made me laugh sorry

I can I see the quote but not what I posted?

Can't you just buy some pastries or cakes for your weekly team meeting instead? I find the idea of someone else providing me with snacks during the work day a bit ick.