Workplace: Providing meals to employees increases output

Apptivate Africa CEO Neil Ribeiro demonstrates how the M-kula app works. The M-kula and M-tuza apps were recently launched in Nairobi. [Wilberforce Okwiri]

In hard economic times when firms are cutting costs, provision of meals to employees, whether free or paid for, is a mirage.

While few firms have established employee cafeterias, many have not, forcing staff to carry lunch to work or depend on nearby canteens or hotels - common with industrial areas workers.

Thanks to the 2014 Finance Act, employers may now pay their employees up to Sh48,000 a year (Sh4,000 per month) as tax-free income, provided it is spent on meals.

Implementation of the Act requires the employer to demonstrate the meals provided, cost and location of consumption. The new lunch scheme application dubbed M-Kula, was developed by Sodexo Kenya (now Aptivate Africa).

Staff can redeem vouchers from employers via M-Kula.

A survey done in 2016 by the firm revealed that 87 to 95 per cent of workers skip lunch, at least once a month, due to demanding schedules or keeping up with the workplace influence, where meal breaks are seen as a waste of time.

According to Aptivate Africa Chief Executive Neil Ribeiro, non-stop eight hour-schedules can be more detrimental than beneficial to one’s productivity.

“Food is among the four basic needs for any human being, and thus by providing it you will be fulfilling that basic need. This will create the connection with the employer, resulting in hard work, thus increased productivity,” said Ribeiro during the interview with The Standard in his Nairobi’s office recently.

Providing company meals has been shown to improve morale, productivity, and improve cohesion among workers who eat together.

According to Ribeiro, the average factory worker will have tea and mandazi or chapati for breakfast and 300 grams of ugali with kales for lunch, thus digesting 1,500 calories, yet he/she may need 2,200 calories.

Ribeiro said giving employees nutritious meals would save companies health expenses. This, in turn, reduces sicknesses-driven absenteeism.

He said with the M-kula app which has more than 100 company subscriptions, one can track employees spending on food unlike the use of vouchers, which can be manipulated.

“We came across a scenario where a firm has contracted a food vendor and was incurring Sh200,000 weekly as lunch expenses. After subscribing to our app, he is now paying Sh70,000,” said Ribeiro.

Experts argue that offering free meals and caffeine is an effective and cost-effective means of motivating and controlling employees.