Best Gluten-Free Snacks
August 18, 2021
How many snacks should you order per employee? There is no official UK recommendation or reliable industry standard that sets a fixed number of workplace snacks per person. A more practical approach is to base your first order on how many people will actually be in the workplace, how many snack occasions you want to provide for, and then adjust future orders according to what your team really consumes.
A simple starting formula is:
Expected workplace attendance × planned snack occasions = starting number of snacks
So, if 25 people will be in the office and you want everyone to have the opportunity to take one individually packed snack, you would start with 25 snacks. If you are providing snacks on two separate occasions, you would start with 50.
It is a planning method rather than a recommendation for how much anybody should eat and it can be far more useful than following an arbitrary “snacks per employee” figure.
No recognised UK guidance says employers should provide a specific number of snacks per employee per day.
And there is a good reason why one number would be difficult to apply to every workplace.
A five person office where everyone works on site five days a week has very different requirements from a 100 person hybrid business. A company providing occasional Friday snacks will also need considerably less stock than one keeping a snack area available throughout the working week.
Appetites, working hours, office attendance, meetings, visitors and the other food available at work can all affect consumption.
Instead of asking only “How many employees do we have?”, start with a more useful question:
“How many people are we actually providing snacks for, and how often do we want snacks available?”
That distinction can make office snack ordering much easier.
You don’t need a complicated spreadsheet to estimate your first workplace snack order.
Use:
Expected workplace attendance × number of planned snack occasions = starting snack quantity
For example, suppose 40 people are expected in the office and you want one snack available for each person during an afternoon meeting:
40 people × 1 snack occasion = 40 snacks
If you are catering for two separate snack occasions:
40 people × 2 snack occasions = 80 snacks
Again, this does not mean every employee should eat one or two snacks. It simply calculates how many you need if you want that number of snacks available.
The most useful part comes after your first order.
Record:
Snacks supplied – snacks remaining = snacks taken
Do this over several deliveries and you will start building a much more accurate picture of your own workplace’s requirements.
If you provide 80 snacks and consistently have 25 left before the next restock, you can adjust. If the box is empty much sooner than expected, you know the next order may need to be larger.
Your team’s actual consumption is ultimately more useful than a generic figure taken from another workplace.
One of the easiest mistakes when ordering office snacks is using total company headcount.
According to the Office for National Statistics research on hybrid working, 28% of working adults in Great Britain hybrid worked between January and March 2025.
For a hybrid business, the number on the payroll may therefore be very different from the number of people reaching for a snack on Tuesday afternoon.
Imagine your business employs 50 people, but only 30 are normally in the office on a particular day.
If you want one snack available to each person, calculating the order around all 50 employees would give you 20 more snacks than the number of people expected to be there.
Instead, use expected attendance as your starting point.
If Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are noticeably busier than Monday and Friday, consider those days separately rather than relying on a simple weekly average.
You can still keep a sensible reserve of longer life snacks for unexpected visitors, additional employees or particularly busy days.
For monthly office snack ordering, extend the same principle rather than trying to find an unreliable national average.
Use:
Expected attendance per snack occasion × number of planned snack occasions during the month = starting monthly quantity
For example, if you plan to make snacks available at a particular weekly team session, calculate the expected attendance at that session and multiply it by the number of sessions taking place that month.
If snacks are available more frequently, calculate accordingly.
Then compare your estimate with actual consumption before placing the next month’s order.
This is particularly useful for businesses considering a regular office snack delivery or subscription, because the quantity can be refined as you learn what your team actually uses.
The goal isn’t to predict human appetite perfectly. It is to establish a sensible starting point and improve it with real information.
Your normal employee attendance isn’t always the full number you are catering for.
Client meetings, training sessions, interviews, workshops and companywide events can all increase the number of people on site.
For these occasions, use:
Employees attending + visitors or additional attendees = total people to cater for
You can then apply your chosen number of snack occasions.
If you regularly host meetings, keeping a small reserve of individually packaged snacks can also make it easier to accommodate unexpected guests without having to arrange a last-minute shop.
Getting the number right is only part of good workplace snack planning.
If you order plenty of snacks but half the selection regularly gets left behind, simply ordering more isn’t going to solve the problem.
Look at what employees actually choose.
A varied office snack selection might combine savoury snacks, popcorn, snack bars and occasional sweet options, alongside products suitable for different dietary requirements.
The NHS Eatwell Guide recommends eating a variety of foods as part of a balanced diet and advises that foods high in fat, salt and sugar should be consumed less often and in small amounts.
For an employer, the practical takeaway is simple: variety and choice can be more useful than filling the cupboard with large quantities of one type of snack.
Pay attention to what disappears first and what remains at the end of each delivery. That information can help improve your next selection as well as your quantity.
Before deciding what to order, find out whether people in your workplace have dietary requirements that need to be considered.
Depending on your team, that could mean including vegan or gluten-free choices alongside the wider snack selection.
Food allergies require particular care.
The Food Standards Agency’s allergen guidance confirms that prepacked food must have an ingredients list on the packaging and that allergens present in the product must be emphasised in that list.
Individually packaged snacks can therefore be convenient in shared workplaces because the original packaging and product information remain available for employees to check.
However, businesses and employees should always check the specific product’s current ingredients and allergen information rather than assuming that a product is suitable based solely on its name or snack category.
The best way to avoid over ordering is to measure before automatically increasing your next order.
For the first few deliveries, keep track of:
You don’t need to monitor what individual employees eat. You simply need to understand how quickly your overall stock moves.
This also helps you distinguish between a quantity problem and a selection problem.
If certain snacks disappear immediately while others remain untouched, you may not need more snacks overall. You may simply need a better mix.
There isn’t a universal restocking schedule either.
A small workplace might find a monthly delivery works well, while a larger or busier office may need snacks more frequently.
The right schedule is the one that keeps an appropriate selection available without repeatedly running out or building up unnecessary surplus.
After a few deliveries, ask:
Did we run out too early?
Increase the next order or restock more frequently.
Was there a large amount left?
Reduce the quantity or increase the time between deliveries.
Were the same products always left?
Review the selection rather than simply reducing the total number.
This simple feedback loop makes office snack ordering progressively easier.
Even after you’ve worked out roughly how many snacks your employees need, somebody still has to source them, choose a suitable mix, place the order and remember when supplies are running low.
This is where an office snack delivery service can save time.
At Snack Packs, we provide curated snack boxes that can be delivered directly to UK workplaces, helping businesses avoid repeatedly sourcing individual snacks themselves.
Our 20-item Office Snack Box provides individually packed snacks in a ready-made selection, making quantities easy to count and helping businesses experiment with different order sizes.
For workplaces that need snacks on an ongoing basis, regular deliveries can also make restocking more predictable.
The important thing is not to order the biggest quantity possible from day one.
Start with a sensible number, see what your team actually uses, and adjust from there.
That way, your office snack provision can grow around the way your workplace actually operates.
How many snacks should I provide per employee?
There is no official UK recommendation for a fixed number of workplace snacks per employee. For ordering purposes, decide how many snack opportunities you want to provide and multiply that by the number of people expected in the workplace. Use actual consumption to adjust future orders.
How many snacks do I need for 20 employees?
If all 20 employees will be present and you want one individually packaged snack available to each person on one occasion, you need 20 snacks. Two separate snack occasions would require 40 snacks. These are planning quantities rather than recommended consumption amounts.
How many snacks should I order for 50 employees?
Start with the number of those 50 employees who will actually be in the workplace. If all 50 are attending and you want one snack available per person, start with 50. If only 30 are expected in a hybrid office, 30 is a more relevant starting point.
Should I order office snacks based on total employee headcount?
Not always. For hybrid workplaces, expected office attendance is usually a more useful figure because not every employee will necessarily be on site when the snacks are available.
How do I calculate snacks for a hybrid office?
Use the number of employees expected in the workplace on the relevant days rather than the company’s entire headcount. Multiply expected attendance by the number of snack occasions you intend to provide, then adjust future orders using actual consumption.
How often should office snacks be restocked?
There is no universal schedule. Monitor how quickly your snacks are being used. If supplies consistently run out early, increase the quantity or delivery frequency. If significant stock remains, order less or extend the time between deliveries.
Should an office provide vegan and gluten-free snacks?
If employees have those dietary requirements, including suitable options can make your workplace selection more inclusive. Always check current product ingredients and allergen information when deciding whether an individual snack is suitable.
There is no credible one size fits-all number and you don’t need one.
For your first order, use:
Expected workplace attendance × planned snack occasions = starting snack quantity
Then look at what your team actually uses and refine your next delivery.
For hybrid offices, calculate against the people who will actually be there, not simply the total number employed. Factor in visitors and meetings, provide enough variety for your team and keep an eye on what gets eaten and what gets left behind.
Within a few deliveries, you’ll have something far more useful than a generic online estimate: a workplace snack plan based on your own team’s real requirements.
And if you’d rather spend less time sourcing and restocking individual products, Snack Packs can make keeping the office snack cupboard stocked considerably simpler.
