Best Gluten-Free Snacks
August 18, 2021
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An office snack cupboard works best when it has something for different tastes: crunchy savoury snacks, something sweet, fruit-based options, more filling choices and snacks that cater for dietary requirements such as vegan and gluten-free diets.
The difficulty is rarely deciding whether to buy snacks. It is keeping the cupboard varied, finding products people actually want to eat and remembering to restock it before the favourites disappear.
For an office manager, HR team, facilities manager or whoever has inherited the job of keeping everyone fed, that can quickly become another recurring task.
So, what should you actually put in an office snack cupboard?
The best office snacks aren’t necessarily the trendiest or the ones with the longest list of health claims. They are snacks that work well in a shared workplace.
Ideally, they should be individually packaged, easy to store, straightforward to eat at a desk or in a break area and have enough shelf life that you are not constantly checking what needs using first.
Variety matters too.
One person may want something crunchy and savoury at 11 am, while someone else would rather have a fruit snack or something sweet with an afternoon coffee. Others may need vegan or gluten-free choices.
Instead of filling an entire cupboard with one type of snack, think of it as a balanced selection of different tastes and textures.
There is no single perfect office snack, which is exactly why a mixed selection usually makes more sense.
Here are the main categories worth considering.
1. Savoury and Crunchy Snacks
Every office snack cupboard needs a decent savoury section.
Think beyond standard multipacks of crisps. Popcorn, lentil-based snacks, roasted corn, pea snacks, tortilla-style snacks, popped snacks and other savoury bites can make the cupboard much more interesting.
Individual packs are particularly practical in an office because employees can take what they want without opening a large sharing bag and leaving the rest behind.
Try rotating flavours and snack types rather than buying exactly the same products every time. It is a simple way of keeping the cupboard interesting without needing to increase the amount you order.
2. Fruit-Based Snacks
Fresh fruit is great if your workplace already has a regular fruit delivery, but it isn’t always practical as the only fruit option. It needs replenishing regularly and can go to waste if office attendance changes during the week.
Shelf-stable fruit snacks can complement fresh fruit.
Dried fruit portions, fruit bars and other individually packaged fruit based snacks are easy to keep in a cupboard and give employees another option when they want something different from crisps or chocolate.
The key word is choice. You don’t need an entire cupboard devoted to one idea of what a “healthy office snack” should look like.
3. Something Sweet
A good workplace snack selection doesn’t have to banish anything sweet.
Chocolate covered snacks, snack bars, biscuits and other individually portioned sweet treats can all have a place alongside savoury and fruit-based options.
The mistake is making the cupboard overwhelmingly sweet.
A more varied mix gives employees the freedom to choose what they fancy rather than presenting a shelf full of slightly different versions of the same thing.
4. More Filling Snack Options
Sometimes someone isn’t looking for a quick nibble. They want something with a little more substance between meals.
Oat-based bars, protein-style snacks, nut or seed-based products and other more filling snack bars can be useful additions, depending on your team’s dietary requirements.
But don’t assume everyone wants bars.
If last month’s oat bars are still sitting in the cupboard while the savoury snacks disappeared in two days, your team has already given you some useful feedback.
Office snack planning should be flexible rather than based on what you think employees ought to eat.
5. Vegan Office Snacks
Providing vegan choices doesn’t mean creating an entirely separate cupboard.
Many savoury, fruit-based, and sweet snacks can be suitable for vegan diets, so vegan options can be incorporated naturally into a mixed workplace selection.
If you have several vegan employees or simply want to make ordering easier, a dedicated vegan office snack box can also take some of the searching and label checking out of the process.
One important point: vegan does not mean allergen-free. The Food Standards Agency specifically advises that foods labelled vegan may still present a risk to people with allergies because of possible cross-contamination. Its food allergy, intolerance and coeliac disease guidance explains this in more detail.
6. Gluten-Free Office Snacks
If employees require gluten-free food, including clearly identifiable gluten-free options helps make the shared snack cupboard more inclusive.
There are now plenty of interesting possibilities, including popcorn, certain corn and lentil snacks, fruit snacks and sweet treats.
However, never assume a product is gluten-free simply because its ingredients appear suitable. Always check the current packaging and manufacturer information.
Snack Packs also offers gluten-free office snack boxes for businesses that want a curated selection delivered to the workplace.
There is no magic number.
A small team may be perfectly happy with several different snack types, while a larger workplace will naturally need a wider range.
A better approach is to consider categories rather than simply quantities.
For example, your cupboard might include savoury snacks, fruit-based choices, sweet treats, filling bars and clearly identified dietary-friendly options.
Then rotate some of the products within those categories.
This helps prevent the familiar office snack problem: everyone’s favourites vanish first, and the same unwanted snacks remain at the back of the cupboard for weeks.
Pay attention to what disappears and what doesn’t. Your employees’ eating habits are often more useful than trying to create a theoretically perfect snack order.
This is one area where assumptions should never be made.
Keep snacks in their original packaging so employees can check the latest ingredients and allergen information themselves. If somebody has a food allergy or specific medical dietary requirement, don’t assume that terms such as vegan, plant-based, or gluten-free automatically make another product safe for them.
The Food Standards Agency identifies 14 regulated allergens and provides detailed allergen guidance.
If you are ordering snacks for a workplace, it is sensible to ask about dietary requirements before deciding on the selection and to check current product labels carefully.
It depends on your team.
A 15-person hybrid office that is busiest two days a week will have very different requirements from a workplace with 60 people attending most weekdays.
Rather than guessing, monitor the cupboard for the first few deliveries.
Ask:
You can then adjust the quantity and mix.
Some workplaces prefer smaller, more frequent deliveries, while others find a larger monthly office snack delivery easier to manage.
There is nothing wrong with buying workplace snacks yourself.
For a very small office, particularly one close to good shops, it may be perfectly manageable.
The challenge comes when somebody has to do it repeatedly.
You need to decide what to buy, accommodate dietary requirements, find enough variety, place orders or visit shops, carry everything back, unpack it and then start again when supplies run low.
This is where an office snack delivery service can make sense.
Instead of treating snacks as another regular purchasing job, businesses can have a curated selection delivered directly to the workplace.
It also opens the door to discovering snacks beyond the standard products employees can pick up during their normal supermarket shop.
At Snack Packs, we think the best office snack cupboard is one that people actually look forward to opening.
Our office snack boxes are designed to make workplace snacking easier, with curated selections delivered directly to offices across the UK.
There are options for different team sizes, including vegan and gluten-free office snack boxes, and businesses can choose between one-off deliveries and subscription options.
And if the standard boxes don’t quite fit what your workplace needs, we can curate a bespoke snack package around your team’s requirements.
That means less time searching for different snacks, fewer repetitive shopping trips and an easier way to keep the office cupboard stocked with something a little more interesting.
Explore Snack Packs office snack boxes or get in touch to discuss a bespoke workplace snack selection.
What are the best snacks to keep in an office?
A good office snack cupboard should contain a mixture of savoury, sweet, fruit-based, and more filling options, alongside choices for relevant dietary requirements. Individually packaged, shelf-stable snacks are particularly practical for shared workplaces.
What healthy snacks can you provide for employees?
Options can include fruit-based snacks, popcorn, roasted or popped snacks, portioned nuts or seeds where allergies allow, and selected snack bars. Rather than labelling individual foods simply as “healthy” or “unhealthy”, aim to provide employees with a varied choice.
Should an office provide vegan and gluten-free snacks?
If members of your team follow vegan or gluten-free diets, including suitable options makes the shared snack selection more useful. Always check current labels and allergen information rather than assuming one dietary label makes a product suitable for every requirement.
How often should office snacks be restocked?
There is no universal rule. Team size, office attendance and how quickly snacks are eaten will determine whether weekly, fortnightly or monthly replenishment works best.
How do you stop office snacks becoming boring?
Rotate some of the selection. Keep categories that work well, but introduce different flavours, textures and products rather than ordering an identical cupboard every month.
What snacks work well in a shared office?
Individually packaged snacks with a reasonable shelf life tend to be easiest to manage. A combination of crunchy savoury snacks, fruit-based choices, sweet treats and more filling options gives employees greater choice.
Is office snack delivery worth it?
It can be particularly useful for businesses that are repeatedly spending staff time sourcing and replenishing snacks. A curated delivery can combine variety, convenience and dietary options while reducing the amount of day-to-day snack shopping someone in the office needs to manage.
