

Meal vouchers as employee catering? Let us introduce you to Foodji!
Meal vouchers are a form of monetary recognition. However, despite their apparent advantages, the question arises as to what extent these vouchers actually contribute to employee retention.
We compare the Foodji meal vending machine with meal vouchers and summarise the most important facts about Foodji for you:
- available 24/7
- No administrative burden
- Promoting a positive corporate culture
| Essensgutscheine | ||
| Freshness and quality of the food | High quality and freshness of the dishes | Possible lack of diversity |
| Selection of hot and cold dishes | +300 hot & cold main courses, snacks & drinks | Mostly just cold counters and a repetitive range of products |
| opening hours | Around the clock | Restricted opening hours |
| administrative burden | No administrative effort: seamless integration into employees' net wages | Billing and subsidisation as administrative expenses |
| Recovery time for employees | +30 minutes extra time: Reserve your favourite dish in advance & enjoy your meal on site | On the way to the supermarket or restaurant, no pre-selection possible |
| Sustainability & Food Waste | Zero food waste concept | 7% of food is discarded annually in retail outlets. Source: Bmel.de |
| Tax-free meal allowance | Meal allowance & other tax-free benefits (drinks & snacks) possible | subsidisation |
| employee benefit | Investment in employees | Subsidies via meal vouchers, but no team gatherings during breaks |
| Request initial consultation |
For greater employee satisfaction and energy in the workplace
Employee catering is a key factor in meeting the needs of the team during their working days. The availability of fresh food in the company signals appreciation for employees and contributes to employee retention. High employee satisfaction leads to lower staff turnover and a better working atmosphere. Find out here how the Foodji food vending machine ensures greater satisfaction in the workplace and in everyday working life.

- A staff catering solution such as Foodji promotes a balanced diet with fresh and healthy food options, thereby boosting concentration, productivity and long-term health among employees.
- In-house catering helps to increase employee satisfaction by providing the team with a pleasant and social environment in which they can exchange ideas and relax. This also promotes communication, which improves team cohesion and the working atmosphere and strengthens employee loyalty.
- Providing meals directly at the workplace allows access to food around the clock: employees do not have to leave their working environment to find a meal. This saves time during the working day and promotes efficient use of working hours.

Well intentioned
but ineffective
Meal vouchers are considered a simple solution for employee catering, but in practice they quickly reach their limits. Employees have to leave company premises, depend on participating restaurants or supermarkets and can often only redeem the vouchers at certain times.
The result: little actual benefit, high administrative costs and no real contribution to productivity or employee satisfaction.
- Restricted acceptance points and opening hours
- Administrative expenses for HR and accounting
- Low usage — many vouchers expire
- Not a real contribution to healthy eating or employer branding
Modern employee catering without effort
Foodji starts where meal vouchers stop: at real, daily availability of good food at work. The smart refrigerators offer fresh, healthy meals, snacks and drinks around the clock — directly on site, without organization or additional personnel resources.
These are the advantages of Foodji compared to meal vouchers:
- Always available: 24/7 access
- Food instead of symbolism: Fresh meals at work
- No administrative burden: Billing, restocking & assortment planning regulated by Foodji
- Employer attractiveness increases: Visible benefit that shows appreciation

Foodji or meal vouchers? What do you want for your company?
In today's business world, competition for talent is becoming increasingly fierce, and companies are faced with the challenge of offering attractive employee benefits in order to attract and retain skilled workers in the long term. Even though a supermarket or restaurant may offer a wide selection of different products and dishes, many of these are not suitable for a healthy and fresh lunch break. Added to this is the walk to the shop, which makes it impossible to enjoy the break to the full. Those who work shifts are faced with closed doors from 10 p.m. at the latest.
In these cases, analogue or digital meal vouchers offer no added value. Foodji provides a 24/7 fresh food concept with a wide range of meals and snacks right at the workplace. This means that breaks can be spent together with colleagues and maximum relaxation time can be enjoyed.
Frequently asked questions about Foodji
The Foodji food vending machine is a healthy and flexible solution for employee catering for companies. Employees can reserve their favorite dishes 6 hours in advance via app and screen and - if offered by the company - redeem the subsidy. Subsidised food is one of the most popular employee benefits, as there is only a small personal contribution and healthy food contributes to motivation, strengthening and employee loyalty.
Not only do 9-5 job employees who use their lunch break more efficiently benefit, but also shift workers. The Foodji is ready for use around the clock and provides companies with over 30 employees with +300 fresh main courses, snacks & drinks.
Many companies pay attention to health and sustainability when eating at work. For this purpose, in addition to classic curry sausage, these restaurants often also cook healthy dishes such as salads or more vegetarian dishes or less meat. The provider also rounds off the gastronomic offerings with a selection of delicious food and drinks. Because having access to the right food at lunch (we don't just mean classic lunch, but your meal at work, no matter what time) promotes concentrated and productive work. For this reason, the company canteen and therefore the choice of the right canteen food is a popular tool for health management.
Many larger employers use Foodji as a supplement to their existing catering. Especially for companies with extended break times (e.g. night shift), this is a decisive advantage in meeting requirements beyond the lunch break. With Foodji, opening hours can be easily extended at moderate costs. In particular, this concerns ProduktiOn- and logistics companies or hospitals. But also offices Benefit from this with flexible working models. Branches or companies with a large campus are also popular applications for a Foodji as a canteen supplement. In this way, everyone in the team - regardless of the location/campus - can be reached with the benefit of community catering.
The Foodji is freshly filled several times a week on fixed days. The Meal plan changes every time you fill it. The purpose of this is to tailor the offer exactly to your team. So if your team often orders salad, meat or eats a lot of vegetarian food, more salads or meat dishes or vegetarian dishes are also offered. The food at Foodji tastes as fresh as you know it from a normal company restaurant. Thanks to the variety, it is possible to order a different main course at Foodji every day for up to eight weeks. There is a varied, delicious lunch or breakfast for every taste. What is your favorite - canteen food?
Not every team member has the opportunity to take part in the classic lunch menu from Monday to Friday. Especially people whose Working day in shifts is subdivided or takes place on weekends, in this case do not benefit from the Meal option. With a restaurant that is open around the clock or at least has extended opening hours, everyone can be catered for. The purpose: this communicates appreciation and promotes health and satisfaction. Because especially on the night shift, it is important for the body to eat healthily and prevent cravings. This can be promoted by the employer through a balanced diet and varied cuisine.
Yes As with a classic canteen, the employer can subsidize daily meals (main dishes, breakfast until 11 a.m., snacks, drinks) at Foodji tax-free. Through the intelligent Foodjis system It can be ensured without effort that all tax conditions, such as the benefit in kind, are met. It may also be that external people at your location have access to Foodji (e.g. visitors or employees from other companies). In this case, it is ensured that only employees have access to the subsidy. The subsidy can be adjusted for a wide range of applications.
Compared to innovative approaches such as Foodji, conventional meal vouchers do not seem to make the desired contribution to creating a strong employee community and lively exchange within the company.


