Workplace provisions

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um Feb 2020 9:16am, 3 Feb 2020 1,684 posts	0 um Now retired, so provisions is whatever I've bought & put in the kitchen. When working, mainly in Ca, filter coffee, teas etc all free. Most depts/team areas seemed to compete for snacks - whether chocolate, biscuit/cookie, cake. Most managers adopted a do'nut day - bring in 12/24/36 US donuts. Some depts even subsrcibed to a 'snack subscription service' - a giant box of snacks delivered each week. I suspect all of these were on the company Amex rather than personal donations. Us 'foreigners' paid back by taking local 'delicacies', especially for meetings. Mince pies, garibaldies & pickled onions were particular UK 'favourites' of mine. Someone once took a box (something like 24 x 6 packs) of Tunnocks teas cakes. For long meetings, I did take Thorntons Chocolate Fudge (aka 'be quiet for 30 secs') & their chocolate covered toffee ('shut up for 2 or 3 minutes'). Our Moscow based colleagues cba'd with that - just brought vodka.
um Feb 2020 9:19am, 3 Feb 2020 1,685 posts	0 um Oh - on my trips to French offices - I took varieties of English cheese, just to wind them up. They were pleasantly shocked by some of the mature/vintage cheddar (having been taught that cheddar was just a generic name for bland white stuff). But their favourite (and always requested) was smoked salmon.
Wriggling Snake Feb 2020 9:28am, 3 Feb 2020 25,425 posts	0 Wriggling Snake Generally Nothing, when I worked, for a while free tea an coffee out of a vending machine that was reallly, really, REALLY, rubbish. Apart from a fantastic year or so, where one of the managers, I guy I disliked immensely, had a fabulous idea. We rented, we being the whole department, a coffee machine, hot water, two steamers, two jets for frothy milk, it was ace. We all got a lesson in how to make coffee, I can't remember who from now, so we could all make lattes, cappuccinos, the works. a single shot was 50p and that made a huge profit that went to charity. The machine was placed in a meeting room, with a few chairs and tables, I used ot get there for 7.30am to get in early. Goodness knows how many after meeting meetings happend during a day where things got sorted out, very social too. It got binned, by a knob head Health and Safety bod, the wanker. Took them a year, no injuries, we had a cleaning rota.
Fizz :-) Feb 2020 10:06am, 3 Feb 2020 3,513 posts	0 Fizz :-) My workplace is providing sour milk this morning
Southcoastpete Feb 2020 3:09pm, 3 Feb 2020 5,847 posts	0 Southcoastpete Where I work we have a canteen, vending machines, microwaves and self messing kitchens. The canteen used to be good, but has gone downhill quite a bit. Probably only really OK if you just want something with chips. One of the staff has quite a bad smokers cough, which could add more flavour when she coughs over your food. Much entertainment comes from seeing what other people order. I did see one chap order slice of pizza, plus peas and baked beans....all on the same plate.....yum I just try and bring my own food in, when I'm organised enough.
FreshStart Feb 2020 3:30pm, 3 Feb 2020 3,896 posts	0 FreshStart Previous office; tea, coffee, milk etc provided for us plus a blingy water filtration system. The canteen had stopped serving food a while ago as people walked the 100m distance to the Manor House restaurant howberypark.com which was heavily subsidised. We had access to microwaves, fridges, freezers and a dishwasher. Each floor had a kitchen area with a fridge/freezer, I'll never forget the smell when the power was off all weekend and everything had defrosted. No vending machines. We also had tuck shops which raised money for Water Aid and in the summer my colleague became the most popular person in the building when he sold ice creams and lollies Current office; tea, coffee, milk etc provided for us plus a blingy water filtration system. The canteen is still open and serves the most amazing cooked food. Could be one of the reasons I've put on a lot of weight. Each floor has a tiny kitchen area and by tiny, only one person can use the drinks machine at a time. We have vending machines but no tuck shop When we move to Birmingham we wont have a canteen as the theory is people can buy lunch in Birmingham if needed.
quimby Feb 2020 6:23pm, 3 Feb 2020 4,461 posts	0 quimby A lot of people at our place bring in fancy coffee and Aeropresses or old-fashioned cafetieres. Also, the amount of protein shakes you see never ceases to amaze me. That industry must be making serious money.
Velociraptor Feb 2020 6:38pm, 3 Feb 2020 45,133 posts	0 Velociraptor I have a hot desk which I share with a colleague who tends to stamp her mark on her working environment. This process often involves filling a desk drawer with food for general consumption/doling out to well-behaved patients.
FurryH Feb 2020 9:04pm, 4 Feb 2020 1,949 posts	0 FurryH I work in a council office but most of us in my department are out sourced to the private sector. The private company buys tea coffee and milk which foc for both private and public sector staff. Coffee is awful but in the staff canteen there is a coffee bar where you can buy a reasonable drink. We are a large department so have three kitchens for making your own drinks. Some are shared with other teams with wholly public sector staff. It always suprises to walk in to a shared one where you find the little tribalisms with marked cupboards, cups and no washing up liquid.
quimby Mar 2020 12:49am, 25 Mar 2020 4,504 posts	0 quimby Apart from tea/coffee, we have a work café. Currently fretting about the staff who are not now at work. They can't work from home. Going to ask about it tomorrow.