By Q4 of 2022, updated Choice Architecture Guidelines will be implemented in cafes and food spots at our largest sites, giving more visibility to healthy options on menus and in cafes

Healthy eating for employee well-being

At Google, a variety of strategies are implemented to encourage healthy eating at work for improved employee well-being. We focus on promoting nutrition diversity, and our nutrition approach aims to support people in following a balanced eating pattern by:

• Providing more fruits and vegetables, and emphasising nutrition-rich offerings in cafes and micro-kitchens (MKs).

• Offering foods and beverages with less sugar, salt and saturated fat.

• Providing opportunities throughout cafes and buildings to hydrate with water.

• Recognising the importance of portion size, for example, by offering plated meals and items like desserts that conscientiously take appropriate portion size into consideration, or guiding users to reasonable portion sizes when it comes to self-serve and bulk offerings in food spaces.

Additionally, we try to create food spaces that make it easy for people to make ‘better choices.’ We do this using an approach called choice architecture, a design strategy that uses behavioural economics to structure how choices are presented. For instance, we have found moving sugary beverages behind frosted glass in MK refrigerators helped reduce their consumption, whilst continuing to enable choice by providing a diverse, wide-ranging mix of beverage options.

To support employees in skill-building and connecting with their colleagues, we also offer a variety of food experiences (cooking classes, farm-to-table programmes and food talks). This is yet another channel by which we aim to promote positive nutrition through education and hands-on experiential learning.