Elisabeth Wrede, Author at Marché

A Micro-Market and Meal Times in New York City

March 31, 2020March 31, 2020 by Elisabeth Wrede

A carefully planned and well-stocked micro-market is an employee benefit that isn’t fully appreciated until it is experienced. Employees have access to an inviting and relaxing space with a customizable menu full of products, from fresh food, coffee, healthy alternatives and cold beverages to everyone’s favorite snacks.

Considering what types of food and beverages are available when and where is an important component for New York City employers to consider when determining a break room’s design and menu. The reason why is related to recent research performed by Packaged Facts, an expert in research and expert analysis.

According to David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts, “There’s a surging fluidity to modern mealtimes. The reality is U.S. adults are increasingly eating differently.” The adults that Sprinkle is referring to are Gen Z (18- to 24-years-old) and Millennials (25- to 34-years-old).

Not only did the research show that fewer adults are eating “breakfast before 9 a.m., lunch before 1 p.m., and dinner before 8 p.m.” but more participants are eating several smaller meals throughout the day instead of the traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Going back to New York City break rooms and the micro-market; offering a variety of options in your micro-market can meet the needs of employees who consume various meals at both traditional and nontraditional times of the day.

The first of several reasons why a micro-market is a great option is the overall look and feel of the break room. Each micro-market layout is custom designed to fit your unique space and offers an updated look and shopping experience. With open racks, shelves and glass door coolers, employees can browse and pick up items and read labels before deciding.

Access to the micro-market 24/7 is the second benefit. With modern technology, employees can access snacks, beverages and fresh food at any time of the day whether it’s 10:00 am or 10:00 pm. Self-checkout kiosks, mobile apps and security systems remove the need for additional employees to monitor the break room and keep track of product inventory levels.

The third benefit is that we take care of it all. With fully automated technology, we receive data about real-time product purchases. Using that information, we can rotate in more of the products your New York City employees enjoy and add new products to keep things interesting.

A micro-market is truly a sought-after break room benefit. Access at any time of the day plus a variety of delicious refreshments equals happier employees and a boost in workplace morale. Are you ready to take the next step?
For more information about micro-markets or other break room refreshment options including office coffee service, please contact Marché at 833-627-2431.

Green Teas Every New York City Employee Should Taste

February 6, 2020January 31, 2020 by Elisabeth Wrede

Americans love coffee. But when it comes to the rest of the world, tea ranks as the top choice. While black teas are often preferred over green teas throughout the world, there are still many delicious green tea options available.

Green tea as well as black and oolong all come from the same plant, the Camellia sinensis. Growing times and methods, processing methods (steaming, roasting, drying, etc.) and place of origin all play a role in the creation of the final product. Of the different types of tea, green tea is picked the earliest and undergoes the least amount of processing resulting in a beverage that goes well with many other flavors.

Before brewing a cup of green tea, New York City employees should think about four things: water, temperature, leaf portion and steep time.

The quality of the water used to brew tea plays a big role in the taste of the final product. Filtered water is the best option as the impurities are removed before the water touches the leaves. When it comes to the temperature of the water, using water that has come to the boiling point is okay, but it’s also okay to use water at around 160 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, cooler water results in a sweeter, lighter tea.

Many New York City employees use tea bags instead of loose leaves at work, but it is important to know, if using loose leaves, that a bigger portion of leaves will result in a stronger beverage. The strength of the beverage is also affected by the amount of time the leaves or tea bag are left in the water, the longer the steeping time, the stronger the flavor.

RAVE Reviews, a resource for independent recommendations, recently published a Top 10 list highlighting the best green teas. The following factors, in descending order of importance, were used to rank the teas: overall quality, taste, packaging and price. Here are their top five choices including three special awards, Best Overall, Most Exotic and Best for Everyday Drinking.

Best Overall and #1: The Tao of Tea Jasmine Pearls Green Tea from Portland, Oregon is both affordable and presentable with the ideal balance of green flavor and floral jasmine aroma.

Quality: 100%
Taste: 100%
Packaging: 100%
Value: 100%

Most Exotic and #2: Marukyu Koyamaen Premium Ceremonial Grade Matcha is from Kyoto, Japan. A ceremonial tea, this nutritious and grassy-flavored beverage is made from the entire leaf, which has been ground into a fine powder. This Matcha is the priciest and most ancient option.

Quality: 100%
Taste: 100%
Packaging: 100%
Value: 85%

#3: Babingtons In Tè Veritas from Rome, Italy is an elegant beverage best served at small social gatherings where English afternoon tea traditions would be most appreciated.

Quality: 100%
Taste: 100%
Packaging: 100%
Value: 79%

#4: Rishi Sencha Green Tea from Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a high-quality Sencha. This beverage is an opaque, dark green savory brew with a sticky aroma

Quality: 100%
Taste: 100%
Packaging: 85%
Value: 85%

Best for Everyday Drinking and #5: The Republic of Tea People’s Green Tea from Novato, California is affordable, a quality beverage and, best of all, can be found everywhere.

Quality: 80%
Taste: 90%
Packaging: 95%
Value: 100%

Which teas do your New York City employees ask for in the office break room?

Marché is here to help your organization create a customized refreshment menu that includes a wide variety of coffees and teas as well as fresh food, snacks and beverages. Access to delicious and refreshing options at work encourages New York City employees to stay on-site for a quick break or a meal with colleagues. For more information about updating your current menu or redesigning your entire break room, please give us a call at 833-627-2431.

How to Find the Sugar in Your New York City Snack

February 1, 2020January 15, 2020 by Elisabeth Wrede

Did you know that there are at least 61 different names for sugar listed on snack, beverage and food labels? No? The following list includes just a few of the various names: high-fructose corn syrup, dehydrated cane juice, cane sugar, raw sugar, corn syrup, agave, honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, brown sugar, fruit juice concentrates, invert sugar, malt sugar, molasses and sugar molecules ending in “ose” (dextrose, glucose, lactose, maltose, sucrose).

With so many different names to keep track of, it’s no wonder that the average American consumes 17 teaspoons every day. For New York City men that’s 8 teaspoons more, and 11 teaspoons more for women, than the American Heart Association recommends.

Before looking at where to find information about how much sugar is in a favorite snack or beverage, let’s consider the differences between two different categories of sugar: added sugar vs naturally occurring sugar. Naturally occurring sugar is found in milk (lactose), fruit (fructose) and some vegetables. Added sugar is any sugar or sweetener that is added during the preparation or processing stages. Some foods like yogurt contain both naturally occurring sugar and added sugar.

The challenge for New York City employees is understanding how much overall sugar is in a snack or beverage and whether any of that sugar occurs naturally. Added sugar is absorbed quickly into the body while natural sugar, usually accompanied by fiber, is absorbed more slowly. When reading nutrition labels, the following terms may be helpful:

Total Sugar per Serving: the amount of added sugar plus naturally occurring sugar in a serving
Sugar-Free: less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving
Reduced Sugar or Less Sugar: at least 25 percent less sugars per serving compared to a standard serving size of the traditional variety
No Added Sugars or Without Added Sugars: no sugars or sugar-containing ingredient such as juice or dry fruit is added during processing
Low Sugar: this term is not allowed as a claim on food labels

Unfortunately, it is still difficult to know the exact amount of natural sugar is in a snack if that snack contains both added and natural sugars. But that will soon change as food manufacturers are required to list amounts for both by mid-2021. Researchers hope that this change will prevent nearly one million cases of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes over the next 20 years.

New York City employers have an opportunity to positively impact their employees’ health by offering snacks, beverages and fresh food that contain lower amounts of added sugar in the break room. Healthier employees miss fewer workdays, have more energy and are more productive – an important benefit for employers.

We are here to help New York City employers and employees enjoy the benefits of healthy options available in micro-markets and office coffee service. For more information, please call Marché at 833-627-2431.

New York City, Discover Eight Random Coffee Facts

January 10, 2020December 31, 2019 by Elisabeth Wrede

It’s no secret that coffee plays a big role in many New York City individuals’ daily routines. But the draw to one’s daily boost of caffeine may not just be a habit or the need for a pick-me-up. Recent research performed at the University of Portsmouth in England found that coffee drinkers can recognize the odor of small amounts and can do it faster than non-coffee drinkers.

Dr Lorenzo Stafford, lead researcher and olfactory expert, explained that the more caffeine an individual consumed, the faster that individual recognized the smell of coffee. The researchers also found that consumers who regularly ingested higher amounts of caffeine could smell an extremely diluted coffee solution at lower concentrations when compared to other participants. As cravings increased for these individuals, so did their ability.

Enjoying a cup of coffee really is a multi-sensory experience. Given how much there is still to learn about our favorite cup of Joe, let’s look at eight interesting and random facts.

A third of all the tap water Americans drink is first brewed into coffee. Now this is a really good reason to offer filtered water to New York City employees in their break room.
Coffee, as we know it today, wasn’t enjoyed as a beverage until 1000 CE. Before then, the berries from the Coffea plant were ground together with animal fat to make energy bites.
Finland drinks the most coffee in the world at 26.5 lbs per inhabitant followed by Norway (21.8 lbs), Iceland (19.8 lbs), Denmark (19.18 lbs) and the Netherlands (18.5 lbs). The United States comes in at number 26.
Coffee is the world’s second largest traded commodity after crude oil with over 2.25 billion cups of Joe consumed daily.
Only the states of Hawaii and now California produce coffee in the United States. Hawaii’s weather matches other parts of the world that are located along the equator.
Breaking an old record and winning the 2019 Guinness World Record for the largest cup of coffee, the Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná in Colombia poured 6,007.04 U.S. gallons of Arabic brew into a single cup.
Today, Beethoven would likely be considered a difficult customer at his local cafe. The story goes that each cup of brew that he enjoyed had to be made with exactly 60 beans; no more, no less.
The final fact is an unusual one. A cat named Crème Puff holds the title for “the oldest cat ever” at age 38 years and three days old. It wouldn’t be so odd except Crème Puff enjoyed coffee, bacon, eggs and broccoli every morning and took the record from Grandpa Rex Allen (age 34). The two cats were owned by the same individual and were fed identical diets.

As the new year approaches, we’d like to make one prediction about what employers could offer in their New York City break room to keep coffee lovers happy. Our list would include a variety of delicious options including espresso-based drinks; a full selection of supplies including dairy and non-dairy creamers and sweeteners; and a variety of hot teas for the tea lover.

For more information about upgrading your current office coffee service, customizing a new one or adding healthy and delicious options to your break room subsidized micro-market, please call Marché at 833-627-2431.

Break Rooms Impact New York City Employee Morale

January 10, 2020December 14, 2019 by Elisabeth Wrede

Can New York City break rooms really contribute to employee morale? The answer is yes, they really can and especially during the winter months. A specific break room can either invite employees to visit it, stay awhile and engage in conversation or push employees to other areas for conversation and refreshments.
Let’s look at three ways that your break room can have an impact.

The Space

There are many different factors to consider when designing a break room’s physical space. The first question to ask is how will the space be used. Understanding the purpose(s) before making design decisions allows the design to encompass current and future needs. Some employers offer open spaces with games such as Foosball or table tennis while others focus on multiple, smaller and unique seating arrangements.

The second questions to ask is what type of vibe or energy will the room have. For example, colors, textures, lighting, seating arrangements, layout, plants and organization all contribute to the experience an employee will have when walking into the room. Textures can come from a variety of materials including bricks or rocks, wood, pleather, metal, glass and plants. One caveat when it comes to color; colors have different meanings in different cultures and can impact New York City individuals differently.

The Refreshments

Do the refreshments offered in your New York City break room match the types of refreshments that are important to your current employees? If the answer is no, then it’s time to learn what would. Once those answers are clear, the next step is to consider quality coffee services and healthy snacks and beverages. The final menu should reflect both your organization’s needs and the refreshments your employees enjoy.

The Activities

A break room can be used for more than grabbing a bite to eat or taking a break. The space can also become a central location where team building activities take place. At this time of year, gray skies are often accompanied by the winter blues. To combat these blah and sluggish feelings, host an event for your New York City employees that creates feelings of team spirit and happiness.

Volunteer: Choose an organization that needs help creating packages or collecting items. For example, the break room could be a gathering point for a food drive for a local food bank or a space where employees can put together backpacks for foster children or care packages for overseas soldiers.

Host a Potluck: Encourage your employees to bring a dish to share. Themes for the event could include bring your favorite dish (from any time of year) or bring your favorite winter dish. It’s about choosing a theme that encourages employees to want to participate.

Ugly Sweater Day: Invite your employees to wear the ugliest sweater they can find to work and host a competition in the break room to see whose is the ugliest. While this type of event often happens before the end of December, hosting an ugly sweater day during January or February is a fun way to boost everyone’s mood after the initial excitement of winter has worn away.

Are break rooms really this important? The simple answer is yes. Break rooms and the activities that happen in them can boost team morale and support happy and relaxed employees, which increases creativity and productivity. And that makes it worthwhile to us.

For more information about customizing your New York City break room menu with cafe style coffee service, delicious fresh food and healthy snacks and beverages, please contact Marché at 833-627-2431. We look forward to hearing from you.

Tea Is a Better Choice in New York City

December 3, 2019November 29, 2019 by Elisabeth Wrede

Today’s tea market is experiencing exciting changes. Innovative new beverages with a variety of unique ingredients have found their way to New York City consumers. Rather than seeing tea and other similar beverages as separate from all the different foods individuals eat, those beverages are now being measured by the same standards.

A white paper recently published by the World Tea Expo examined several industry issues that are projected to impact the future of the industry. According to the document, New York City consumers want the following:

convenience: hot and cold options, easy to consume on the go, anytime and anywhere
nutrient density and health potential: organic farming, regenerative agriculture and zero waste
consciousness: supporting a system that that has a positive impact; sustainability and Fair Trade
ingredients: no sugar, organic, nutritious and functional

While all these characteristics are important, functional ingredients stand out as a smart way to combine the enjoyment of drinking tea with positive health benefits such as an increase in energy or relaxation.

With at least 80 percent of Americans experiencing stress daily and struggling to relax their bodies and calm their minds, the chance of illnesses occurring increases. But a reduction in stress can help combat many of them including heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic pain and poor sleep.

Relaxing with a cup of tea can reduce stress on its own, but when it’s combined with practicing mindfulness, the health benefits grow to include a reduction in stress and anxiety, improved attention and memory and better self-regulation and empathy.

What exactly is mindfulness? It’s the ability to be fully present or being aware of what’s going on without becoming overwhelmed. A different way to look at it is noticing all one’s thoughts and emotions without making judgments about them.

Incorporating mindfulness opportunities into the workday is beneficial for both employees and employers. New York City employees who are healthier and have less stress not only develop better connections with others including their colleagues but are also more productive.

To increase the likelihood that employees can practice mindfulness (and enjoy hot beverages), employers need to step up and provide a variety of relaxing environments from quiet corners to break rooms with comfortable seating options. Healthy snacks and fresh food in the break room will also help employees manage their health.

As the 2019 ends and 2020 approaches, how will your organization help employees reduce stress, improve their diet and find small moments to practice mindfulness? We here to help design a break room that encourages mindfulness and to create a customized refreshment menu with everyone’s favorite choices. For more information about our other break room services, please contact Marché at 833-627-2431.

Break Room Refreshments in New York City

Five Fun Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving in Your New York City Break Room

November 21, 2019November 14, 2019 by Elisabeth Wrede

Happy employees are 13 percent more productive. With the holiday season approaching, it’s a great time to use the break room to show your New York City employees how much they are appreciated, which just might increase happiness.

The ‘traditional’ break room is often an under used space. To reverse that trend and spread cheer and happiness throughout the workplace, consider using the break room as a place for fun, holiday celebrations that will convey employee appreciation.

Hold a Recipe Contest

Everyone has a favorite dish or two that they look forward to enjoying every November. Instead of only eating that favorite dish at home, offer your New York City employees an opportunity to share it with everyone via a work sponsored recipe contest. Everyone gets to try the entries and vote on their favorites. The winner enjoys bragging rights as well as a hard-earned prize.

Organize a Team Activity and Enjoy a Potluck Meal

Depending on the size of your organization or division, sharing a communal meal in the break room can be a fun way to build team or company morale. Each participant takes one piece of paper out of two different containers. The first piece of paper lists a potluck item that they are assigned to bring. The second piece of paper lists an item to donate to a prearranged organization such as a donation for a local food pantry or animal shelter.

Give Back as a Group or an Individual

Serve your local New York City community by participating in a volunteer activity as an organization. Organize a canned food drive, serve at a soup kitchen or volunteer at a local fundraiser. There are unlimited possibilities to get involved. If a group activity isn’t practical, make it easy for your employees to give back on their own. Give your employees designated time off to volunteer with an organization or help with a specific project.

Compete in Festive Games

Encourage your employees to relax and have some fun while celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday by organizing the Thanksgiving-related Olympic games. The following games should bring out the kid in everyone.

Pumpkin Bowling: Instead of a bowling ball, use the roundest pumpkin that can be found. Set up the “pins” (paper towel rolls, water bottles or anything tall and thin) in the parking lot or hallway and bowl away.
Pin the Feather on the Turkey: Just like pin the tail on the donkey, pin the feather on the turkey requires a picture of a turkey on the wall, feathers (or a paper imitation) and a blindfold.
Guess How Many: Fill a glass jar with candy corn, skittles or another small, favorite sweet treat and have participants guess how many are in the jar. The winner gets the jar full of sweets for the prize.
Mini Pumpkin Hunt: Instead of the traditional Easter egg hunt, plan a mini pumpkin hunt. Whoever finds the most mini pumpkins wins a gift card to a popular restaurant or bakery.

Holiday Grams

Another option is to offer to deliver holiday grams as a way for colleagues to say thank you to each other. During a specified period, employees are asked to choose several colleagues that they are thankful for and write a short note. The holiday grams are then delivered to the recipients and shared in a central location like a wall in the break room.

Lastly, there is one more way New York City employers can show appreciation for their employees around the holidays and any time of the year – offer a relaxing break room with sought-after snacks and beverages, fresh food and delicious coffee. Employees truly appreciate that.

For more information about updating your current refreshment menu or customizing a new one, contact Marché at 833-627-2431. We look forward to hearing from you.