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Peapod Finds New Market: Healthy Snacks In The Office

Almost half the nation’s workforce has reported gaining weight at their current job, according to a recent survey from CareerBuilder.com.

Twenty-six percent have gained more than 10 pounds, and 12 percent have put on more than 20, the survey found.

Now a new survey from Peapod, the country’s leading Internet grocer, has identified a cause — plumped up employees could be victims of their office environments.

Peapod surveyed workers in New England and discovered that 63 percent find it challenging to eat healthy in the workplace. And almost half blame the fact that their office snack options are delicious but decidedly not nutritious.

The No. 1 food employees said they wanted in their workplace is fresh produce, but only 36 percent of companies that provide food for their staff regularly purchase fresh fruits and veggies. The least desired food item for the office is candy, yet 35 percent of businesses provide candy for their employees on a regular basis.

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There seems to be a disconnect, and that’s exactly what Peapod was hoping to find.

Over the last couple of years, the company, which delivers groceries to residences and businesses in 20 U.S. markets, including Hartford, started to notice an increase in their business deliveries, said Peg Merzbacher, director of marketing for Peapod by Stop & Shop. Merchant Business Up 27 Percent

“We started looking at the workplace customer,” Merzbacher said. “We started thinking, ‘Maybe we should try to drive this business.’”

Merzbacher said Peapod wasn’t sure what the survey would reveal — whether it would support their goal of pushing business deliveries. But the survey strongly suggested that what the company hoped was true, actually was true.

In the first quarter of this year, Peapod’s merchant business was up 27 percent from the year before. Businesses are growing dissatisfied with the traditional offerings available through office supply companies, like W.B. Mason and Staples, which offer multiple snack and beverage options, including granola bars, candy, cookies, bottled water and coffee.

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But their selection is limited, Merzbacher said, and they can’t offer businesses anything perishable.

People want fresh fruit and vegetables, she said, in order to have healthier options in the workplace. Peapod offers a selection of about 8,000 products, with items from the produce section, the deli, the bakery and all the aisles in between. It also offers weekly specials and deals for deliveries on certain days.

 

Hot In Boston, Greenwich

Merzbacher said Peapod has seen the strongest growth in business deliveries in the Boston area and in Greenwich. In Boston, the market has grown so much that Peapod recently opened a new facility there, which is dedicated to handling its area business deliveries. A new facility is possible in Greenwich as well.

“Typically what we’re finding,” Merzbacher said, “is the firms most likely to do this are investment firms, architectural firms, design firms, advertising agencies.”

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The businesses typically employ between 15 and 100 employees.

Peapod’s Hartford business is less active so far. The company launched its delivery in the region in 2003, and it has conducted limited marketing since. But the company has landed a few local businesses as clients.

George Weiss Associates, a hedge fund company with offices on State Street in Hartford and in New York City, started using Peapod several years ago, when Janeen Rose took over as the company’s office manager.

The company had been ordering food through its office supply company, Rose said. But the selection was limited to peanut butter crackers and pretzels, she said, and then there was the issue of price.

“I was looking at the prices, and I was shocked,” she said.

For example, the company had been paying a hefty $17 for a 12-pack of soda.

Rose knew of Peapod’s residential services, and one day she thought to inquire about merchant deliveries.

“The prices were fantastic compared to what all the office supply stores are getting for supplies,” Rose said. “In all these years, I’ve never seen anyone beat or come close to Peapod’s prices.”

With taxes and delivery charges, Rose said her company spends about $1,100 a month with Peapod to serve the company’s 60 Hartford employees.

George Weiss Associates employees work long hours, she said, and a few extra perks, like the food they want from Peapod, help keep up company morale.

“That’s the big incentive from the company’s point of view — to take care of its employees,” said Rose.

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