A meal voucher or food allowance is money for buying food. In a town centre with ten sandwich shops round the corner, that is enough. On a business park, at night or at weekends, the same allowance sits in an app while there is nothing to buy anywhere. Here is when vouchers are enough, who misses out, and how they work alongside food on site.
Some European countries, such as France, Belgium and Italy, have a widely used meal-voucher system. Ireland and the UK do not have a comparable widespread scheme, so employers who want to help with food look at other forms: a food allowance, subsidised items or a canteen. Whatever the form, the tax treatment depends on the details, so check it with your accountant or payroll provider.
Vouchers and allowances are popular for good reason: they give spending power and free choice. Where there are shops and cafés nearby, they do exactly what they should. But they change nothing about what is available on site. Anyone working where nothing is within walking distance, or at hours when everything is closed, gets no use from them at that moment. What that means on a business park is covered in food on a business estate.
| Vouchers or allowance | Canteen | Chilled cabinet | Allowance + cabinet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solves | Spending power | A hot lunch | Food on site, at any hour | Both |
| Who misses out | Those who do not receive it | Those working outside its hours | Nobody with a bank card | Nobody |
| Outside hours | Only if something is open | No | Yes | Yes |
| Work for you | Administration via the provider | A kitchen or caterer | Organising restocking | Both, limited |
The two right-hand columns are what we offer, so read them with that in mind. External drivers and subcontractors do not get an allowance from you; at a logistics site that is often half of the people eating there. See smart fridge for logistics.
For the employee the difference is simple: with a voucher they can buy something if there is something to buy. With a cabinet on site there is something to buy, even at three in the morning and on a Sunday. At many workplaces that second part is exactly what is missing.
Most businesses that install a cabinet simply keep their existing allowance. If you mainly want a benefit for your people, you can also set a subsidy per product at the cabinet; why and how is covered in food as an employee benefit.
How such a subsidy works technically, with a badge, a budget or free items, is covered in paying at a smart fridge. What the cabinet itself costs is in what a smart fridge costs.
That is a decision with tax and employment consequences, best taken with your accountant or payroll provider and in consultation with staff. Most businesses combine the two: the allowance stays, and food on site is added.
We confirm that per site in the conversation and do not promise it here. As standard, payment at the cabinet is by bank card, app or badge.
That depends on the arrangement with the agency. Check with your payroll provider or the agency. At a cabinet with card payment they can buy something either way.
Not necessarily. Each benefit has its own treatment. Have the tax and payroll side checked before you set up a subsidy.
Because they can spend them freely, including at the supermarket after work or with the family at the weekend. That is a good reason to keep them. It also explains why they do not solve the problem on site: the money often goes on the shopping at home.
Eight short questions about your site and your hours. We tell you whether food on site is needed alongside the allowance.
Takes about 90 seconds · no obligation · no contact details until the last step