The cost of an office pantry isn't just the snacks, drinks, fruit and milk you purchase.
For many workplaces, there is also a significant administrative cost behind keeping the pantry running: checking stock, placing orders, managing suppliers, coordinating deliveries, processing invoices and keeping spending within budget. As an office grows, these small tasks can quickly add up.
What does it cost to manage an office pantry?
A simple way to estimate the internal administration cost of your office pantry is:
Weekly pantry administration cost = Hours spent managing the pantry × hourly employment cost
To estimate the annual cost:
Annual pantry administration cost = Hours per week × hourly employment cost × 52
For example, if an office manager spends 5 hours per week managing pantry-related tasks and their effective employment cost is $55 per hour:
5 × $55 × 52 = $14,300 per year
That's $14,300 in internal administration before the cost of the food itself is considered.
Use the table below as a quick guide to the potential annual administration cost of managing an office pantry manually.
Hours $45/hour\t$55/hour\t$65/hour
2 hours\t$4,680\t$5,720\t$6,760
4 hours\t$9,360\t$11,440\t$13,520
6 hours\t$14,040\t$17,160\t$20,280
8 hours\t$18,720\t$22,880\t$27,040
These figures don't mean every office spends this amount. They're a simple way to calculate the value of the staff time being used to manage pantry administration.
Office pantry management can involve considerably more than placing a weekly order.
Typical tasks include:
Checking stock levels
Calculating what needs to be reordered
Placing orders with multiple suppliers
Finding replacement products when items are unavailable
Coordinating deliveries
Resolving missing or incorrect orders
Managing dietary requirements and employee preferences
Tracking pantry expenditure against budget
Processing supplier invoices
Managing products across multiple office locations
Individually, these tasks may seem small. Across an entire year, however, the administrative time can become substantial.
Managing an office pantry manually can involve multiple suppliers, orders, deliveries, invoices and spreadsheets. A managed office pantry platform brings these processes together, reducing the amount of administration required from workplace teams.
Supplier Management
Manual: Multiple supplier accounts, contacts and delivery schedules need to be managed separately.
Managed platform: Suppliers can be managed through one central platform, reducing the number of individual supplier relationships the workplace team needs to coordinate.
Ordering
Manual: Orders may need to be placed separately across different suppliers for snacks, drinks, milk, fruit and other pantry essentials.
Yordar: Pantry ordering is centralised, allowing products from multiple suppliers to be managed through one platform.
Invoicing
Manual: Individual supplier invoices need to be received, processed and reconciled.
Yordar: Pantry and other office food purchases can be combined into one consolidated monthly tax invoice.
Stock Control
Manual: Workplace teams check stock levels and determine reorder quantities using spreadsheets, previous orders or judgement.
Yordar: Stock levels, ordering history and consumption data can be used to help determine more accurate reorder quantities and reduce unnecessary over- or under-ordering.
Budget Management
Manual: Pantry spending may be spread across multiple suppliers, invoices and payment methods, making total expenditure harder to track.
Yordar: Centralised purchasing provides clearer visibility of pantry expenditure and performance against budget.
Product Sourcing
Manual: Workplace teams source products, compare suppliers and find alternatives when products become unavailable.
Yordar: Businesses can access a curated network of pantry suppliers and products through one platform.
Delivery Management
Manual: Delivery schedules, missing items and supplier issues are managed separately with each vendor.
Yordar: Supplier and delivery coordination is centralised, reducing the number of individual issues the workplace team needs to manage.
Reporting
Manual: Purchasing information may need to be compiled from supplier invoices, credit cards and spreadsheets.
Yordar: Consolidated purchasing data provides greater visibility of office food expenditure in one place.
Multiple Offices
Manual: Each office may develop its own suppliers, ordering processes and administrative systems.
Yordar: Multiple office locations can be managed through a central platform while allowing each workplace to maintain its own pantry requirements.
The cost of multiple pantry suppliers
Supplier fragmentation is another source of administration.
If an office purchases snacks from one supplier, milk from another, fruit from another and beverages from another, each supplier can introduce its own ordering process, delivery schedule, invoice and account reconciliation.
The food itself may still represent good value, but the internal cost of managing those transactions is easily overlooked.
This is why the total cost of office pantry management should consider both:
Food and beverage spend + internal administration cost
The objective isn't necessarily to reduce the amount spent on office food. A well-run pantry can be an important part of the employee experience and workplace culture.
Instead, businesses can look at reducing the administration required to deliver it.
Consolidating suppliers, invoices, ordering, budget visibility and stock management can reduce the number of separate processes an office or workplace team needs to manage.
At Yordar, we bring office pantry suppliers, ordering, reporting and invoicing into one platform, with optional pantry management support for businesses that want the physical stock management handled as well.
Managing an office pantry in Australia?
Yordar has spent 20 years helping Australian workplaces manage office food.
From office pantry stocking and snacks to fruit, milk, beverages, catering and shared meals, businesses can manage their office food through one platform and receive one consolidated monthly invoice.
For larger or more complex workplaces, Yordar can also provide pantry management support to help with stock checking, ordering and replenishment.
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