A proper lunch is far more than a moment away from the screen. It directly affects your energy, mood, and productivity — and over time, your finances and wellbeing too. That's why 61 % of Finns say the lunch benefit is the most important employee benefit — and 71 % feel it supports their wellbeing (Source: The Great Employer Benefits Study 2025).
In this post, we cover why you should start using your lunch benefit actively. We look at time savings in everyday life, financial value, healthier choices, and other concrete reasons that make the lunch benefit one of the smartest perks for Finnish employees.
A familiar situation for many: lunchtime is approaching, your stomach is growling, and the same question from yesterday is back — what should we eat today? If you make your own lunch, you need to think through the options the day before at the latest. What ingredients are at home? Do I have time to stop by the shop? Do I have the energy to cook tomorrow's lunch after a long day?
The lunch benefit removes much of that burden. With a wide network of lunch spots and a simple payment method, your options are practically curated and ready in your pocket. Instead of spending time on planning and cooking, you can:
choose a lunch spot near your workplace or remote desk,
decide what you want to eat once you get there, and
pay in a few clicks.
That frees up time and energy for other things — like actually recovering during your lunch break. When you're not using your break to prep or sort out food, you have time to breathe, chat with a colleague, or take a short walk outside.
The lunch benefit is a tax-supported perk in Finland, which means you as an employee get your meal at a lower effective cost than paying the same amount out of your own pocket. In practice, every fifth meal you buy with your lunch benefit is free — and with daily use, the annual savings add up to a meaningful sum. That makes it easier to stick to a proper lunch even when you might otherwise cut corners on food costs.
When lunch is an employee benefit, the threshold for choosing a real meal drops. You don't have to weigh whether you can afford a proper lunch — you can simply choose what best supports your energy and focus.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare's updated nutritional recommendations for working-age adults emphasise a regular meal rhythm and varied, balanced food with the right proportions of vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates. They confirm what most of us already know: a proper lunch in the middle of the workday helps you keep going and supports alertness and work capacity.
Many people want to eat more healthily, but the pace of everyday life pushes you toward quick fixes: you grab an unhealthy ready meal from the shop, fall back on greasy fast food, or skip lunch altogether and snack on whatever's nearby. The lunch benefit nudges you back to basics, taking a proper break and sitting down to a balanced meal in the middle of the day.
Lunch restaurants typically offer a wide range of options for different tastes and energy needs. You'll usually find hearty, home-style dishes like casseroles and stews alongside lighter salad and soup lunches. Quality vegetarian and vegan options are increasingly common, as are dishes suited to various special diets. There's something for everyone — a balanced meal that carries you through the rest of the day.
A shared lunch with colleagues creates space for relaxed interaction, something worth taking seriously. When you step away from your desks together, conversation naturally drifts from emails and projects to lighter topics. You build mutual trust, which makes moving work forward together easier.
Research shows that 62 % of Finns eat with their colleagues more often thanks to the lunch benefit. At the lunch table, new team members find it easier to connect, quieter voices get more room, and organisational silos soften when people from different teams meet in everyday life. A regular shared lunch builds a sense of belonging, strengthens workplace culture, and makes the workday more human, while giving everyone the break and the proper meal they need.
The benefits of the lunch benefit go beyond time, money, and health. There are a number of other practical advantages too:
Ease of use.
Everything lives in your phone. No paper vouchers or separate cards — you pay for lunch directly through the mobile app. Less fuss, no forgotten lunch cards.
Flexibility.
The lunch benefit works across a wide restaurant network throughout Finland. You choose your lunch spot based on where you're working or travelling that day — you're not tied to one restaurant or chain.
Security and transparency.
A digital lunch benefit is a secure payment method. You can see in real time where and how the benefit has been used, how much balance remains, and how your monthly usage adds up.
Wellbeing at work.
When your lunch break is a real break — not a shopping trip or a reheating project — your mind recovers better. That shows up in both your energy levels and your productivity.
Work is no longer tied to the office. Remote and hybrid work are everyday reality for more and more people — and lunch habits have shifted along with it.
The lunch benefit supports this new everyday life too. On a remote day, you can use your lunch benefit at a nearby restaurant, pick up a take away lunch from a grocery store, or have lunch delivered to your door.
Instead of grabbing something quickly from the fridge at your desk, the lunch benefit encourages you to step away for a moment. A short walk to a lunch spot, a proper meal, and a brief break from the screen all support wellbeing — especially on remote days, when work and free time tend to blur.
Picture an ordinary Tuesday without a lunch benefit. Your morning is busy, so you don't prepare lunch. By midday, hunger catches you off guard and you end up buying a ready-made tortilla wrap from the shop near work. It costs more than expected, and the nutritional value is anyone's guess. In the afternoon your energy dips and hunger hits again just when you need to focus. You quickly eat a chocolate bar to get through the last couple of hours. On the way home, hunger is back and you stop for a burger with all the toppings.
The same Tuesday with a lunch benefit is noticeably more pleasant and healthier. During your morning routine, you already know you'll probably grab lunch today with Tiina and Sami — it's part of your daily rhythm. At lunchtime, after a quick chat, the three of you head to a nearby Asian restaurant. You pay easily with your lunch benefit, eat a proper warm meal, and still have a moment to breathe before getting back to work.
The same applies across different life situations. An office worker can pick a lunch spot near the office and use the break for real recovery. A remote worker can explore the restaurants in their own neighbourhood and get a reason to step outside for a moment. A shift worker finds suitable options across different hours, since the benefit isn't tied to a fixed mealtime.
The lunch benefit is far more than a payment method. It is a practical tool that:
saves time and reduces everyday hassle
cuts lunch costs and delivers real financial value
encourages regular, healthier eating
supports energy, recovery, and wellbeing at work
works flexibly both in the office and when working remotely.
When you make the lunch benefit part of your daily routine, you make a small but meaningful decision for your own wellbeing and finances.
Next time you take a lunch break, ask yourself: am I already getting the full value of the benefit available to me — the one that makes everyday life easier, healthier, and more affordable?