The new watercooler: Could a smart fridge be the key to getting people back to the office?
As offices spring back to life post-pandemic, a Swiss import aims to revolutionize workplace dining in the U.S. — and potentially solve one of employers’ biggest RTO challenges.
Founded in 2014 by Emanuel and Daniela Steiner, Felfel (which means “pepper” in Farsi) produces a smart refrigerator that has evolved from a novel idea into a high-tech employee perk and team-cohesion solution for more than 1,000 organizations globally, including GE, Equinox and Major League Soccer.
The company already accounts for 80% of Switzerland’s office lunch market and has now set its sights on transforming how the U.S. workforce transacts the midday meal.
These are not your standard breakroom fridges with sad salads and questionable leftovers. “Every day, we fill the fridge with fresh food that’s created by the best chefs, restaurants, and catering companies in Manhattan and Brooklyn,” explained Dave Phillips, who leads Felfel’s U.S. operations, based out of New York. “It is as fresh as if you walked across the street and got it.” And no junk food here — healthy choices like tofu wraps, homemade pasta and vegetable dumplings are the order of the day.
As for the “smart” part? Felfel’s proprietary algorithm learns the unique employee eating habits of each workplace, studying which meals and snacks are consumed most to ensure the right mix of options is always available.
From its headquarters, the company tracks stats from every location, including daily sales figures and the carbon footprint of each meal. For customers, stats about the food, including nutritional information, can be found on Felfel’s app, which also enables making purchases and accessing meals from the secure fridge by scanning a barcode.
About half of Felfel’s clients subsidize employee meals as part of their benefits packages. Unsold food is donated to local charities.
Aesthetics are an important part of the appeal, with the fridges designed according to individual client specifications and, in most spaces, resembling more of a custom furniture feature than workaday kitchen appliance.
This slick solution doesn’t come cheap, costing companies $1,000 per week. Felfel calls it an investment in employee well-being at a time when talent recruitment and retention are top of mind.
The company markets the machines not just as a convenience and perk but as a strategic team-building tool for the post-pandemic office. According to commercial real estate tech company VTS, 9 in 10 landlords cite hospitality-inspired experiences in the workplace as a leading priority.
Felfel’s fridges are envisioned as something of a conduit for employee camaraderie and collaboration. Clients typically place the units near office common areas, creating natural gathering spots that spark the spontaneous interactions and team development opportunities the RTO movement aims to restore.
Noting that the company goes above and beyond, including providing tastings for employees, Halah AlQahtani, director of culture, inclusion and internal comms at the makeup and skincare brand Glossier, called the Felfel fridge “a fantastic addition to our office experience that has genuinely improved our team’s happiness and productivity.”
Victoria Lopez, vp of facilities and administration at Major League Soccer, another client, said the fridge has become the de facto watercooler spot in her office, enabling employees to “connect with coworkers they might not regularly interact with.”
Likewise, at Felfel’s headquarters, wolfing down a sandwich alone at your desk has given way to gathering around a communal table at lunch. Also popular is the company’s stylish, branded beverage kiosk, fashioned after an Italian coffee bar.
As the RTO movement surges, this tech-forward take on the lunch break underscores that offices aren’t just where you go to work every day — they are places you should actually look forward to spending time in, creating a space where you want to spend time.
“Eating lunch together every single day fosters a kind of collaboration that you just can’t have if you’re not in the office working together,” as Phillips sees it. “It’s not just about the food; it’s about creating those moments that turn colleagues into teams and offices into communities.”