Sodexo, along with our partner Ricoh, recently introduced refrigerated WIB Smart Lockers to its Italian headquarters for the Lunch Box project, an initiative that allows company employees to book and have meals delivered to the office, all through an app.

Who is Sodexo?

Sodexo is a multinational company operating in the business services sector: founded in 1966 in Marseille, today it is present in over 60 countries around the world, serving over 100 million customers every day.

In Italy Sodexo arrived in 1974 and its headquarters is located in Cinisello Balsamo (MI).

Among its services, Sodexo is also involved in catering, in which it is a global leader with an extensive network of company canteens, both external and located within the customer’s premises.

The Lunch Box project

“Today, with the aim of responding effectively to the needs of an increasingly flexible work environment, we believe it is necessary to introduce new tools and technologies that can facilitate the conduct of the lunch break and thus positively impact the quality of life of different employees.”

This is how Alexis Lerouge, Head of Marketing Corporate Med Region of Sodexo, explains this corporate welfare initiative that aims to give employees the opportunity to enjoy their lunch break in the best possible way by choosing between two alternatives:

  1. go to the company canteen
  2. book their lunch prepared by the Sodexo canteen through an app that allows them to have it delivered directly to the office, inside the Smart Locker, and then consume it wherever they are most comfortable

Whoever decides to receive the meal in the office can pick it up from the refrigerated Smart Locker that keeps the food in optimal conditions, both in terms of hygiene and temperature; you receive a notification when the lunch has been deposited in the locker and, to access your compartment, all you have to do is scan a QR code that the employee receives when booking the meal.

This service also aims to combat food waste: we can ask for a meal to be delivered to our office for dinner (in case we are late) or perhaps to take home.

Choosing WIB Smart Lockers

Sodexo chose the WIB proposal along with Ricoh for several reasons, including:

  • the Smart Locker software was easily integrated with the MySodexo business app
  • fast and widespread technical assistance on the territory
  • the high possibility of customization of the lockers
  • the replicability of the solution that can also be proposed and adopted by Sodexo’s customers

“We decided to introduce the integrated service of refrigerated Lockers” says Patrizia Salvatore, Rewards & HR-IS Med Region of Sodexo “because it undoubtedly represents a solution that can ensure extreme flexibility without sacrificing the quality of meals and a fresh and healthy offer“.

Life in the company, an evolving process

Now work in the company is experienced differently than in the past: more and more often we find companies offering employees flexible working hours, the possibility to work from home and many other corporate welfare measures with the aim of facilitating the work-life balance but also promoting the well-being of employees in the workplace.

In the words of Alexis Lerouge, “the Refrigerated Locker system represents an extremely effective alternative that allows us to optimize the meal order management system and meet the current organizational trends that characterize workplaces.“