Vending and Snack Bar Choice Architecture

Choice architecture practices related to healthy food selection encourage healthier choices, contributing to improved eating habits and nutritional benefits.

Key Terms

• Choice Architecture is a design approach that is used to influence consumer choice by promoting healthy food options. Sample strategies include providing on-site nutritional information, offering healthy food options in central areas of the workplace, locating healthy products at checkout, or featuring healthy defaults, such as a side salad as opposed to chips.
• A Vending Machine or Snack Bar is a machine, pantry, kiosk, micro-market, convenience store, or other similar amenity, where regular occupants can obtain small articles of food or beverages.

For full strategy and documentation requirements, please refer to the digital scorecard made available on the Fitwel Platform. 

Strategy Insights

• Defining a vending machine or snack bar:
  • If a food space is unstaffed, then it is considered a vending machine/snack bar under Fitwel’s definitions.
  • If a food space is staffed with cashiers, but none of the food is prepared on-site, then it is also considered a vending machine/snack bar under Fitwel’s definition. If all food is prepared off-site and packaged, that is considered a snack bar relevant to this strategy. Some snack bars do include "perishable" foods (such as packaged salads) but this food is not prepared within the project building. Some snack bars may even include dining tables. These descriptions meet the definition of a snack bar or micro market, rather than a restaurant or cafeteria (prepared food area), which is relevant to other Fitwel strategies.
• For Strategies 11.1-11.4, the Vending Machine/Snack Bar strategies, either all strategies apply for Not Applicable, or none do. 
• If the project pursues strategy 11.1 Healthy Food and Beverage Policy for vending machines and snack bars, the snacks and beverages shown for strategy 11.2 must meet the health criteria of the policy (i.e. at least 75% of snacks offered meet the ingredient requirements, have fewer than 10% of calories from saturated fat, etc.).
• Relevant vending machines and snack bars are those that are accessible to regular occupants within the building site.
• For Full Credit, one option is employing point-of-choice nutrition labeling:
  • An example includes showing visible nutrition labels (for all snacks and beverages offered) that can be viewed by occupants when they are making purchases or making snack selections. 
• For Full Credit, one option is feature package design(s) that highlights healthy food and beverage options:
  • An example includes packaging text, such as “100% whole-grain.”
• For Full Credit, one option is controlling food and beverage portion sizing:
  • An example includes offering only sodas in 7.5 oz servings and showing snacks that are intended to be single servings.
• For Full Credit, one option is prioritizing healthy food and beverage options through layouts:
  • An example includes placing the healthiest options at eye level and storing the less healthy (high-saturated fat, high-sodium, and/or high-sugar) options on a bottom shelf or hidden in a drawer.
• For Full Credit, one option is featuring healthy food and beverage options as the default:
  • One example includes showing the full spectrum of snack and beverage offerings to confirm that all snacks and beverages meet the maximum requirements of the Fitwel Healthy Food and Beverage Policy for vending machines and snack bars (i.e. all snack options meet the limits for saturated fat and sugar content and only tea, coffee, water, sparkling water, low-fat and fat-free milk and dairy alternatives, and 100% juice is offered, etc.).

Documentation Guidance

• When providing photographs, please annotate each photograph to detail how what is being shown fulfills the requirements for the relevant choice practice.

Sample Documentation

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