Shinko Holdings Survey: 96.4% of HR and General Affairs Staff Feel Employees’ Meal Costs Have Risen Due to Inflation

Shinko Holdings Co., Ltd. announced the results of a survey on employee meal support in an era of rising prices. The survey targeted 110 HR and general affairs staff involved in planning or implementing employee benefits, whose companies have already introduced or are considering meal subsidies or office meal services. According to the survey, 96.4% of respondents felt that employees’ food expenses had increased due to inflation, with 66.4% saying they felt this strongly and 30.0% saying they somewhat felt it. The most common meal support measure currently implemented was providing meal allowances or subsidies, at 64.5%, followed by office meal services at 49.1% and employee cafeterias at 40.0%. Among companies that had not introduced meal support, the top reasons were inability to secure budget at 35.0% and prioritizing other employee benefits at 30.0%. For realistic monthly budgets for meal support, the largest group selected JPY 10,000 to under JPY 30,000 at 37.4%, followed by JPY 5,000 to under JPY 10,000 at 34.3%, indicating that more than 80% expect a monthly budget below JPY 30,000. In addition, 91.8% said the burden of aggregation and management work for staff would be a barrier when introducing meal subsidies. The survey highlights that while many companies recognize the need to support employees’ meals amid rising prices and labor shortages, budget constraints and operational burdens remain major obstacles. Shinko Holdings also introduced its office meal service Off Meshi, which enables companies to provide health-conscious meals using refrigerators or shelves, offers more than 800 items across three temperature zones, can be launched in as little as one month, and requires no installation work.