It was four years ago that politicians made the decision to introduce free coffee for employees. Before the decision was made, an investigation was carried out which showed that the rented coffee machines were both complicated and expensive, which led to lost working time.
The investigation that was carried out concluded that if the region bought the coffee machines, they would save SEK 2.4 million per year. The figure could be even higher if lost working hours were included. Then the region could save 4.5 million per year.
The decision has paid off and four years later the region has continued to save money. According to Peter Rönnholm, finance director at Region Västerbotten, the region expects the cost to be around two million kroner lower compared to 2019.
– If we compare 2019 with 2023 and take into account the period’s price development for organic coffee, we assess that the total cost of coffee to employees is lower, says Peter Rönnholm.
If the price of coffee were to rise, the region has not considered that employees would have to pay for their coffee at work.
– It depends on how much more expensive, but that must be investigated in such cases. There is nothing to indicate that at the moment, says Peter Rönnholm, finance director at Region Västerbotten to Dagens Nyheter.