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Silicon Valley Tech Firms Are Phasing Out Their Free On-Site Cafeterias, and for a Very Good Reason
08 August 2018
Employee have a break lunch at the Facebook headquater in Palo Alto, California on May, 25, 2010. Facebook overhauled its privacy controls on Wednesday to fend off mounting criticism that it is betraying the trust that has made it the world's biggest social network. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)
Facebook offices are known for their free gourmet cafeterias staffed by former restaurant chefs and featuring ramen bars and on-site smoke shacks. It’s no wonder employees don’t have much interest in wandering off campus for lunch.
One Silicon Valley city doesn’t like that, and other cities may be starting to follow suit.
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mountain View, Calif., at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area peninsula, is gearing up to host a </span><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/10/facebook-takes-over-mountain-view-offices-expansion-widens/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">new satellite location</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for the social media behemoth, headquartered just north in Menlo Park. However, unlike other offices such as the headquarters building itself and the East Coast </span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-new-york-office-tour-2016-11"><span style="font-weight: 400;">facility</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in New York, the Mountain View locale will not boast a free cafeteria with endless desserts, kombucha taps and a carving station.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why not? Because, critics argue, the lack of foot traffic from workers taking lunch breaks hurts surrounding restaurants, retailers and the local economy in general.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Restaurants often provide the anchor to get people on the street, and while they're out they patron other retail," Gwyneth Borden, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, </span><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/san-francisco-free-cafeteria-food-facebook-ban-2018-7-1027400345?utm_source=reddit.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Business Insider. "While there will always be competition for the food dollar, it goes without saying that it's hard to compete with free."</span></p><p><div data-conversation-spotlight=""></div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In late July, legislators in San Francisco </span><a href="http://www.sfexaminer.com/supervisors-move-ban-workplace-cafeterias/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">proposed a city-wide ban</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on workplace cafeterias, inspired by the effect the headquarters for Twitter and Airbnb — which both feature on-site cafeterias — had on their surrounding neighborhoods. Restaurants that opened in Twitter’s neighborhood, Mid-Market, in the wake of Twitter’s 2012 relocation, have particularly struggled in attracting foot traffic and many have </span><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Mountain-View-s-unusual-rule-for-Facebook-No-13096100.php"><span style="font-weight: 400;">since closed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Having (tech workers) in their offices and not engaging with the community isn’t really good for the community or these small businesses,” Chris Foley, co-owner of the Market, a food hall underneath Twitter’s headquarters, </span><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Mountain-View-s-unusual-rule-for-Facebook-No-13096100.php"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told</span></a> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The San Francisco Chronicle</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The legislation, if accepted and passed, would be retroactive and apply to new businesses only.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The aim, according to San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, is to mitigate the “Amazon effect that impacts retail and restaurants across the county,” he </span><a href="http://www.sfexaminer.com/supervisors-move-ban-workplace-cafeterias/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the SF Examiner. “People will have to go out and eat lunch with the rest of us.”</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The restriction on Facebook’s cafeteria in Mountain View was actually </span><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Mountain-View-s-unusual-rule-for-Facebook-No-13096100.php"><span style="font-weight: 400;">passed in 2014</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> but has gained renewed interest now that the offices are opening this fall. Facebook is still allowed to have a cafeteria on site for its Mountain View employees, but meals served there can’t be subsidized more than 50 percent. According to the rule, meals eaten at restaurants open to the public could be </span><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Mountain-View-s-unusual-rule-for-Facebook-No-13096100.php"><span style="font-weight: 400;">subsidized 100 percent</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other large employers in the area, such as Apple, </span><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Mountain-View-s-unusual-rule-for-Facebook-No-13096100.php"><span style="font-weight: 400;">charge employees</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for meals eaten at the on-site cafeteria, so there’s more incentive for them to eat at local restaurants. A Google Maps search of Facebook’s new Mountain View office location at the Village at San Antonio Center shows multiple cafes nearby, from Beijing-style hot pot and pho to Middle Eastern staples.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"With food being provided for free…there's no competition in terms of choice, nor a reason for employees to leave their building," Borden </span><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/san-francisco-free-cafeteria-food-facebook-ban-2018-7-1027400345?utm_source=reddit.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. "Perhaps that's great social engineering to get employees to work longer hours and never leave their offices, but it doesn't do much to support the city around them."</span></p>
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