Hungry on the Job? 7 Most Expensive Places To Avoid Buying Work Lunches
Written by
Brooke Barley
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Lunch can sometimes be the best part of the workday. However, one thing that can ruin a work lunch is seeing how high the check is.
Kickresume did a study revealing what workers in different countries eat for lunch, and how much they’re spending. These were their findings.
1. Greenland
The typical Greenland lunch comes in at roughly $26.37 every day — that’s 8% of the average Greenland salary going toward daily lunches. What meal is costing so much? The most common fare is an open-faced sandwich.
The average American lunch costs $8.41, with the most common meal being a hamburger. Although, in different parts of the country, that price can be even higher. Echo Wang, the CEO and co-founder at EpicBooks, recommended packing a lunch at home to save cash rather than going out to eat. “Convenience comes at a price. If you’re looking to save, meal prepping and cooking at home when you can goes a long way.”
2. Sweden
Swedish lunches came in second at $16.86 per meal on average. Like those in Greenland, Swedes are typically eating open faced sandwiches on their lunch breaks. One difference: in Sweden, open faced sandwiches contain 323 calories on average, while they’re closer to 500 in Greenland.
3. Turkey
The most common lunch in Turkey is the döner kebab, which costs $15.49 on average. For the average Turkish worker, that’s a huge chunk of their salary at 36%. Döner kebab typically has around 600 calories a serving.
4. Canada
Lunch in Canada is $13.26 on average, with most workers opting for poutine. This works out to be about 17% of the average Canadian salary. Wang commented that Canada has been experiencing a fair amount of inflation, but residents have pretty much accepted it. “People seem to accept the rising costs as just another part of the economic landscape. This lack of pushback lets businesses raise prices without much worry about losing customers.”
5. Kazakhstan
The average lunch in Kazakhstan is beshbarmak — a dish made with boiled meat and noodles. The average worker spends $12.34 on an average lunch. One shocking fact is that workers in Kazakhstan spend 40% of their annual salary on work lunches. According to the survey, this was the highest portion of a salary spent on lunch.
6. Norway
Once again, open faced sandwiches make an appearance as the most popular fare in Norway when it comes to lunch. However, Norwegian sandwiches have a few more calories than others on the list at 929 calories. On average, workers in Norway spend $11.19 each day for the midday meal. This is about 5% of the average salary as a whole.
7. Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, workers typically break to eat kabsa, which is a dish made with rice, chicken, vegetables and spices like cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, black lime, bay leaves and nutmeg. This comes in at around 910 calories. The average amount spent translates to about $10.88 in American dollars. Like Turkey, workers in Saudi Arabia spend a healthy 36% of their annual salary on lunches.
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