How do you organise a good lunch at work?

Tuesday, a quarter past twelve, in a meeting room in Ede. The morning session is running over, the laptops are still open and someone asks whether lunch has arrived. A little later there are boxes of filled rolls on the table, a jug of water and a bowl of fruit. The conversation moves from the agenda to the weekend.

A lunch like that looks like a side issue, but a lot comes together in it: what is on the table, how long the break lasts and whether people really step away from their work. What do the Dutch public health institute, the national nutrition centre and the government have to say? And how do you use that to organise a lunch that does your team some good?

How the Dutch eat lunch

The Dutch lunch revolves around bread, dairy and something to drink, and it often starts between 12 noon and 1 pm. That is what Wat eet Nederland shows, the national food consumption survey run by the RIVM, the Dutch public health institute, covering 2019 to 2021.

Bread plays a big part. Of all the bread, grains, rice and pasta people eat, an average of 38 percent is eaten at lunch, according to the RIVM. For eggs the figure is 36 percent. Lunch itself provides 22 percent of the energy people take in over a day.

Vegetables are often missing from that lunch. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, the Voedingscentrum, around 81 percent of the vegetables people eat are eaten at dinner, 12 percent at lunch and 6 percent as snacks. The advice for adults is at least 250 g of vegetables a day.

What makes a healthy lunch?

A healthy lunch is made from foods in the Schijf van Vijf, the Dutch Wheel of Five, with brown or wholegrain bread as the base and vegetables or fruit alongside. Lunch gives you the nutrients and energy to get through the afternoon, writes the Voedingscentrum.

That could be a wholegrain roll with a healthy filling, but just as well a green salad or a homemade soup. Whatever you choose, variety is good. For a change, the Voedingscentrum suggests a wholegrain wrap, rye bread or wholegrain crispbread. Fillings should come from the Wheel of Five, such as:

• 100% peanut butter or hummus
• 30+ cheese (a Dutch lower fat cheese), an egg or fish
• vegetables and fruit, such as slices of cucumber or tomato on your bread

White bread, croissants, soup from a carton and cold cuts are not in the Wheel of Five. Shop bought soup is often very salty, and cold cuts contain a lot of salt, with the fattier kinds high in saturated fat as well. Drink water, tea or coffee without sugar with your lunch.

For professionals, the Voedingscentrum is more precise still. Its criteria for composite products and meals, published on 9 April 2026, set out when a filled roll meets its advice.

Why a real break matters

Anyone who works more than 5.5 hours is entitled by law to a break of at least 30 minutes. The rule is set out in the Dutch Working Hours Act, the Arbeidstijdenwet, and the Dutch government explains it clearly.

You may split that break into two quarters of an hour. If you work more than 10 hours, you are entitled to 45 minutes, which can be divided into breaks of at least 15 minutes. A collective labour agreement may depart from the law, but even then there must be at least one 15 minute break after 5.5 hours of work. A working day may not start or end with a break either, because a break is meant to interrupt working time.

Whether your break is paid is not something the Working Hours Act decides. You do not work during a break, so under the law you have no right to wages for it. Your employment contract or collective agreement may say otherwise.

Having the right to a break is not the same as taking it. Juriena de Vries, assistant professor at Leiden University, calls it the recovery paradox: when you are busy, you are least likely to take time to relax.

At work, she says, recovery is mostly about small things, such as getting up now and then to stretch your legs or having lunch with your colleagues. You need a break most, according to De Vries, at exactly the moment you think you have no time for one. As an example of what an organisation can do, she mentions a weekly lunch with your team.

Planning lunch for a meeting or training day

Start with the group and the schedule, and only then choose the sandwiches. How many people are coming, who has a dietary need or allergy, and what time does everything need to be on the table?

The Voedingscentrum wrote advice on healthy, sustainable catering, first of all for the Dutch government. Caterers of staff restaurants, their clients and private organisations can use the criteria too. A few of the points suit any meeting lunch:

• Offer at least one plant based option in every category, the sandwiches included.
• Make free tap water available to everyone.
• Serve vegetables and fruit in a way that makes them easy to eat.
• Watch the waste. In the advice, waste from lunch buffets, receptions and meeting lunches is a category of its own.

Ask about dietary needs and allergies in advance and pass them on to whoever makes the lunch. More on allergens in the 14 food allergens. For colleagues who eat vegetarian, vegan or gluten free, see vegetarian and gluten free guests.

Plan lunch around the time most people eat it anyway, between 12 noon and 1 pm. Put it in the middle of the schedule rather than at the end, because a break should interrupt the working day. And do not leave sandwiches and salads on the table for hours afterwards. How long that is safe is explained in how long food can sit out.

How many sandwiches each person needs depends on your group, the time of day and what else is on the table. Agree it with your caterer beforehand and less will be left over. More tips are in less food waste at parties.

Lunch catering in Ede, Amsterdam and beyond

If you would rather not organise lunch yourself, you can order filled rolls from Maximus Catering. Chef David Nagib, owner of Maximus Catering in Ede, provides a lunch with sandwiches from € 5.75 per person. You agree the number of guests and the selection with him, and share dietary needs and allergies in advance.

A business lunch in Ede, a training day in Amsterdam or a team day anywhere else in the Netherlands: David caters across the country. If the day runs longer, add a fruit tower or vegetable fan, from € 3.95 per person for 15 guests or more. Or finish with grazing boards, from € 12.50 per person for 8 guests or more. Both prices include VAT.

Planning a lunch for your team in Ede, Amsterdam or beyond? Call chef David Nagib on +31 6 14336361, see the lunch or read all about business catering.