Committed to healthy living

Kraft is committed to helping people around the world eat and live better – and where better to start than in the office!  

Our first Healthy Living Week in May was a clear demonstration of Kraft’s commitment to health and wellness. It not only provided an insight into the actions we are taking as a company, but also gave us all the opportunity to reflect on our own lifestyles and to think about doing something different.

Given your positive feedback, we want to make Healthy Living part of our daily working lives. We’re acting on your feedback about the sorts of things you’d like to do and try, and will be introducing some regular, as well as some special one-off, initiatives that might inspire us all to be just a little bit healthier.

These initiatives will be in-line with Kraft’s key messages for a healthy lifestyle:

• Eat well
• Be sensible about portions
• Be active
• Build success

In particular, remember that each change – no matter how small – can help build sustained and long-term health and well-being. Here’s how to take that first step...

ON THE ROAD TO HEALTHY LIVING

Eat well
Healthy Living doesn’t mean you have to stick to a diet of lettuce leaves and carrots. Just think about what you eat and choose a nutritionally balanced diet that includes food and beverages from the major food groups.

It is recommended that we eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. They are good sources of many vitamins and minerals, and – according to the Food Standards Agency – there is also mounting evidence that they help reduce the risk of diseases such as coronary heart disease and some cancers. Yet, most of us don’t eat enough fruit and veg.

Kraft will help you get to at least 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. Since many of you put the fruit baskets provided during Healthy Living Week on top of your list of things you’d like to see continued, we are going to provide free weekly fruit baskets in the Kew House kitchen areas. Also, you can enjoy the fruit salad on offer for breakfast, and the salad and vegetables available at lunchtime.

Rich in vitamins, fibre and antioxidants, and generally low in fat and calories, fruit and vegetables are ideal as an energy-boosting snack. But they can also be whizzed up into delicious and filling drinks. “My smoothie kept me going right to 1pm – I didn’t need anything else for breakfast,” said one devotee of Healthy Living Week’s smoothie bar. As a result, the bar will be back on the last Friday of each month. Look out for the various exotic drinks on offer, like “Peach Blush” and “Tomato Blazer”.

To keep healthy we also need to ensure we are drinking enough fluids – around 6-8 glasses a day – as our bodies need them to work properly. Dehydration can also cause unpleasant side effects like lack of concentration, irritability and headaches.  Kraft helps you prevent this by providing free bottled water at Kew House, as well as tea and coffee. Water proves an all-time favourite here at Kew, with three bottles a day consumed per person each day.

Be sensible about portions
In the face of rising obesity, we should all be conscious of how much we eat, and base the amount on our weight, size and how active we are. Different foods have different nutrient and calorie values, and foods high in sugar and fat should be eaten only in small amounts.

At Kraft help to control your food intake is at hand. Not only does the Kew House canteen buffet allow you to choose your own meal from a variety of main courses, veg and salads, but Tracey and her team also provide a daily low-fat meal! Simply choose the dish marked in green if you want the low-fat option. More descriptive menus will also be introduced, to give you an idea of what different meals comprise and help you monitor what you’re eating.

Be active
Physical activity is as important to keeping fit and healthy as a balanced diet. But you don’t need to become the next Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jane Fonda. Just 30 minutes’ physical activity a day can make a difference.

Kraft will be offering you the opportunity to make a start at getting active with weekly Pilates classes and football games. These were your favourite activities during our Healthy Living Week, and so they will be back by popular demand. More information on dates and times can be found on page X.

If neither is to your liking, then why not get the most out of the Kraft Employee Advantage scheme, which gives you a discount at some of the UK’s leading health clubs. You can kick-start your fitness programme at Cannons, Harpers Fitness, LA Fitness, David Lloyd Holmes Place, Living Well and many more clubs, all of which have a wide range of activities on offer. To find out more, check out the Employee Advantage website www.employeeadvantage.co.uk or ring 0870 01 01 615.

Some Kraft employees have also taken up the opportunity for more energetic activities, such as the London to Brighton bike ride, which was not only great exercise but also supported the British Heart Foundation. In a superb effort, the team of 29 riders raised more than £3,300. Kraft will be organizing further activity events in aid of charity next year.

In addition, as a Kraft employee you – plus a guest – have free access to Kew Gardens, one of London’s most extensive, beautiful and famous parks. Take a stroll during your lunch break to fill your lungs with fresh air and notch up some exercise. Or join one of several guided tours available at this World Heritage Site – at the moment you can enjoy the Autumn Harvest and Autumn Colour Tours.

And don’t forget the step-counter you received during Healthy Living Week. You can use it to count steps on a daily basis and try to make small changes. “I now use the stairs rather than the lift in the office,” says Wendy Milloy, “and try to walk every evening after work to help towards the 10,000 steps.”  

Hopefully with all these different choices on offer, we can all start to be a little bit more active.

Build success
For long-term improvement of your health and well-being, it’s important to keep informed about healthy living issues, and regularly check your state of health and your level of fitness.

Kraft gives you the opportunity to get a free health screening on a regular basis. All Kraft Western Europe Kew and Chiswick Park based employees can benefit from a confidential Well Woman/ Well Man Screening once every two years, at the nearby, state-of-the-art Casualty Plus centre, at 1010 Great West Road, Brentford.

The screening covers a range of tests and examinations, including a health questionnaire, height and weight measurement, body mass index, and blood pressure. You receive a personal medical report and also get the opportunity to discuss your health with medical experts.

Kraft employees who have already taken advantage of the service are impressed.  “I would definitely recommend it to all Kraft employees,” says Michael Butcher. “Very professional,” adds Johan Stahl, while Danita Onraet found it “a helpful and beneficial experience”.

You can contact Ms Virna Le Roux, Occupational Health Co-ordinator at the centre, on 020 8380 6240 to make an appointment. Just mention to her that you are from Kraft. She has a list with Kraft employees eligible for the screening. If you have any questions or need more details on the booking process, please contact Katy Atkins, HR.

More than 150 people at Kraft Kew and Chiswick Park also benefited from ten minutes of desk massage during our Healthy Living Week in May. They praised it as the ideal method to ease aching muscles and tension in head, neck and shoulders.  Now you will get another opportunity to enjoy this holistic therapy as the desk massage returns on a quarterly basis. Masseurs and masseuses will first come back in again on December 10.

We will also continue to provide you with regular updates on the implementation of Kraft’s Health and Wellness strategies and actions for healthy living, so watch this space! And you can get extra information – including meal and fitness planners, calorie calculators, weight management tips and healthy recipes – from our Kraft Healthy Living website on www.kraftfoods.com/kf/HealthyLiving.

We hope this approach to health and wellness in the workplace, and the opportunities for trying activities, can help pave the way to long-term healthy living for us all.

KEEPING FIT CAN BE EASY!
Kraft is offering you the opportunity to take up football and yoga on a weekly basis from January on – and right on the doorstep at Brentford Leisure Centre.

This is a great opportunity to fit some activity into the busy working day without too much effort. But these sessions can only start if a minimum number of people commit to attending regularly, and they will only continue while there’s demand. So don’t let this chance slip away! Contact Martina Anzinger by 13? November to sign up – and encourage your colleagues to join too!

Keep the ball rolling at Brentford stadium
Do you feel the urge to kick the ball now that the World Cup qualifying matches have started? Weekly footie matches will take place at Brentford Leisure Centre from January on, and Kraft will cover the cost if a minimum of ten people sign up. Two or three volunteers would need to act as team captains and to take responsibility for the weekly booking of the pitch.

Contact Martina Anzinger by 13 November to register your interest and for information on how to book the court.

Exercise like the stars
In search of harmony of the body and soul? Then have a go at Pilates. Joseph Hubertus Pilates, the eponymous German inventor of this exercise regime, once said that the whole world would be a happier place if we just did his particular brand of stretching regularly. Numerous celebrities have already jumped on the bandwagon, and you can exercise like Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Hugh Grant.

From January, Kraft will be offering a new Pilates class with an experienced teacher at Brentford Leisure Centre. The course for Kraft employees only can be arranged and will take place at lunchtime on a weekday (most probably Monday). The day and time will be confirmed once we know the numbers. Kraft will cover the cost provided a minimum number of 15 people join.

Pilates is the ideal method to tone up and condition your body through a series of body alignment, posture, and stretching and breathing exercises. So don’t hesitate – contact Martina Anzinger by 13 November to sign up.

THIS WAS HEALTHY LIVING WEEK

Room for your views
Remember those healthy days in May? Find out what Kew and Chiswick employees thought about our Healthy Living Week.
We have evaluated your feedback, which you gave us in face-to-face interviews and by filling in our questionnaire. This is how you described the event:

There was also a strong desire to follow up on some things offered during Healthy Living Week. Here are your top three:

In summary, most people at Kew and Chiswick participated in at least one Healthy Living Week activity, and everybody enjoyed them or found them useful. 83% said they raised their awareness about healthy living, and 81% said they would be making personal changes as a result.
Having tried it at one of the morning sessions, Francesca Moretti has joined a tai chi class at Esporta, which she considers "a great alternative to yoga".
Healthy Living Week also provided more information about the actions Kraft is taking to address growing concerns about unhealthy lifestyles and increasing obesity.
These include a wide-ranging programme to improve the nutrition profile of our portfolio, adjust marketing practices and policies, provide consumers with information to help them make informed food and activity choices, and advocate for constructive public policy change.
83% said they had learnt more about Kraft’s Health and Wellness strategies as a result.
All in all, your feedback on our Healthy Living Week was positive. “It was great to be given an organized opportunity to practise a few things,” said Pawel Lipski. And Lyndsey Bradnick felt that “it made a difference to the general work outlook” while Sergio Carvalho applauded being shown “how we can all improve our habits and eat more healthily.”
Thank you for your participation, without which it could not have happened.

Red hot for Red Letter Days
Krista Sauerwald from Sales Strategy has good reason to smile - and not just because she is newly married.
She’s the lucky winner of the prize you were able to get by filling in our  evaluation questionnaire on the Healthy Living Week - a Red Letter Day-voucher  worth £100 .
The voucher allows her to choose from a wide range of pampering or adrenalin surging activities like race car driving, scuba diving, or a luxury spa day. But what will Krista be going for?
As she revealed, it will be a massage - the ideal therapy to relax and regain      energy. But before that, she has to make a tough choice.
In fact, Krista has to decide between a rejuvenating facial massage with  essential oils or a soothing shoulder, scalp, hand and foot massage.
Krista is not sure yet what to choose. “I think I'll have the facial,” she says, “but I'll see.”
With the voucher she could enjoy both, but she has generously invited her husband to have a massage too. Yet  getting Gunter to try the relaxing treat will - believe it or not - require a little bit of persuasion.
“You know how it is with boys,” Krista says, “when they hear about massage, they say ‘Why?’
“But then, once they have tried it, they think it's great.”
Those who were so lucky to get a sports or desk massage during Healthy Living Week can certainly only agree!