Data Bites: Top 3 Company Types Investing in Pantry Programs

Not all companies are investing in their pantry program in the same way.

In 2025, a clear pattern emerges from Crafty-powered pantries: the companies spending the most are also the ones innovating the most. Financial services firms are modernizing trading desks. Technology companies are building AI systems. BioTech organizations are accelerating research and innovation.

Pantry investment is rising where performance expectations are highest, and competition for talent is most intense.

Let's dig in! 

The Top 3 Company Types Investing in Pantry

The companies investing the most in pantry in 2025 are the same ones moving fastest on AI adoption.

They are restructuring teams, embedding AI into daily workflows, and competing aggressively for talent to support that shift. As work becomes more cognitively demanding, employees need better fuel to be more analytical, more creative, and more productive.

Based on average spend per office per month across 2025 Crafty-powered pantries, here are the company types that are setting the standard:

Markets & Trading (Financial Services)

Average Monthly Pantry Spend per Office: $17,058

Financial services firms are rapidly expanding technical teams as AI becomes embedded in trading, fraud detection, and risk modeling. These roles demand sustained concentration, precision under pressure, and long hours tied to market cycles rather than standard schedules. Cognitive fatigue carries real consequences, where small errors can compound quickly.

Increased pantry investment shows up in performance-forward programs designed to stabilize energy and reduce volatility during long, high-stakes work blocks. In this environment, the pantry functions as infrastructure.

AI & Data (Technology)

Average Monthly Pantry Spend per Office: $11,420

Technology companies building AI and data platforms are obviously further along in AI adoption because they are the ones creating it. AI is embedded directly into workflows, accelerating output and shifting work toward higher-order thinking, iteration, and judgment.

Pantry programs in these environments have shifted from abundance to intention. Investment prioritizes high-protein snacks, fiber-rich options, lower-sugar beverages, and hydration that support sustained creative stamina. Snack spaces also create physical collision zones where teams reconnect during increasingly digital workdays.

BioTech (Technology)

Average Monthly Pantry Spend per Office: $10,378

BioTech organizations operate at the intersection of scientific rigor and technological acceleration. Research cycles are long. Precision is critical. Progress is incremental.

Pantry investment supports consistent energy and wellness-forward routines aligned with innovation cultures. Increased spend reflects the need for endurance, focus, and stability across extended experimentation and cross-functional collaboration.

Want to see how your industry and company type stack up?
See Your Industry →

How Workplace and Procurement Leaders Can Apply These Insights

In AI-exposed industries, workplace experience is how companies compete for and support the talent driving their transformation. When you know how you stack up, you can decide whether to maintain, optimize, or elevate your strategy.

Here’s how to use these insights:

• Benchmark against your true peers: Compare your pantry investment to others in your industry and company type to reveal whether you are leading, aligned, or lagging
• Align spend with talent competition: If you are competing for engineers, data scientists, or technical specialists, your workplace experience should reflect the cognitive demands of those roles
• Use data to advocate internally: Industry-level benchmarks provide procurement and workplace leaders with objective data to justify budget decisions and demonstrate how pantry investment supports retention and performance

Why Real-Time Pantry Spend Data Is Crucial When Comparing Against Peers

The challenge is not just knowing how your industry stacks up. It is knowing where you stand in real time.

Most pantry vendors still operate on PDF invoices, making workplace leaders spend too many hours reconciling line items, building unnecessary spreadsheets, and trying to understand spend weeks or even months after the fact. By the time patterns are identified, optimization opportunities are already lost, and that delay creates a major disadvantage when trying to operate at the highest level.

Real-time pantry spend visibility changes the equation: 

• Make faster optimization decisions: Adjust product mix, replenishment cadence, or budget allocation immediately
• Identify overspend or underinvestment early: Catch imbalances before they compound throughout the year
• Protect your competitive edge: Close gaps quickly, strengthen your talent proposition, and avoid falling behind peers

Conclusion

Markets & trading firms, AI & data companies, and BioTech organizations are operating in environments where cognitive load is high, talent competition is intense, and precision matters.

In AI-driven sectors moving the fastest, pantry strategy is part of how companies compete. Spend visibility allows workplace and procurement leaders to benchmark against true peers, adjust quickly, and align pantry investment with the actual demands of their workforce.

Want to see how your industry and company type stack up?
See Your Industry →