‘I have worked a job where it was BYO K-Cup’: Amazon tells workers to stop eating so much fruit

An alleged leaked email from Amazon has a request for workers: stop eating so much fruit.

The email, which appears to come from Amazon’s offices in Iasi, Romania, encourages workers who are utilizing the company’s “Daily Fruit Program” to limit themselves to one piece of fruit per person.

“I personally supported this initiative with enthusiasm,” the email reads. “However, after reviewing the way it is functioning now, listening to anecdotes from across teams, as well as through my personal observation, I am less enthusiastic that the ‘Daily Fruit Program’ is actually working as intended.”

“As I stated above, the initiative should benefit all employees who come to office, however right now it is only benefiting some, largely because we are abusing it,” the email continues.

The message goes on to say that, while the sender had hoped people would be reasonable with their fruit allotment, they had seen employees with an “armful of fruit,” despite the guidelines “clearly instruct[ing] us to pick up only 1 fruit per person.”

This email has prompted significant discussion around the internet. One person spurring that conversation is TikTok user Alberta (@alberta.nyc), who recently made a video sharing her thoughts on the topic.

In a clip with over 1.1 million views, Alberta notes that free fruit, specifically bananas, is something for which Amazon had previously been known.

“In places like Seattle, their HQ, they would have these trucks, they would drive them around, and they would give out bananas from the trucks,” she explains. “In Seattle, they have lots of different Amazon buildings. So the people come out of the building, they go to the truck, they get their banana, and then they would leave in some offices.”

It is true that some Amazon locations offer free bananas. According to Business Insider, “In the first year and a half, Amazon gave out 1.7 million bananas…Today, Amazon says, it distributes thousands of bananas each week. It also has a total of seven stands: Two in Seattle, one in nearby Bellevue, one in Nashville, two in Arlington, and another in Tokyo.”

However, this appears to be a different program than the Daily Fruit Program referenced in the email.

Regardless, Alberta commented on the stinginess apparently on display from Amazon given this email.

“My favorite parts of the email are one where he says this is not an issue with quantity. However, the basis of the email is that they are running out of fruit every day,” she says.

Alberta isn’t the only one to comment on the Daily Fruit Program. Other parts of this discussion have spilled onto Reddit, where one user allegedly showed a job offer he received from the Amazon Iasi offices. Much of the content of the email is about the daily fruit program.

@alberta.nyc I have worked a job where it was BYO k-cup but at least the keurig was unlimited use ???? #greenscreen #amazon #techemployees ♬ original sound - Alberta

In the comments section, users commented on the fact that Amazon, one of the biggest companies in the world, was allegedly being stingy with fruit.

“Teach the CEO to accept a frugal salary,” said a user.

“It’s so funny that Amazon will happily pay someone a $300k salary, but the moment that person wants a second 10 cent banana it’s too much,” added another.

“Maybe if they had given raises to employees this year their employees could afford to buy fruit instead of raiding the office fruit stand,” suggested a third.

The Daily Dot reached out to Amazon and Alberta via email.

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