It was an appreciated change of pace in our office kitchen, which usually offers up a smorgasbord of Keurig cups, plastic utensils and a few pounds of sugar packets.

Suffice to say, it was a big day at the office.

In an age where salaries only jump when you change jobs, and bonuses seem like an old myth, seemingly small workplace perks offer a big payout for employee satisfaction and engagement.

It's no secret. Studies (and, of course, anecdotal evidence) back it up.

One such study of 1,000 office employees by Peapod, a grocery delivery company, suggests offering employees free food is an easy way to keep them happy and productive. Those who were offered snacks on the job reported significantly higher levels of job satisfaction than those who weren't.

The free-food perk also keeps workers more productive. A 2011 study from Staples found that half of all workers left the office to get snacks at least once a day, with some people making as many as five trips to get their sugar fix, so offering food is a sure way to keep your employees at their desks.

There's also the wellness part of the equation: Companies can easily help mold healthy behavior by offering healthy food in the office. The question is: Do you want your employees to hit the vending machine for a Snickers and a bag of Cheetos, or would you rather they snack on some fruit and a granola bar?

More proof that employees love their free snacks? When some of the companies who did offer the perk decided to do away with it—Sprint recently said it would end the era of free office snacks to boost its bottom line, and Kraft even yanked its own Kraft-made snacks (save the cheese sticks!) from office fridges earlier this summer—they received a lot of negative attention. (People are very passionate about food, as you can imagine.)

Turns out, the meager savings that come from killing the free food, or not offering the perk altogether (just 16 percent of workers reported having access to free food at work, Peapod says), aren't worth it.

While it seems that food really is the way to many employees' hearts (personal admission: food and snacks are basically my favorite thing ever), it represents so much more in a workplace.

Worksite cafes and cabinets and refrigerators stocked with food join other workplace perks like flexible schedules, wellness programs and unlimited vacation time that are growing in importance to employees. These are cheap (or free!) perks that show employees they are valued and appreciated. And it's time to truly embrace them.

Personally, I'd love to see some snacks in the kitchen. As it turns out, the sugar packets are not that healthy—or filling.