| Free Newsletters Healthful Menu Options: Fact or Fiction?
If consumers say they want more healthful menu options but don’t often order those better-for-you foods, what’s a foodservice operator to do?
No question is likely to be more pressing yet more difficult to easily answer this year, and will continue to be so until consumers’ expressed desires
Operators’ difficulty in balancing these contrary pressures is growing. Philadelphia-based Aramark’s annual Nutritional DiningStyles research last year found that while a large majority (71%) of consumers agree that they ultimately are responsible for their own healthful dining choices, the percentage has declined from 79% two years earlier. “They’re reaching out,” says Jenifer Bland-Campbell, Aramark senior director of nutrition program development. “What they’re saying is, 'We’re feeling helpless.’”
It’s an emotion operators are coming to terms with: How should foodservice respond to that call for help?
To start, understand that consumers are not a monolithic group. Aramark segments the adult population into six groups based on their attitudes toward health and nutrition (see “Dining Demographics,” opposite page). “Aramark and the industry as a whole is struggling with the need to serve all consumers,” Bland-Campbell says. “Getting everyone on the healthy-eating bandwagon is not as easy as we all would like it to be. Some people already are trying to eat healthfully, while others may need a little extra push and some just aren’t ready to make that move.”
Help those who are ready to find foods right for them, she says. Let others know about all the choices available, but if a hamburger is what they want today, fire up the grill.
Contact writer at shume@reedbusiness.com
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