Super foods?

The superfoods craze has infiltrated the retail market and some pub operators are embracing it on their menus. But is this a trend too far for pubs? Lucy Britner reports

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a blueberry. In the last year sales of this so-called superfood have shot up by 132% to £95m as consumers just can't get enough of superfoods, the sexy term for foods with perceived health-boosting benefits.

Sales of spinach, broccoli and salmon have also increased since the superfood phenomenon hit the headlines. Spinach sales have hit £42m - up from £32m - while spend on salmon increased by 31% to £450m.

The trend started with the blueberry, followed by pomegranates, acai berries and seaweed. Now a long list of expensive and exotic superfoods exists, with everyone from supermarkets to suppliers and manufacturers getting in on the act. But many pub operators are cashing in on the trend too. Laurel's Ha! Ha! Bar introduced a superfoods salad to its menu in May and now sells an average of 235 superfood salads, per site, every week.

The Ha! Ha! superfood salad consists of summer leaves, apple, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, celery, cucumber, walnuts and feta with a lemon dressing (£7.50).

HA! HA! menu development chef Simon Blunt says: "Our customers are more food-savvy than ever before. We are always looking at our food offer and making sure it adapts according to changing customer preferences while embracing new trends in food evolution.

"Health is a big consideration in our menu development. Our customers are health conscious - so we wanted to offer them a good range of healthier, lower-fat options, which are also high in essential nutrients, helping consumers to reach optimum levels of health. The superfood salad was clearly a great way to do just that."

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has picked up on the superfoods trend in its new food-facts booklet. The company lists several products as "super", including oily fish such as tuna and salmon, watercress,

broccoli, peanuts, olives, avocado and blueberries.

JDW food development manager Jameson Robinson says: "We identified a need to help customers identify what they're eating. We feel we have a responsibility to pin-point the products used in dishes. There's always a lot of talk about avoiding certain foods, but we wanted to highlight the positives.

"We will continue to identify and promote positive ingredients in our food-facts booklet, rather than

bombarding customers with too much information on the menu."

Pod, an eco-friendly café at London Wall, near Moorgate, features superfoods heavily in its offer. Most Pod foods contain at least one superfood. To be classified as superfoods, Pod products need to have two or more superfood ingredients.

The Pod menu includes a summer superfood salad (£4.50) consisting of carrots, broad beans, sugar snap peas, alfalfa, chervil, cauliflower, rocket, mint, coriander and fresh herb dressing and a blueberry smoothie.

A special star symbol highlights dishes that include a superfood product on the menu, which also features facts about superfood products such as acai berries. The café sells an average of 150 superfood salads daily.

The craze has become so popular that the company is to open a second City of London site in September, with space for 100 covers.

Pod founder Tim Hall says: "It's a key part of the Pod offer to provide healthy food - and eating superfoods is a great way to be healthy.

"Consumer awareness of superfoods has been growing fast for about three years, driven by the fact that media interest in health and nutrition is becoming so mainstream.

"Only recently have conveniently consumable superfood products been made widely available and variety is increasing as the sector grows rapidly. Sales growth in superfoods and beverage lines is at least 25% ahead of traditional lines. The past year has seen the strongest growth and we anticipate this trend to continue for the next two to three years."

Fresh-produce supplier Fresh Direct's sales director David Burn says it has seen an increase in demand for superfoods but confusion about what actually constitutes a superfood prevails. David says: "Consumers still don't fully understand the notion of superfoods. The Government has taken several years to increase fresh-produce consumption with campaigns such as five-a-day, so targeting and promoting certain lines via the superfoods tag is a tall order."

In fact, so much confusion surrounds the superfoods label that the Government has stepped in to help consumers understand the term and its meaning.

Some nutritionists say superfoods can protect against cancer and heart disease, while others suggest a lack of evidence to support this. New EU legislation, which came into force on 1 July, means that in the future the term can only be used when accompanied by an authorised health claim telling consumers why the food is good for their health. Food manufacturers and caterers will have two years to change marketing and packaging to comply with the new rules and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) anticipates that it will take three years to compile a definitive list of superfoods and others with health benefits.

An FSA spokesman says: "General claims about benefits to overall good health, such as 'healthy' or 'good for you', will only be allowed to be used if accompanied by an appropriate, approved claim. This means that more general claims will be backed up by an explanation about why the food is 'healthy' or what makes it a 'superfood'." The FSA hopes the new rules will clear up any confusion about this term.

But many operators feel pub menus aren't right for superfoods and wouldn't flag them up on menus. Ross Williams, chef/owner of the Wellington, in Wellington, Hereford, says people don't necessarily eat out for health benefits. "Superfoods strike me as something people will eat at home." he says. "They normally come to the pub for a night off and a bit of indulgence. We put blueberries in our crème brûlée - but I don't think people eat it for its superfood!"

Geronimo Inns training and recruitment chef Peter Wright says food trends tend to appear and disappear fairly quickly. "We did an Atkins menu a long time ago, but that went out of fashion," he says. "We don't highlight specific super-

foods - we just use fresh, seasonal produce. We don't set out to be nutritionists. People think with their stomachs - if it sounds, smells and looks good, they're more likely to order it."

But Fresh Direct's David Burn says some pubs already utilise superfoods. "Pub chefs who add superfoods to menus mostly use them as a garnish, or occasionally as a dessert, for example, the pomegranate arils sprinkled over salad, or a mixed-berry fruit salad," he says.

Whether they are proven superfoods or not, ingredients such as blackcurrants, blueberries and turkey are enjoying a big surge in consumer popularity.

Embracing them on your menu, even if you don't label them as superfoods, certainly makes good business sense.

Healthy menu ideas

Blueberry and yoghurt smoothie; pumpkin and broccoli soup; turkey salad with tomato and walnut; tomato and orange soup; Atholl brose (yoghurt, toasted oats, honey and whisky);

five-bean chilli with fresh tomato