Healthy balance: Catering for health-conscious customers

08-Dec-2011 - Last updated on 08-Dec-2011 at 10:49 GMT

Related tags Nutrition

Harvester salad: A healthy pub option

The usual period of over-indulgence during the festive season, coupled with a rising consumer interest in healthier eating, means many of your customers may be looking out for lighter options in January and beyond.

While that does not necessarily translate to an increase in healthier purchases when dining out, the need for transparency and healthier options certainly exists.

Momentum has been growing for mandatory calorie-labelling, with the British Hospitality Association expecting legislation to that effect to be introduced by 2013.

A Unilever Food Solutions survey found more than two-thirds of consumers wanted to see more information on menus, such as calorie content, to help them make a decision.

Tilda head of foodservice Mark Lyddy says the nation’s move towards healthier options represents an opportunity for operators.

“This ‘menu transformation’ is not difficult to achieve,” says Lyddy. “And it means your food will be attractive to more consumers during 2012, which can only be a good thing in terms of business.”

He suggests operators work towards reducing salt and saturated fat content, use healthier cooking methods, introduce lighter menu options and offer alternatives such as rice instead of chips or salad instead of bread.

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) began listing calorie information on its website last year and has had a positive response from customers. Senior food development manager Jameson Robinson says it is the most popular section on the firm’s website.

“The most popular healthy dish is sweet chilli noodles with red peppers, spring onion, bamboo shoots and carrot, with or without chicken (356 calories, 5% fat),” he says.

“Since listing them as healthy options, we generally sell more of the healthier dishes, such as the superfood salad, sweet chilli noodles and reggae reggae chicken breast wrap.

“Similar information will be printed on menus from late March 2012. We already list calories on more than 20 healthier dishes on our menu, but from March, all dishes will have calorie listings on the printed menu.

"We have also been working on our products and tweaking them where necessary to ensure we are controlling the saturated fats and total calories in certain meals.”

Calorie counting

Mitchells & Butlers’ Harvester is among several chains to list calorie counts for every dish on its menu, and was the first UK-wide restaurant brand to do so in March. Six months after this introduction, average customer calorie consumption was down by just 25 calories.

The slight change was quantified by a shift from red meat choices to white meat and fish and changes in dessert decisions. Customers have been opting for lower-calorie side dishes, such as new potatoes instead of fries.

Harvester said more than two-thirds of its facebook fans were supportive of the move to show the information, which can be accessed online, and via smartphones and restaurant menus, some calorie and other nutritional information on new 2012 menus at
its 66 Revolution bars, and the top 10 healthiest dishes on the menu will be highlighted.

“There is the market there for people who want to know more about what they are eating,” said food operations manager Ioan
Eyton-Jones.

Revolution is also working to reduce salt and has cut the salt in pizza bases by half.

Attitudes are changing gradually. Him!’s On Track 2011 report found that just 31% of 670 respondents said the presence of nutrition information was likely to affect their choice of venue, compared to 31% who deemed it unlikely and 33% who said it was very unlikely.

Other operators have gone down a different route. M&B’s All Bar One has introduced a new menu, which points out two dishes that are under 400 calories and contain less than 3% fat.

Healthy competition

Demand for healthier foods is partly evidenced by the response in the past few years to the surge in brands and cuisines entering the UK, including Mexican and Japanese outlets, such as Chilango and Wasabi. They fly the flag for healthier food, served fast — and people are liking it.

Paul Backman, director of services at foodservice consultancy Horizons, says: “The demographic base of pubs has widened to include women and families — and healthier and more varied food in pubs is more important than ever.

“Mexican food is already evident in the pub sector as it’s a cuisine that is fairly easy and inexpensive to prepare, ideal for customers to share and represents a more casual way of dining.

“Some 34 of the 47 pub brands covered by Horizons’ Menurama research feature a Mexican dish on their menu ranging from chilli, fajitas, enchiladas, burritos, and quesadillas to tacos in main courses and nachos for starters.”

He adds: “Our Ones to Watch research shows that Japanese quick service is another important and growing trend, ideally suited to both healthy eating and snacking on-the-go. Japanese is a harder proposition for pubs to achieve but is extremely varied and doesn’t necessarily mean sushi and sashimi dishes.

"Noodle-based dishes, ramen and miso soups and yakitori (grilled meats) could be useful additions to pub menus as they offer a healthy, more adventurous option for diners.”

Healthier meats

With Christmas approaching, turkey is big on people’s radar and is one of the healthiest meats. It is low in fat and saturated fat and is versatile, lending itself to traditional roasts, stir fries and curries.

Linda Covey, licensee of the Trout Inn in Beulah in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, found red meat was losing its popularity as a high proportion of customers are walkers and cyclists, looking for healthier options.

The pub’s most popular meal is a roast dinner (£7 or £5 for a small portion). Covey offers Bernard Matthews Golden Norfolk Raw Boneless Single Turkey Breast Lobe, which can be used on a carvery, in mains or in wraps and sandwiches. Turkey can also be used as a healthier ingredient in burger patties and meatballs.

“Quorn can also be used a key ingredient in traditional pub dishes as a way to meet customers’ needs for their favourite meals, but in a healthier form,” says Tony Davison, commercial manager foodservice for Quorn Foods.

Quorn can be used in dishes such as sausage and mash or fajitas or in mince recipes such as cottage pie.

Attract groups by targeting individuals

Licensee Carol Haime, of Enterprise lease the Sandrock in Farnham, Surrey, features a dedicated section on her menu offering healthier options, including as much information as possible about the content of each of the dishes.

The pub has been a

warded two consecutive gold awards from Surrey County Council in its Eat Out Eat Well scheme.

Healthier dishes are most popular during the week and at lunch times and particularly with women. Best-sellers include: Thai salmon & prawn fish cakes with sweet chilli sauce, new potatoes and salad; 6oz grilled BLT burger in a wholemeal bun with new potatoes; and a home-made falafel burger with half-fat beetroot crème fraîche.

The pub’s soup of the day is always vegetarian and virtually free of fat, dairy and wheat.

Haime says: “We like to offer something for everybody. Quite often one member of a group can influence where the others will eat because they are trying to eat healthily, whether that means being on a diet or trying to cut down on salt or saturated fats.

“If we can woo them, their friends are more than happy to accompany them for a less healthy meal.

“Quite often parents of very young children are keen for them to share a meal but are worried about salt content in particular.
“The menu is split into three main sections: ‘Indulge yourself’ — Sandrock specials; ‘Treat yourself’ — British pub classics; and ‘Look after yourself’ — Sandrock healthy options.

“We use the Eat Out Eat Well logo to denote healthier options in the first two sections and include health hints at the bottom of the pages.

“Healthy eating is not all about the calories.”

The pub also caters for people who have other health requirements by offering dishes low in salt, free of gluten or dairy or tweaked in other ways to suit every individual.

Menu descriptions

When a diner scans a menu, all they have to go on is dish descriptions. It’s good to strike a happy medium — not too sparse or superfluous, but accurate, informative and appetising.

International nutritionist Mary Dunkersloot suggests: “Describing dishes as ‘low fat’ and ‘low sodium’ might not hold strong appeal, but if the chef can reduce salt and fat in all dishes, highlighting fresh, natural ingredients, it’s a winner all round.

“People respond better to descriptive menus promoting healthy eating in a way that doesn’t sacrifice taste,” she explains, recommending using ‘whole grain’, ‘natural’ and ‘local’ instead of ‘low sodium’.

“Streamlining all dishes to make them a bit lighter makes healthy food the norm, not the exception.”

Source: Unilever Foodsolutions

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