Hitting The Sweet Spot

Developing healthy foodservice menus for kids with plenty of fruits and veggies is a boon for parents and grocers alike.

Supermarkets have come a long way from the $5 chicken Tuesdays — they now offer a wide range of healthy foodservice options for moms on the go. Traditional deli offerings have evolved into a menu of opportunities in the retail aisles; differentiation is taking on many forms, and offering healthy options for children is key.

Since consumers are sourcing foodservice from a wider variety of locations, it makes sense for supermarkets to follow restaurant trends. For the third consecutive year, the National Restaurant Association's (NRA) 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast finds healthful kids' meals ranking No. 1 in hot trends on limited-service menus, with fruit and vegetable sides in kids' meals ranked second. (These same items top the list of menu trends for full-service restaurants as well.)

What's in your prepared meals case right now? Are there any tasty kid-friendly dishes with fruits or vegetables that Mom can conveniently put on the table and still feel good about serving? Supermarket prepared foods appeal to consumers seeking convenient, low-cost alternatives, and those looking for an alternative to home cooking (that has "parents" written all over it!). Add "healthy for kids," and you'll be in step with leading foodservice operators already responding to the call.

Darden Corp., a member of Produce Marketing Association (PMA), is the world's largest full-service restaurant company, with 1,900 locations across North America serving more than 400 million meals annually. Last year, the Orlando, Fla.-based company announced nutrition standards to guide the development of its healthy kids' menu options. Today, each restaurant offers a kids' menu featuring at least one option meeting the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans' standards for calories, sodium and fat. Fruits and vegetables are the default side for every kids' meal, and 1 percent milk is the default beverage.

But offering healthy meals isn't enough. Kids don't eat nutrition standards; they eat great-tasting foods. When it comes to appealing to kids through healthy menu options, flavor is the cherry on top.

So how do we develop healthy kids' menus and prepare fruits and vegetables as great-tasting foods with flavors that kids will gobble up and parents will grab from stores? If it takes a village to raise a child, it's going to take a supply chain to feed a child deliciously healthy meals with fruits and vegetables at foodservice.

A good starting point is PMA's upcoming annual Foodservice Conference, which will feature a "flavor lab" for chefs to experiment with kid-friendly dishes and tastes while devoting "half the plate" to fruits and vegetables. PMA and NRA will also share what their collaborative effort to increase fresh produce usage in foodservice has found to work.

Ask yourself: Are you talking with your produce suppliers, like Darden is, about irresistible, kid-friendly flavors for prepared foods? Are you considering current dietary guidance for your prepared meals? Does your foodservice staff team work with your in-house dietitian? I'm not suggesting changing the system, but rather flooding the current system with healthy, flavorful items that resonate with kids and busy parents.

Dietary guidance making half the plate fruits and vegetables, mobilization around healthy kids' menus, consumer demands for healthier foods — if you're reading the signs, then you'll recognize industry's responsibility in making the healthy choice the easy and most delicious choice for the many people we feed.

Supermarket foodservice isn't the exception to this healthy call to action. Plus, offering healthy, tasty prepared foods for kids just might be a sweet spot to set your stores apart. PG

Anthony Barbieri is VP of sales and business development for the Produce Marketing Association. He may be reached at [email protected].

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