This is a special message from ConAgra Mills.
Whole grain foods at breakfast are a huge opportunity just beginning to be tapped in restaurants today. More consumers are looking for ways to add healthful whole grains to their diets and more whole grain items are popping up on morning menus.
An example is the Simple & Fit Whole Wheat French Toast Combo at IHOP, consisting of two slices of whole wheat French toast topped with sliced banana and served with scrambled egg substitute and two strips of turkey bacon. It’s one of more than 30 items under 600 calories on IHOP’s new menu.
Other restaurant menu items leveraging the nutritional appeal of whole grain and multigrain formulations include Panera Bread’s Breakfast Power Sandwich, made with two slices of whole grain bread griddled with eggs, Vermont white cheddar cheese and ham, Dunkin’ Donuts’ Multigrain Bagels and Egg White Flatbread Sandwiches, Coco’s Multi-Grain and Nut Pancakes and the Etruscan Whole Grain Squagel at Cosi.
At ConAgra Mills in Omaha, senior executive chef Stephen Hodge agreed that whole grains are trending up in the breakfast daypart.
“It seems that every restaurant that we go to in the breakfast arena is offering some kind of whole grain item, such as whole grain bagels, croissants or toast,” said Hodge.
“We are finding it more and more on the specials boards in the morning as operators test the waters,” added Hodge. “And we’re seeing things we didn’t see in the past, like Eggs Benedict made with whole wheat English muffins.”
Some foodservice operators are adding the goodness of whole grains to breakfast with Ultragrain® by ConAgra Mills, the first whole wheat flour to combine the nutritional benefits of whole grain with the mainstream appeal of traditional white flour. It appears in a variety of packaged foods including thaw-and-serve croissants and muffins, ready-bake doughs, cookies, pizza, and bread mixes. In restaurants and non-commercial operations, chefs are using it in place of refined flour to give a nutritional boost to pancake and waffle batters, baked goods and many other items. And in fact, more than 3,000 school districts feature Ultragrain-powered products. With Ultragrain, ConAgra Mills has developed a whole grain flour with the mild flavor, lighter color and softer, smoother texture of white flour. But because it is whole grain, it is significantly higher in minerals, vitamins and fiber.
“Ultragrain is made from a unique, all-natural wheat that is sweeter, milder and lighter in color than conventional wheat,” said Hodge. “The patented milling process we use reduces the particle size to that of regular white flour. We have found in our consumer testing that it has great appeal among those who grew up with traditional white flour products.”
That testing included a recent study of consumer attitudes about Ultragrain-branded whole wheat menu items. Products branded with Ultragrain were shown to have significantly higher purchase intent across a variety of product types and categories.
While it’s encouraging that consumers are so open to whole wheat on the menu, foodservice operators know that ultimately purchasing decisions come down to taste. By maintaining preferred taste, texture and appearance while promoting improved nutrition, foodservice operators can give customers what they want while encouraging repeat purchases.
Hodge noted that Ultragrain can be used at various inclusion levels to create customized whole grain recipes with the taste consumers enjoy. Ultragrain and customized blends with Ultragrain help operators achieve the optimal flavor, nutrition and messaging.
“At the 30 percent level it is really undetectable in a recipe,” said Hodge. “And at the 100 percent level consumers will realize that it is not coarse, grainy or bitter like the traditional whole wheat they have had in the past.”
For more information about Ultragrain® Hard and Soft flours, Healthy Choice® All-Purpose Flour Blends and finished goods made with Ultragrain, click here, contact ConAgra Mills, or call 1-800-851-9618.
