Restaurant consumers may want more healthful offerings, but most are not willing to pay more for them, according to new research from The NPD Group.


For the year ended in February, 9 percent of all restaurant visits were made based on consumers’ desire for healthful or light fare, down from 10 percent in 2007. The decline illustrates that consumers are not willing to pay a premium for more healthful items given the current economic climate, said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant analyst with the Port Washington, N.Y.-based research firm.


She added, however, that she expects that percentage to increase as the economy improves and more better-for-you options are added to menus. The catch is that operators must make sure they are meeting customers’ price expectations, she said.


“Price must not be a barrier to entry,” Riggs said. “If you put healthy items on your menu, you have to be really careful how you price them.”


Age plays a role


While some foodservice customers expect healthful options to cost more, most said they expect to pay the same for more healthful foods as they pay for less healthful options, NPD found. In fact, the older the consumer, the less willing they are to pay a premium to eat more healthfully, according to NPD research.


When asked if they would be willing to pay more for healthful items at restaurants they visited often, 70 percent of adults over 50 said no, 25 percent said they would pay somewhat more, and only 5 percent said they would pay a lot more.


In contrast, younger adults appear more open to paying more for healthful items, with 44 percent of those aged 18 to 24 saying they would expect prices for healthful items to be the same as other items, and 41 percent saying they would expect to pay somewhat more. Fifteen percent said they would expect to pay a lot more.


Among 25- to 49-year-olds, 55 percent said they would expect more healthful items to be priced the same, 36 percent said they would expect to pay somewhat more, and just 9 percent said they would expect to pay a lot more.


Just as age played a role in price perceptions, so did restaurant segment, NPD found. More consumers at full-service restaurants expected to pay the same price for healthful items as they did for other menu options, while fewer consumers at quick-service restaurants did.


Survey respondents also noted that they would feel more satisfied after restaurant visits if they had more healthful options available at the same prices as less healthful options, including on the value menu.


“The price issue came out loud and clear,” said Riggs. 



Healthful definitions


NPD found that consumers define healthful options as having fresh, quality ingredients, a choice of portion size, balanced food groups, and grilled items. Surprisingly, NPD discovered low calorie, low fat and low sodium content were among the least important features to consumers when eating out.


Operators struggling with how to add more healthful options to their menus, and how to price them, should look at chains that have long been offering these options with little price differential.


Milford, Conn.-based Subway offers fresh, made-to-order sandwiches priced based on size. Healthful sandwiches such as the Veggie Delite, Turkey Breast and Oven Roasted Chicken have always been on the menu, and both the turkey and the chicken are among the chain’s best-sellers. Subway also allows customers the ability to make their order more or less healthful or indulgent by choosing their own ingredients.


“When trying to eat right, sometimes it’s a struggle to get what nutrition you want and pay a price you’re used to,” said Les Winograd, a spokesman for the sandwich chain. “At Subway it’s part of our DNA. The healthier items are part of our core menu. They’re not more
expensive.”


The chain’s latest healthful option is Orchard Chicken Salad, a limited-time offer featuring low-fat chicken salad with apples, cranberries and celery available at $5 for a foot-long — the same price as the chain’s other foot-long sandwiches.


The chain’s breakfast line, which launched in April 2010, also presents a “health and value combination,” Suzanne Greco, the chain’s vice president of research and development, told NRN earlier this year. The breakfast menu features six sandwiches that can be served with egg or egg white on an English muffin, flatbread or the chain’s signature rolls, with a choice of vegetables and condiments.


Any English muffin sandwich can be paired with a 16-ounce cup of coffee for $2.50, and the same coffee can be paired with any 6-inch flatbread sandwich for $3.


Straight-line pricing is also on the menu at Broomfield, Colo.-based Noodles & Company. From the Wisconsin Mac & Cheese and Mushroom Stroganoff to the Thai Curry Soup and Chinese Chop Salad, prices are $4.50 for a small bowl and $5.50 for a large bowl. Consumers also can add a protein — meat, shrimp or tofu — for one price. 


“We don’t look at it as [better-for-you] food should cost more. It’s part of our concept from the day we started,” said Dan Fogarty, executive vice president of marketing at Noodles & Company. “We purposefully did that to encourage people to experiment. That helps build our frequency.”


Zoup!, a 33-unit fast-casual chain based in Southfield, Mich., serves a rotation of 12 soups each day, including vegetarian, low-fat and dairy-free options, all priced based on the ingredients, not the level of indulgence. This approach means that better-for-you options are sometimes the least expensive on the menu. For example, a 16-ounce bowl of Roadhouse Sirloin Chili is about $6.50. The same-sized portion of Corkscrew Chicken, which is low fat, is about $5.95, and the Vegetarian Split Pea is about $4.95. In addition, the chain offers Try Two! combo meals, which allow guests to choose any soup and half of a sandwich or a small salad for about $5.95.


Eric Ersher, founder of the 12-year-old Zoup chain, credits Zoup’s ability to offer all its fare for similar prices to the fact that the concept was born during a time when interest in health and wellness was on the rise. 


“[Many fast-food] concepts were developed in a completely different time ... at a time when health and wellness was not as much of interest as today,” said Ersher. “It seems like that change in paradigm seemed consistent with the creation of fast-casual concepts. The Zoup brand was developed with health and wellness in mind.”