Restaurateurs might be unhappy with lawmakers who force them to post nutritional information on their menus or menu boards. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t willing to do their part voluntarily to help customers make educated dining choices.
Many operators have won over consumers and critics alike by freely choosing to implement special systems or menus that cater to patrons who have special dietary needs or simply just want to know the nutritional breakdown of their favorite selections.
Au Bon Pain and Uno Chicago Grill have equipped their locations with sophisticated computerized nutrition kiosks offering customers more dietary information than any number of health-food crusaders are likely to require. Meanwhile, operators like Salad Creations and Cameron Mitchell Restaurants have invested time and energy in the creation of special menus for diners with different needs.
At the same time, the giant foodservice company Yum! Brands Inc. unilaterally decided to post per-serving calorie counts on menu boards in all of its domestic locations—before federal lawmakers mandate menu labeling.
While these initiatives don’t necessarily drive big sales or traffic gains, as one executive put it, “It’s just the right thing to do.”
Several years ago, Boston-based Au Bon Pain, under the direction of then-chief executive Frank Guidara, a long-standing member of the Harvard School of Public Health Roundtable, became the first U.S. chain to install nutrition kiosks in all company stores and some franchises. The kiosks today list all ABP menu items accompanied by a wide variety of nutritional data, including calorie counts, sodium and fat content, cholesterol, and carbohydrates. The kiosk also allows guests to sort selections by allergens or build a virtual meal by using the “My Plate” function. Ed Frechette, senior vice president of marketing, estimates that about 15 percent of patrons consult the kiosks.
Meanwhile, ABP is working to reduce sodium levels in soup, though it is not publicizing the effort.
“We’re cautious about nutrition,” Frechette says. “When we removed trans fats from cookies in 2003-2004, cookie sales dropped. So we think there is still a [negative] perception about removing taste [when other ingredients are removed].
“We want to do the right thing nutritionally, but we don’t plan to promote it or advertise. It’s just part of who we are—it’s ‘on brand’ for us. We do get a lot of good feedback, though.”
When Guidara took over as president and chief executive at Uno Chicago Grill in West Roxbury, Mass., in 2005, he brought the ABP nutrition kiosk model with him and has carried it over to the brand’s new fast-casual format, Uno Due Go. Since Guidara moved to the casual-dining chain, Uno also has reshaped its menu with an eye toward both flavor and nutrition. As the result of the ongoing effort, it was voted one of the healthiest chains in America by Health magazine last year.
Uno also recently introduced a ground-breaking gluten-free pizza, which had been in the works for two years and is scheduled to be rolled out nationally this month.
Guidara says customer response to the chain’s nutritional efforts has been extremely positive. But while the company does promote its nutritional efforts, “it’s a hard thing to measure its impact,” he says.
“But it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “These days you must give the customer choice. You have to let them be health-conscious or indulgent.”
At the same time, he continues, “you have to be transparent about it.”
Guidara also says it is good for employee morale.
“They start to feel they’re part of a chain that believes in health and nutrition,” he says.
When it comes to menu-labeling initiatives like the one passed in New York, however, Guidara admits he’s not a fan.
“How ridiculous putting calorie counts on menus—are calories more important than allergens?” he asks. “The responsible thing for New York to do now is to conduct a study and see if there has been any change in how people order. If it reduces obesity, fine, then everyone should do it next week. But if not, shouldn’t they be held accountable for costing us money?”
Some chains like Margate, Fla.-based Salad Creations were founded on the premise of providing healthful alternatives to diners.
“We try to provide products and selections that give guests a choice,” says John King, vice president of marketing of the made-to-order-salad chain.
Often, however, such companies even expand beyond their original designs. Last year the 60-unit brand teamed up with the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation to create a special diabetes-friendly salad menu and posted it in all restaurants. The menu identifies ingredients that are lower in carbohydrates, sugar, sodium, fat and calories, and allows customers to build their own salad. The menu was introduced last August, but was promoted particularly during National Diabetes Month in November.
King says the menu is used by 5 percent to 10 percent of guests and has helped raise diabetes awareness.
“Educating people is part of our mission,” he says. “We try to be a socially responsible corporation.”
The brand also conducts fundraisers for the DRIF and keeps donation boxes in the restaurants.
Cameron Mitchell Restaurants in Columbus, Ohio, took the voluntary step of addressing health concerns when it devised a gluten-free menu for its two Cap City restaurants. Regional chef and operating partner Brian Hinshaw says that when the full-service restaurant company decided to revamp the Cap City menu, the decision was made to create a menu for patrons with celiac disease, a digestive disorder that inhibits some individuals from eating gluten, a protein found in cereal grains like wheat, rye, and barley.
Working with a dietician, Cap City chefs devised the menu that includes several selections including hot-and-sour calamari, a grilled-chicken quesadilla, black-bean chili, Greek salad, a barbecue chopped salad and crème brûlée.
Cap City then goes one step beyond—if a guest decides to order from the gluten-free menu, the chef automatically comes out of the kitchen and consults with the patron, answering any questions he or she might have.
“Our guests who use it are thrilled to death,” Hinshaw says, “and while it’s used by only a small percentage, anytime you can make a guest feel comfortable, that’s a return guest.”
Hinshaw says the company is now developing a gluten-free menu for its Martini concept.
Yum! Brands Inc., the parent of Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, surprised the industry when it announced its decision to voluntarily post per-serving calorie counts on menu boards at all of its thousands of domestic outlets. At the same time, it called for national nutrition disclosure legislation. Yum’s goal is to have all of the new menus in place by Jan. 1, 2011, the same deadline required by California’s labeling law. Yum is not the first company to roll out menus with nutritional information included. Ruby Tuesday tried it in 2004, but abandoned the initiative when the company said it negatively impacted sales.
Nor is Yum simply looking at menu disclosure as a means to address the obesity issue. The Louisville, Ky.-based company recently teamed up with an online fitness service provider and the University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino to offer dining and lifestyle choices. As part of its “Keep it Balanced” health-and-wellness campaign, Yum will offer consumers a free one-month trial membership to eFit4Me and a discount in the monthly fees for people who stay with the program.
