1. Marketing to Health- Conscious Guests Chapter 10

2. Objectives: Describe methods for identifying customer requests. Discuss development and implementation of healthy menu options Evaluate healthy menu options for specific guest requests Describe nutrition labeling laws that apply to restaurant menus

3. Marketing The process of finding out what your customers need and want, and then developing, promoting, and selling the products and services they desire.

4. Gauging Customers’ Needs and Wants Interview waitstaff about customer requests. Do a customer survey. (See p. 357) Informally get customer feedback. Key in on: –What are your customers asking for? –Which items are most frequently requested? –How much time does your staff have to meet these special requests? –Which requests are easy to meet? Which are not?

5. Marketing Health Items Good menu descriptions –What is it, how prepared, special qualities, ingredients, describe serving size Use waitstaff to provide descriptions Highlight healthy/special menu selections –Use symbols Special/separate section of menu Add a clip-on to menu or whiteboard Use “small plate” approach

6. Health Marketing Using Social Media Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, etc. Pictures on Flickr Website with menu, nutrition information Social networking food sites –Urbanspoon, Serious Eats, Chow Combine on-line activities with offline publicity –TV, radio, newspaper, health fairs, physicians that treat patients your menu supports Other….

7. Figuring Out Nutrition Content of Foods Nutrient Analysis (lab) or Nutrient Calculation (computer) Standarization of recipe, yield Sites for computer analysis –www.choosemyplate.gov/supertrackerwww.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker –www.sparkpeople.com –www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcompwww.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp –www.foodcount.comwww.foodcount.com –http://nat.illinois.eduhttp://nat.illinois.edu –www.nutritiondata.comwww.nutritiondata.com –www.myfoodrecord.comwww.myfoodrecord.com –Myfitnesspal app….others???

8. Restaurants and Nutrition Labeling Laws Food prepared and served in restaurants or other foodservices are exempt from mandatory nutrition labeling found in packaged foods. Restaurants are not exempt from FDA rules concerning nutrient claims and health claims when used on menus, table tents, posters, or signs. Any food being used in a health claim may not contain more than 20% of the Daily Value for fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, or sodium.

9. Restaurants and Nutrition Labeling Laws Restaurants may use symbols on the menu to highlight the nutritional content of specific items. They are required to explain the criteria used for the symbols.

10. Restaurants and Nutrition Labeling Laws The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Healthcare Reform Act”) –Section 4205

11. What Is Your Opinion? What is the “downside” to the new menu labeling law? What benefits do you think there are? Do you think menu labeling will help the general public make healthier food choices? Will it help address the “obesity epidemic”?