Consumer Dining Insights: Wanting It All

Do consumers really want healthful foods or are they just giving it lip service? It’s operators’ biggest conundrum for 2007.

By Scott Hume, Executive Managing Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 2/1/2007

If consumers say they want more healthful menu options but don’t often order those better-for-you foods, what’s a foodservice operator to do?

No question is likely to be more pressing yet more difficult to easily answer this year, and will continue to be so until consumers’ expressed desires synch more completely with their actions. They tell R&I’s New American Diner researchers that, oh yes, they try to eat healthfully but restaurants don’t offer nutritious-enough choices. But they also tell servers that they’ll have their favorite burger—the one with extra cheese and steak sauce—and fries, please.

Operators’ difficulty in balancing these contrary pressures is growing. Philadelphia-based Aramark’s annual Nutritional DiningStyles research last year found that while a large majority (71%) of consumers agree that they ultimately are responsible for their own healthful dining choices, the percentage has declined from 79% two years earlier. "They’re reaching out," says Jenifer Bland-Campbell, Aramark senior director of nutrition program development. "What they’re saying is, ‘We’re feeling helpless.’"

It’s an emotion operators are coming to terms with: How should foodservice respond to that call for help?

To start, understand that consumers are not a monolithic group. Aramark segments the adult population into six groups based on their attitudes toward health and nutrition (see "Dining Demographics," opposite page). "Aramark and the industry as a whole is struggling with the need to serve all consumers," Bland-Campbell says. "Getting everyone on the healthy-eating bandwagon is not as easy as we all would like it to be. Some people already are trying to eat healthfully, while others may need a little extra push and some just aren’t ready to make that move."

Help those who are ready to find foods right for them, she says. Let others know about all the choices available, but if a hamburger is what they want today, fire up the grill.

Consumer Dining Insights: Wanting It All
6	Rank of “looking for a healthy, nutritious meal” among reasons consumers say they prepared what they did for dinner at home the previous day. The most popular reason was “required little effort or was easy to make.” (The NPD Group)
21%	Percent of consumers who say they make “a sustained effort” to eat more healthfully at restaurants. However, 12% more orders of fried-chicken sandwiches were served last year. (R&I 2007 New American Diner Study; The NPD Group)
64%	of adults consider themselves “healthy eaters” and nearly half (45%) say they follow some type of health-conscious diet. (Harris Interactive)
11%	of consumers say nutrition was a major influence on menu choices during their most recent restaurant meal. (R&I 2007 New American Diner Study)
10%	of adults say they are very well informed about the nutritional value of restaurant foods. (R&I Obesity in America Study)
21%	of consumers agree or strongly agree that they like menus that include nutrition information. (R&I 2007 New American Diner Study)