Health on the Restaurant Menu: Foodservice Trends in the U.S.

Health on the Restaurant Menu: Foodservice Trends in the U.S. helps foodservice industry participants align their branding and menu development strategies with evolving consumer health perceptions and expectations; the quickly evolving health education landscape; and the effects of nationwide menu regulation.



The report does the following:



1. Identifies drivers and trends that have helped cause the industry to reflect on its role in addressing America’s health.

• This helps participants better understand new menu regulations and menu item trends.

2. Analyses health-related menu trends, including salt and added sugar reduction; healthy menu claim trend analysis; “mini” menu item trend analysis; fruit and vegetable menu trend analysis; and health & anti-health menu analysis of specific restaurants.

• This helps participants stay on top of menu development.

3. Draws from a variety of industry and academic research to help the restaurant industry gauge the effect and result of menu labeling legislation.

• This helps participants frame the impact of menu regulation on industry segments, major chains, and independent restaurant operators.

4. Analyses consumer attitudes toward diet food and health from the perspectives of their healthful propensities; not-so-healthful propensities; and knowledge, money & time.

• This helps participants understand shifting consumer health & wellness propensities and respond accordingly.

5. Creates and analyzes four consumer groups, each of which share common health-driven characteristics: Health First, Health Maintainers, Health Endorsers and Carefree Eaters. Each group isolates populations having distinct degrees of food health interest and distinct degrees of restaurant interaction. Data on restaurant frequency, brand usage, and presence of children are included.

• This helps industry participants target groups according to their healthful propensities, as well as to their restaurant loyalty, the effect of their having children, and their brand usage.

6. Studies the degree of importance restaurant goers ascribe to various food health attributes as applied to two distinct dining occasions: getting food for a “quick bite” and getting food for a “special occasion.”

• This helps participants shape health-driven strategies around occasions for use.

Coverage includes snack and beverage restaurant concepts, limited-service restaurants (QSR and fast casual), and full-service restaurants (family, casual and fine dining).

Restaurant And Food Services Industry in the United States

Chapter 1: Executive Summary

Scope and Methodology

Scope of coverage

Methodology

Consumer survey methodology

Menu item analysis

Other resources

Restaurant categories

Definitions

Report synopsis

Chapter 2: Foodservice Health Drivers & Macro-Trends

Insight Capsule

Fast Facts

Chapter 3: Restaurant Cuisine and Menu Trends

Insight Capsule

Fast Facts

Chapter 4: Menu Transparency and Regulation

Insight Capsule

Fast Facts

Chapter 5: Consumer Attitudes Toward Diet, Health & Food

Insight Capsule

Chapter 6: Health-Driven Psychographic Analysis

Insight Capsule

Chapter 7: Food Healthfulness and Dining Occasion

Insight Capsule

Appendix: Obesity Trends: Demographic Analysis

Chapter 2: Foodservice Health Drivers & MacroTrends

Making health a priority

The argument in dollars and cents: $150 billion a year

Obesity rates trending higher

Graph 2-1: Age-Adjusted Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity & Extreme Obesity

Calories trending higher

Long-term calories trend: negative; short-term trend: positive

Graph 2-2: Caloric Intake by Food Group: Number of Calories, 1970-2009

Flour and cereal products the calorie contribution leader

Graph 2-3: Caloric Intake by Food Group: Percentage of Calories, 1970-2009

Snacking trend brings calories with it

A quarter of all calories

More snacking, more calories

No tie to better food choices

Foods contributing the most snack calories

Table 2-1: Contribution of Selected Foods and Beverages to Total Snack Calories

Nutrient analysis reveals caloric skews to alcohol, sugar, and carbs

Graph 2-4: Snacks’ Contributions to Adult Nutrient and Other Food Component Intake

Gender analysis

For men, snacks provide source of fruit

Graph 2-5: Contributions by Snacks and Other Eating Occasions to Intakes of Calories and

MyPyramid Food Groups/Components: Men

For women, more fruit but more sugar

Graph 2-6: Contributions by Snacks and Other Eating Occasions to Intakes of Calories and

MyPyramid Food Groups/Components: Women

Socioeconomic factors shaping obesity trend

Lower incomes = higher obesity rates

Hispanic culture and practices significantly influence obesity perceptions

Burst and bust short-time financial cycle leads to food sharing

In Hispanic communities, feeding children a symbol of nurturing and achievement

Obesity not perceived as negative

Selfperceptions

of diet quality shift

Diet self-perception does not match reality

But change is in the wind

Worsening diet or greater awareness?

Awareness tied to HH income

Restaurant industry growth and the obesity connection

Frequency of restaurant use correlates with negative diet self-perception

Fast food correlation even stronger

Consumers do not associate calorie cost with diet healthfulness

Eating out and calories: 1 meal out a week = 2 extra pounds a year

Impact weighted toward specific food groups

Daypart dependent

Fat, sugar and obesity

Diet and health tied to type of restaurant frequented

Burgers and fries

Sandwich/sub

Full-service

Government and industry initiatives quickly gathering steam

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010

Health professionals’ hopes

MyPlate

HealthierUS School Challenge

Kids LiveWell

Menu item guidelines

Guidelines to join the program

Charging the obese more for healthcare

Penalties to become the new norm?

Chapter 3: Restaurant Cuisine and Menu Trends

Introduction

How to promote health on the menu

Table 3-1: Successful Health and Nutrition Promotion Strategies, 2011

Ditch the added sugar

How much is too much?

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Hold the salt

Strategy

The cost savings: $32.1 billion?

Restaurants on the hook?

FDA regulation on the horizon?

On the menu: healthy menu claim analysis

Healthy menu items forecast to grow

Menu claims can shape how consumers respond to health

Studies reinforces power of menu placement

Healthy menu item placement: an experiment

Prominence of lower-calorie information and placement next to other choices matters

Make “light” the new norm?

And dump the negative labels!

Healthy claims: inherent health leads the pack

Table 3-2: Top Healthy Claims: Restaurant Penetration by Segment, 2011

Healthy claims: trend leaders

Table 3-3: Top Healthy Claims: Restaurant Penetration, 2007-11

Mini trend tapers

Next step: portion control without labels

A casual phenomenon

Table 3-4: Top “Mini” Appetizers & Entrees: Restaurant Penetration by Segment, 2011

From mini-quiches to mini-crab cakes

Table 3-5: Top “Mini” Appetizers & Entrees: Restaurant Penetration, 2007-11

Mini-desserts: incenting use while limiting food content

A trend with legs

Table 3-6: Top “Mini” Desserts: Restaurant Penetration by Segment, 2011

Infuse the menu with fruit

Why? Health benefits

Why? Consumer interest

Why? Underuse at restaurants

Why? The USDA says so

Why? It’s a trend in motion

Top produce trends

Table 3-7: Top Produce Menu Trends, 2011

Top fruits on the menu

Table 3-8: Top 10 Sides: Restaurant Penetration by Segment, 2011

Top vegetables on the menu

Table 3-9: Top 10 Proteins: Restaurant Penetration by Segment, 2011

What price for health?

Don’t charge me for it

Table 3-10: Paying for Healthy Items

Full-service versus limited-service distinction

Desire for more healthy options

Recession and food choice

Result: strong migration to money-saving strategies

Result: change in restaurant behavior

But is “healthy” really more expensive?

Table 3-11: Natural, Free Range & “Any” Entrée Pricing by Menu Item Type, 2011

Restaurant segment analysis reveals significant price differences

Table 3-12: Natural, Free Range & “Any” Entrée Pricing by Restaurant Segment, 2011

“Natural” QSR menu items do exist; but does natural mean “healthy”?

Table 3-13: “Natural” Menu Items: Quick-Service Restaurants, 2011

Family restaurants follow similar suit

Table 3-14: “Natural” Menu Items: Family Restaurants, 2011

Restaurants hitting health themes

Au Bon Pain gives gluten free face time

Table 3-15: Au Bon Pain Gluten-Free Menu Items, 2011

Fat free, from fast casual to . . . ice cream

Table 3-16: Fat Free Menu Items: Selected Examples, 2011

Sugar free still trying to save desserts

Table 3-17: Golden Corral Sugar-Free Menu Items, 2011

Whole grain, meet pizza and more

Table 3-18: California Pizza Kitchen Whole Grain Menu Items, 2011

Free range: poultry’s domain

Table 3-19: Heartland Café Free Range Menu Items, 2011

Bar fare and upscale dining

Table 3-20: Free Range Menu Items: Selected Examples, 2011

Other menu strategies and introductions

Quick-service restaurants

Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen launches Louisiana Leaux

Boston Market

Family restaurants

Denny's Fit Fare update

Casual restaurants

Applebee’s beefs up Weight Watchers and “Under 500” menu

Other activity

Antihealth

trends still alive and well

High-fat, high calorie, high sodium dining alive and well across restaurant segments

Kids’ meals on the health watch

McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC and A&W make the list

Table 3-21: Five Most Unhealthful Fast-Food Kids Meals, 2010

Chapter 4: Menu Transparency and Regulation

Introduction

Menu labeling is upon us

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010

Health professionals’ hopes

Rationales for change

More eating out means lower diet quality

And increases weight

Consumers underestimate restaurant meal calories

Kids affected

Eating out frequently lowers diet quality

Larger portions = eating more

Consumers’ healthful menu expectations rising?

Majority of consumers on board with portion size and nutrition labeling

Not effective: why?

King County lessons and learnings

No change in transaction volume or calories per transaction

Increased consumer awareness

Consumer confusion

Health apathy at POS

Website as knowledge supplement

Just not paying attention

A lesson taken from the grocery aisle

So who will use the labels?

Education, education, education

But expect some behavioral change

1 in 6 diners alter eating habits because of calorie information

NPD says calorie information will have little effect on consumer ordering: we disagree

Changes in food choices and spend

Table 4-1: Menu Ordering Behavior, Pre- and Post- Menu Regulation

Fewer calories at Starbucks

Lack of transparency will get restaurants nowhere

Calorie underreporting raises concerns

Restaurants are starting with an “A”

Lack of portion uniformity a culprit?

Menu reformulations: restaurants may follow in food retail’s footsteps

It’s been done already: trans fat

Industry migration to healthier food products

Restaurants ahead of the curve

Subway

Saladworks

Energy Kitchen

Chapter 5: Consumer Attitudes Toward Diet, Health & Food

Introduction

Recession be damned: propensity to health and nutrition is on the upswing

Few have been ordering healthy items

But interest in food health is there

And it’s on the upswing

The upside

The downside

Graph 5-1: Food & Diet Propensities: Healthful Propensities, 2007-11

Thinking more about food content—and acting on it?

Graph 5-2: Food & Diet Propensities: Indulgence & Dieting, 2007-11

The context

Self-care on the upswing

Graph 5-3: Food & Diet Propensities: Knowledge, Money & Time, 2007-11

Chapter 6: HealthDriven

Psychographic Analysis

Meet the psychographic groups

Health First

Table 6-1: Health First Psychographic Group: Key Attitudes & Behaviors

Health Maintainers

Table 6-2: Health Maintainer Psychographic Group: Key Attitudes & Behaviors

Health Endorsers

Table 6-3: Health Endorsers Psychographic Group: Key Attitudes & Behaviors

Carefree Eaters

Table 6-4: Carefree Eater Psychographic Group: Key Attitudes & Behaviors

Laying out the demographics

Table 6-5: Demographic Analysis: Health-Driven Psychographic Groups

Restaurant usage and usage frequency

Table 6-6: Health-Driven Psychographic Groups: Restaurant Usage by Segment Usage

Frequency

Restaurant sub-segment by primary cuisine

Full-service

Table 6-7: Health-Driven Psychographic Groups: Restaurant Usage by Full-Service Restaurant

Segment & Sub-Segment

Limited service

Table 6-8: Health-Driven Psychographic Groups: Restaurant Usage by Limited-Service

Restaurant Segment & Sub-Segment and by Snack and Beverage Restaurant

The Kid Factor

Presence of children

Table 6-9: Health-Driven Psychographic Groups: Segment Restaurant Usage Frequency by Presence and Number of Children

Psychographic groups: Restaurant usage frequency analysis

Among Health First members, kids make a difference

Table 6-10: Health First: Segment Restaurant Usage Frequency by Number of Children

Among Health Maintainers, large households tip the scales

Table 6-11: Health Maintainers: Segment Restaurant Usage Frequency by Number of Children

Fast food health endorsement tied to usage frequency

Table 6-12: Health Endorsers: Segment Restaurant Usage Frequency by Number of Children

Carefree Eating does not translate to increased visits

Table 6-13: Carefree Eaters: Segment Restaurant Usage Frequency by Number of Children

Restaurant brand preferences

Health First: limited-service restaurant preferences

Table 6-14: Health First Psychographic Group: Restaurant Preference by Fast Food Brand

Health First: full-service restaurant preferences

Table 6-15: Health First Psychographic Group: Restaurant Preference by Full-Service >Restaurant Brand

Health Maintainers: limited-service restaurant preferences

Table 6-16: Health Maintainers Psychographic Group: Restaurant Preference by Fast Food Brand

Health Maintainers: full-service restaurant preferences

Table 6-17: Health Maintainers Psychographic Group: Restaurant Preference by Full-Service Restaurant Brand

Health Endorsers: limited-service restaurant preferences

Table 6-18: Health Endorsers Psychographic Group: Restaurant Preference by Fast Food Brand

Health Endorsers: full-service restaurant preferences

Table 6-19: Health Endorsers Psychographic Group: Restaurant Preference by Full-Service Restaurant Brand

Carefree Eaters: limited-service restaurant preferences

Table 6-20: Carefree Eaters Psychographic Group: Restaurant Preference by Fast Food Brand

Carefree Eaters: full-service restaurant preferences

Table 6-21: Carefree Eaters Psychographic Group: Restaurant Preference by Full-Service Restaurant Brand

Chapter 7: Food Healthfulness and Dining Occasion

Overview

Food health attribute analysis: getting a quick bite vs. special occasion dining

Fruits and vegetables and health of highest importance

But a variety of food health attributes distinguished by eating occasion

Graph 7-1: Health Attribute Ratings: Quick Bite versus Special Occasion

Naturally, women ascribe restaurant food attributes with greater importance

But not across the board

Women to drive restaurant nutrition change?

Table 7-1: Health Attribute Ratings by Gender: Quick Bite versus Special Occasion

Age analysis

Table 7-2: Health Attribute Ratings by Age Bracket: Special Occasion

Table 7-3: Health Attribute Ratings by Age Bracket: Quick Bite

HH income analysis

Table 7-4: Health Attribute Ratings by HH Income: Special Occasion

Table 7-5: Health Attribute Ratings by HH Income: Quick Bite

Race/ethnicity analysis

Table 7-6: Health Attribute Ratings by Race/Ethnicity: Special Occasion

Table 7-7: Health Attribute Ratings by Race/Ethnicity: Quick Bite

Appendix: Obesity Trends: Demographic Analysis

Introduction

Obesity and overweight rates for men and women

Graph 8-1: Age-Adjusted Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among U.S. Adults

Age 20-74 Years: By Gender

Racial/ethnic differences

Graph 8-2: Age-Adjusted Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among U.S. Adults

Age 20-74: By Race/Ethnicity

Children

Graph 8-3: Obesity among U.S. Children: By Age Group

Significant regional disparities

Graph 8-4: Percentage of Obese Adults: By U.S. State, 2010

A more granular regional perspective

Graph 8-5: Percentage of Obese Adults: By U.S. County, 2007-08

Restaurant in United States

Restaurant and Food Services in United States