In pursuit of health and profit

20 October 2005
In pursuit of health and profit

Healthy eating has been one of the most closely monitored issues of the day, regularly debated in both the trade press and national media, and now addressed by the Government through its tackling of school meals.

But what does all this mean for the food service industry? How can operators reconcile the need to help people eat more healthily with their own commercial interests? And how can the industry successfully steer the Government and influence the culture of eating in this country?

Last month Caterer joined forces with food service supplier 3663 to bring seven industry experts together to discuss these questions. Those present included Tom Allchurch, founder and managing director, Fresh Italy; Des Bell, director of marketing, 3663 First for Foodservice; Tony Bishop-Weston, a nutritionist with Foods for Life; Adam Collett, marketing director, Greene King; Sara Hancock, business development director, market research company TNS; Rob Rees, chef and member of the School Food Trust; and John Wright, service offer marketing director, Sodexho.

To kick-start the discussion Caterer editor Mark Lewis asked Hancock what consumers identified as the main reasons behind their decisions when it came to choosing food.

The answer was that despite increased media attention and assorted educational initiatives, consumers still did not put health benefits above other considerations. She said that, in the out-of-home market, 56% identified "practicality" or "convenience" and 44% "enjoyment" as the main factors. Only 2% mentioned "health" - a figure, incidentally, which gets even lower towards the end of the week.
The group agreed that you cannot make people change their diets wholesale. But it also felt that it is the industry's responsibility to contribute to the education of consumers so they can make better choices.

The problem is that healthy eating is often a matter of perception - think cereal bars and probiotic yogurts - which is not always backed up by real scientific understanding. According to Bishop-Weston, few people appreciate that drinking a hot drink, such as your morning tea, can actually kill off the good bacteria a probiotic yogurt provides.

As Bell said: "We need to move from perception to knowledge. The problem is that often the industry feeds the perception."

Bishop-Weston argued that education needed to concentrate on positive values. "At the Vegan Society the message was all about ‘Don't eat this,' and it failed," he said. "We need to get it into children's heads that if you want clearer skin or more energy, eat this type of food."
"But chefs also have an obligation to make it taste nice," he added. "Remember that with vegetarianism it took the industry to get all three drivers right - practicality and enjoyment as well as health - before it gained popularity."

Rees agreed that healthy eating is not about demonising people's habits. "Self-esteem and psychology are crucial when it comes to children," he said. "We need to get the message across that to be fit and fat is fine."

The consensus was, therefore, that forcing radical change was neither possible nor wise. Faced with too many initiatives and programmes, or too strict a regime, the consumer simply gets confused - and put off.

Step up Tom Allchurch. His new chain Fresh Italy started out simply as an Italian food concept, but he decided to develop the idea further into healthy eating. "We were unclear how to turn the public's vague awareness of healthy eating into reality," he said. "But when we started to develop our own traffic-light system we discovered it was exactly the same as the Food Standards Agency's idea."

"People's tastes are simple in the mass market. They are looking for an uncomplicated understanding of what is healthy before they start worrying about anything like glycaemic indexes," he added.

A third of the range - the healthy options - are green-labelled choices, half are orange and about 15% are red. "Consumers appreciate not being told no," he said. "They understand the traffic lights - so people carry on buying the red ones, but sales of the green options went up by 50%." Turnover at Fresh Italy has been growing 33% year-on-year.

Bell said that this was the most important point. "The greatest education for operators will be whether or not healthy food can make a profit."

Allchurch explained that he could still upsell with healthier foods. Since creating the traffic-light system a third of his customers now also bought a side salad.

The success of the system was appreciated by the panel because it made life easier for operators.

Allchurch also explained how if a recipe was on the cusp of, say, red and orange, he could tweak the ingredients - "for relatively little pain" - to switch it to an orange.

There was no need for the manufacturers and chefs in the wider industry to panic over making radical changes, either. "Bakers have been reducing salt for years in bread and nobody noticed," said Rees. "It's about tiny changes - it's not rocket science. If you make flapjacks, just add some more raisins and dates instead of sugar. There is no such thing as good and bad food. It's just about balance."

Allchurch agreed: "The industry is worried that it will lose customers. Maybe that is the case if you're Walkers Crisps or Coke, but for everyone else there are ways of changing."

And change was necessary. Although the industry does not need to panic, those around the table accepted that those who did not alter their outlook would suffer.

"The real area the Government is concerned about is the big manufacturers, retail, the snack market and places like us," said Allchurch. "There is no reason to think the retail rules on packaging and labelling won't affect the sandwich industry and fast food. This is not about fine dining."

Bell, however, commented that the rest of the industry also needed to brace itself. "Any impact on the sandwich and fast-food industry will have a knock-on effect on the pubs and restaurants."

Wright agreed that we have to "educate our chefs", which means a certain amount of retraining. "We have to look at all those chefs who finish with butter and cream and change some of the things technically that they do."

He said that some clients would also now demand a healthier standard of food from their contractors. "The debate in B&I catering is taking place within each client's organisation," he said. "With those that have an active health and safety mentality, we will have to fit that holistic approach. It is an extension of their corporate responsibility."

Bishop-Weston agreed that companies were beginning wellness programmes because they can affect performance, stress and productivity. He said that in the USA this was much further developed because of private healthcare costs. "There, it is seen as a business cost, which comes off their profit and loss," he said. "Here, if you have a sick workforce, it costs the NHS."

"The medical costs will have to be borne by those that incur them - through consumers and manufacturers via taxation," said Allchurch.
He wondered whether the Government should show even more initiative. "If they did something like wipe out VAT on our green-labelled foods, it would provide the financial incentive for the consumer to eat healthily."

Bishop-Weston also urged the Government to lead by example in its position as the country's biggest procurement agency. He said that a campaign to reduce sugar would be the next target after salt.

According to Rees, who now has the chance to lobby the Government, the industry would benefit more if it spoke to those in power with a common voice. "We need stronger pledges around what can be done with food on the school curriculum, both from them and from the industry," he said. Legislation is still three to five years away and so there is time to gather evidence.

But he said there is no place for complacency. "You need huge funding and an army of people to help. If we muck around for 12 months, we won't change anything. The 2,500 extra per school is not enough. The 45m from lottery partners has not yet been found. Maybe it should come from industry."

Hancock mentioned that school meal improvement needed to include lunchboxes - "Education has to be in parallel." Rees reminded the panel that there had been no pledge from the Government to increase uptake of school meals.

"We need to turn up the heat on the Government," he said. "But it can't be ‘them and us'. We need to work together, and with food companies."

Collett also called for more unity, saying he felt the industry was "under-represented". Bell agreed that the food service industry lacked a unified voice. "The retail sector has the FDF and the BRC, but there isn't anything for the food service industry," he said. "The Restaurant Association cannot claim anything like all the food service operators in this country as its members - so how will it ever get the bad guys of this world to play ball?"

Allchurch pointed out that a former chairman of Unilever chairs the FDF, while the executive board is full of senior management. "There is genuine credibility." But he warned that the Government could soon "lose patience" with the FDF.

Citing the Sudan 1 outbreak, Allchurch said: "The FDF's response was, ‘What's this got to do with us?'"

The panel agreed that the industry needed a trade body that was not always on the defensive, simply trying to stop and restrict.
Bell, also remembering the Sudan 1 outbreak, said: "3663 had to go straight into the firing line, on to television, because no one else would. There's not even as much processed food in food service as retail."

"You need to take steps to talk to Government - educate and inform them about our industry," he added. "They are civil servants and they don't understand what we are doing."

Rees agreed: "They think we are all bad players. There are always those who break the rules, but the majority are not trying to cause food poisoning."

Wright reminded the group that a unified industry was to everyone's advantage. "Don't forget that we should all be reading from the same page," he said. "Even if we think we have different approaches, we need to remember that we share the consumer."

3663 takes postive steps We were delighted to be part of the round table discussion and help bring practical solutions to the debate. The event presented an ideal forum to discuss the issues surrounding healthier eating and how consumer demand has influenced the way we as an industry provide a service to our customers.

The debate showed that rather than being a negative influence on trade, caterers can capitalise on the positive business opportunities by making healthier choices available to consumers.

We've recently launched our own 3663 Positive Steps campaign to champion healthier eating in the food service industry. The campaign steers caterers towards healthier products with clear guidance and labelling, allowing them to make more informed choices.
At 3663, we believe we hold a pivotal position in the debate by providing the link between manufacturers and caterers. It is essential for caterers to see the demand for healthier options in a positive light and respond accordingly. Consumers understand the traffic lights - and they don't just want all the red ones.

Des Bell, director of marketing, 3663

Talking points

"The greatest education for operators will be whether or not healthy food can make a profit."
Des Bell

"Bakers have been reducing salt for years in bread and nobody noticed. It's about tiny changes - it's not rocket science. There is no such thing as good and bad food. It's just about balance."
Rob Rees

"People's tastes are simple in the mass market. They are looking for an uncomplicated understanding of what is healthy before they start worrying about anything like glycaemic indexes."
Tom Allchurch

"The debate in B&I catering is taking place within each client's organisation. With those that have an active health and safety mentality we will have to fit that holistic approach. It is an extension of their corporate responsibility."
John Wright

"We need to move from perception to knowledge. The problem is that often the industry feeds the perception." Des Bell

"Don't forget that we should all be reading from the same page. Even if we think we have different approaches, we need to remember that we share the consumer."
John Wright

"The retail sector has the FDF and BRC. The Restaurant Association cannot claim anything like all the food service operators in this country as its members - so how will it ever get the bad guys to play ball?"
Des Bell

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