Marketing your healthier menu

Friday 30 September 2005

You'll need to know your customers before working out how to pitch your healthier menu. Some people will be delighted by your efforts and will want to hear it straight. Others may be put off by terms such as 'healthy' or 'low fat'.

Despite the growing interest in healthier eating, when people eat out they still want tasty food that is value for money. This means you will need to work out the best way of pitching your messages - and this depends on what type of business you run and who your customers are.

If you only offer a limited number of dishes, then it's a good idea to make small changes across the board to make the whole menu healthier.

You might want to introduce and put on display a 'healthier catering policy' or a general statement explaining your aims and/or what changes you have made. Remember to make it clear that these will benefit your customers and won't compromise on taste.

If your establishment offers a large choice of dishes, it can work well to introduce a few healthier options while leaving the regular dishes as they are. But be careful about labelling these new dishes as 'healthier options' because this can sometimes put people off.

Instead, you could advertise the options as 'dish of the day', or promote them on their novelty value. Healthier options can be cheaper, so you might want to make use of this as a price incentive.

Try highlighting the healthier alternatives alongside other items in the menu, rather than putting them in a special section. This way your customers are sure to see them.

Here are some suggestions for theme days that you might want to try:

• Italian theme - offer a variety of pasta, lower-fat tomato-based vegetable sauces, range of breads such as ciabatta, olive or tomato, thick-based pizzas and Italian bean salads
• Indian theme - offer boiled rice, chapattis, lentil and vegetable dishes, dry-fried spices and dishes thickened with yoghurt
• Thai or Chinese theme - offer boiled noodles or rice, stir-fries, vegetable curries, pineapple and lychees in fruit juice for dessert
• Scottish theme - offer a Tartan breakfast including Arbroath Smokies or smoked salmon, porridge and berries
• Events/festival themes - offer strawberries for Wimbledon; pumpkin soup or stews at Halloween; braised leeks or leek soup for St David's day
• Healthy meal deals - offer, for example, a combination of main meal with bread, fruit juice and a piece of fresh fruit, cheaper than buying the items separately. Or include a roll in the price for the soup

Here are some other promotional methods you might want to try:

• Offer some healthy items free or half price with a popular dish, such as free/half-price fruit with a sandwich or free toast with breakfast cereal
• Seasonal specials on fruit desserts
• Special promotions - serving different speciality bread, pasta or exotic fruit or vegetables

Making claims
Customers can find claims about food useful to inform their choices. Claims are also used by manufacturers, retailers and caterers as a marketing tool. It's important to be careful that any claims you make are accurate and do not mislead consumers, and this is a requirement under law (The Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Labelling Regulations 1996). Rather than make a claim such as 'low fat', it might be simpler to say what ingredients you have used, such as 'made with skimmed milk'.

There are legal definitions for some claims such as:

• reduced calorie - this means the product must be at least 25% lower in calories than the standard version
• extra - if a product makes a claim such as 'extra fruit', then the total amount of fruit - or other ingredient mentioned that was used to make the product - must be stated on the menu

Other claims are not yet defined in law for example:

• low fat
• reduced sugar
• high fibre

Nutrition claims like these and health claims such as 'good for your bones' are currently under discussion and in the future there should be new legislation, which would apply to food sold 'unpacked' including in catering outlets. For more information on health claims, see the link at the end of this section.

The Agency has issued advice on the use of the following claims:

• pure
• natural
• fresh
• traditional
• original
• authentic
• home-made
• farmhouse

For more information on food labels see the link at the end of this section. You could also speak to your local trading standards department at the county hall, town hall or civic centre for advice on these or other specific claims. In Scotland, speak to your local environmental health department based in your local council offices.