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Nutrition and wellness concerns task foodservice harder than ever

Foodservice operators need to be able to balance what consumers want to eat against what they consider best for their health, their community and the environment.

Ron Moore of NAMA, David Grotto of Kellogg and nutritionist Lucille Beseler listen to food policy consultant Sylvia Rowe during the NAMA conference.

May 1, 2019 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Foodservice is a highly volatile business — and not just financially. Food today is a values-intensive business, an arena that tasks peoples' most important values. 

Food impacts many aspects of peoples' lives, from their health to the choices they make about the companies they do business with. These are not new concerns, but they are becoming more important as people of all ages think more about health and wellness, the cost of health care and the environment. 

"Trust and transparency are absolutely pivotal to the dialog out there," said Sylvia Rowe, president of SR Strategy LLC, a food policy consultancy, moderating a panel on nutrition and wellness trends at the National Automatic Merchandising Association show in Las Vegas. 

Rowe said nutrition and wellness has become a broader topic, given the different values people assign to food. Health concerns have driven greater production of fruits and vegetables, for example, which in turn raises concerns about how agriculture production affects the environment. Food production practices also impact public concern about animal rights and child welfare.

"It's kind of a political button," Rowe said regarding nutrition and wellness. 

Obesity continues to dominate

Among all of the issues related to food, obesity and other diseases related to consumption remain paramount, Rowe said.

While childhood obesity became a hot button issue in the U.S. 15 years ago, the problem remains critical as obesity rates continue to rise in the U.S., and its impact on health care cost has become an issue as well.

Panelist Lucille Beseler, a registered dietitian and president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, agreed with Rowe on the seriousness of food-related illnesses, as her South Florida nutrition practice sees thousands of clients annually. Beseler said there are more illnesses occurring in people of all ages. Besides obesity, more people have Type 2 diabetes.

One factor contributing to obesity and other food-related illnesses is the increase in eating away from home. The average U.S. household spends $3,365 annually on food prepared away from home, Beseler said.

"This is the generation that doesn't cook," she said. "It (food) has to be easily accessible to them."

Health awareness has increased among people of all ages, Beseler said. More people are paying attention to their eating habits because they want to be off of medication, she said, while pediatricians have stopped telling parents that it's okay to let children eat snacks.

Healthier choices emerge

One positive development, an area where foodservice plays an important role, has been the introduction of healthier snack foods. Fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are used in more snacks. These are healthy ingredients, except for people who are allergic to nuts and seeds.

Fruit and vegetable smoothies have emerged as a way to consume less sugar.

"It's less emphasis on those sugar-laden beverages," Beseler said.

Plant-based diets, including whole grains, have also come into vogue, Beseler said.

"These grains have been shown to lower cholesterol and triglycerides," she said.

Ketogenic diets, which emphasize carbohydrates from vegetables grown above the ground, have also become popular.

"Keto is here to stay," agreed panelist David Grotto, a registered dietitian and a senior wellbeing business partner at the Kellogg Co. He said diet trends have a big impact on foodservice. 

The panelists also agreed that consumers are gravitating to more natural sweeteners.

Grotto said the average U.S. consumer eats 80 grams of sugar per day, compared to the 30 grams that nutritionists recommend.

Consumers still want sweet and savory

While healthy diets are popular, Grotto pointed out that when it comes to away-from-home dining, "sweet and savory" remain the leading drivers of choice.

Hence, foodservice operators face the dual challenge of addressing peoples' health concerns and their preference for food that tastes good. Overall, taste and enjoyment drive consumption rather than nutrition, he said.

"Our challenge is how do you make ‘better for you' sexy," Grotto said.

One problem, Rowe noted, is that consumer habits are largely influenced by celebrities and not scientists.

Roni Moore, NAMA vice president of public relations, said the association continues its efforts to engage the food industry to address consumer health concerns. In 2005, NAMA introduced its “Fit Pick” program that tags snacks based on nutrition content.

The panelists agreed that food manufacturers are trying to use "clean" labels in response to consumer interest in food ingredients, but they encounter the problem of inconsistent or non-existent definitions for terms such as "clean."

Moore said many young consumers want to see not only clean labels, but they want to be able to pronounce the ingredients listed on the labels, and they want no more than four ingredients per label.

As foodservice operators continue to address various public concerns related to food, they need to be able to balance what consumers want to eat against what they consider best for their health, their community and the environment.

About Elliot Maras

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Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.