Friday, February 05, 2010 by Kathy Means
Consumption news: We still have our work cut out for us, so let’s go!
Several news items caught our consumption eye recently. Did you read about the new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research? It suggests that mandatory calorie posting in restaurants does not necessarily negatively impact restaurants’ profits, and in some instances may actually lead to an increase in revenue. With the right use of fresh produce, restaurants can have nutrition numbers that bring in that revenue.
One way that can happen is by doubling fresh produce use in restaurants in the next 10 years (see PMA information on two reports on this effort). An article from The Packer reporting on the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone’s Produce First! Event noted that 44% of attendees said increasing produce is a high priority, and 74% said boosting produce at foodservice could move the needle toward that goal. Some top minds in the industry created this initiative, and it’s great to see it is being discussed by companies that can make it happen.
In another survey, Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data show mixed results on two key metrics in 2009 compared with 2008. Though in 2009 more Americans said they “ate healthy all day yesterday” (66.4% in 2009 up from 65.9% in 2008), those reporting eating five or more servings of fresh fruits and vegetables on at least four days in the previous week slipped to 55.6% last year from 56.4% in 2008. Those numbers don’t look huge by themselves, but when you extrapolate that to one-half or one percent of the U.S. population, you can see a significant opportunity or loss.
Have you noticed the commercials for a variety of juice drinks that purport to give you X servings of your fruits or vegetables (one touts three servings of vegetables; one trumpets two servings of fruit – and there are others)? Consumers are looking for convenient ways to get the nutrition they need. It’s up to us to give it to them – otherwise other companies will snag our nutrition halo and our sales.