Creating Kiddy Cuisine

From quick-service restaurants (QSRs) to school foodservice programs, new items geared to the young have cropped up, some in response to the frenzy sparked by the need for healthier food. Some consumer-advocate groups and government agencies are up in arms about what to do about children's rising obesity rates. Even restaurants are under attack: New legislation, if it passes, will require large chain restaurants to print nutrition information on menus in five states.

Creating new, healthy menus that appeal to kids presents a challenge. No doubt adults' heads and hearts are in the right places, but it seems not too many actually listen to what kids say. Parents may think their children will only order chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese, but maybe that's selling them short.

Today's kids are big consumers, both in purchases they make themselves and in influencing parental purchases. According to a recent study by Dairy Queen (DQ), Edina, MN, the 8-to-12 age group alone (often referred to as "tweens") is responsible for about $14 billion in food-related spending annually.

Strottman Consulting Group, an Irvine, CA-based youth and family market-research agency, recently conducted an online survey of 500 kids ages 8 to 12 and then gathered 6 groups of 40 kids to find out what kids think about nutrition and how restaurants and food manufacturers can meet their needs. Through one-on-one interviews with the kids, researchers found that, overall, nutrition from a kid's perspective is all about taste, choice, fun and performance.

They also found that kids might eat healthful food -- because they do know what food is good for them -- but often only because mom or dad watches over them. What wins them over most is food that tastes good. A perception of immediate performance, not more-abstract ideas that adults understand such as nutrition, health and long life, also motivates kids. They want an instant gratification or benefit from a product or something associated with it. Instant motivators include that a food will make them run faster, jump higher, have more energy, have sustained energy, do better in school or just plain have fun.

The study further indicates that the biggest void in healthful eating occurs at breakfast, a meal that kids prepare for themselves more often than any other meal. Given license to choose their own breakfast, kids often pick sugared products and simple carbohydrates, foregoing protein and vitamin-enriched foods. But moms still potentially control breakfast. Most moms think healthier products that are good-tasting, convenient/kid preparable, promote energy benefits, fun and/or have a premium attached can help them provide healthful meals that also appeal to their charges. DQ also turned to the 8 to 12 year olds last year, for help with new product development. They came up with several additions for DQ's menu, among them: the Cotton Candy Blizzard, a Tootsie Caramel Apple Pop and another ice cream treat with bubble gum. While the foods kids come up with aren't exactly healthy, the surveys do show that what kids like isn't always in line with what product developers are making.

Another recent study, "Understanding Kids Menus 2004," conducted by Chicago-based Technomics, examined menus from 232 restaurants: 128 full service and 104 limited service. Out of the 232 restaurants, 195 had kids' menus. Of the full-service restaurants, 120 had kids' menus; only 75 limited-service restaurants had specific kids' menus. (However, some of the limited-service restaurants, like Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins, had menus that appeal to a broad base.)

"We defined the insights we gained from a menu perspective, by looking at what was missing, what was different and what was innovative," says Mark McKeown, business development manager, Technomics. "Most of the proteins were fried, including hamburgers. Healthy options were few, and that is defined as items identified by operators as healthful."

The survey also found that most kids' beverage menus had limited upsell items, compared to adult menus that had a lot of upsell beverages. "It would make sense, I would think, to offer a shot of cherry or vanilla to a soda for an extra cost," McKeown adds. Other findings included that, from a pricing perspective, ethnic items command a higher price point in both limited- and full-service operations. And few restaurants distinguish between toddlers and older children: restaurants offer the same food to a 2 year old that they offer to a 10 year old.

Obesity issues notwithstanding, developing menus for children requires more than just offering healthier items. As the Strottman research found, kids have different motivators than adults. Put simply, if the food doesn't appeal, the kids won't eat it. Plus, foodservice operators realize that kids have wider food interests than many restaurants (and adults in general) give them credit for.

While the majority of children's restaurant menus still tend toward the fried entrée and French-fry combo with a soda to wash it down, other operations offer more-imaginative options. Walter Staib, operator of the City Tavern in Philadelphia, recreated 18th-century cuisine for the restaurant when he came on board in 1994 and developed a menu specifically for his younger patrons. "The restaurant is also a living museum and a lot of children come through here as an educational experience," he says. "It was my aim to treat the kids equally as the adults. I wanted them to have the same food, not phony kid food. I believe in treating the kids with respect, and the kids who come here really appreciate the food."

The menu has won Restaurant Hospitality magazine's "The Best Kids Menu in America" award and the National Restaurant Association's "Menu Visionary Award, Children's Menu." Staib developed it with several criteria: it must appeal to children, it must meet historical standards, it must meet the City Tavern's standards for high-quality food made with farm-fresh ingredients, and it must not patronize children. Items on the menu include the popular Colonial Turkey Pot Pie, Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Tenders, Grilled Chicken Breast, Grilled English Cut Prime Rib, and Meat and Cheese Pie. Hank's Philadelphia Root Beer, served to kids alongside a mug like beer is served to adults, also makes them feel special.

A chain restaurant with the same idea of treating children like adults, Old Country Buffet (a division of Buffets, Inc., Eagan, MN), successfully markets respect to children. With more than 90 items on the menu, kids choose from the same food as adults for a smaller price.

Lulu's Dim Sum & Then Sum, Evanston, IL, also appeals to kids. They like the relaxed atmosphere, and enjoy ordering off the regular menu where they still find things they really like. The menu's "small eats" section features smaller portions, where kids order items such as miso soup, vegetable spring rolls, sesame noodles and steamed spinach. Owner and manager Daniel Kelch says the kids that come to his restaurant have grown up with more sophisticated tastes and enjoy being treated like adults.

McKeown observed that Italian, Asian and Mexican food appeals to kids. "Kids have a higher awareness today than they used to," he says. "Ethnic food is much more diverse today than it used to be. Kids are growing up with that being the norm." In addition, he noticed that ethnic restaurants generally have higher price points than nonethnic, making them an ideal opportunity for increasing sales.

Kathy Moreau, global marketing manager, sweet goods, International Flavors & Fragrances, New York, agrees that kids' increasing exposure to new flavors through cultural influence, cooking shows and restaurant experimentation speeds up the process of more-exotic flavors, like green tea, ginger, tamarind, curry, cardamom, dulce de leche and chile, showing up in foods geared to children. She says one of the newest flavors, dragonfruit, with a sweet, melon-like flavor, is gaining favor by being introduced in combination with other more-traditional flavors, like strawberry, much as kiwi was introduced.

Legal Sea Foods, Boston, revamped its kids' menu in the last year to include 12 entrées and then won Child magazine's first-place award in its healthy-menu contest. Four years ago, CEO Roger Berkowitz changed the entire menu after participating in a roundtable discussion about nutrition at Boston-based Harvard University. He eliminated trans fats in the cooking -- even persuaded his supplier to offer a trans-fat-free oil for frying -- and changed the restaurant's oyster crackers and children's cheddar crackers to more healthful trans-free products. While the restaurant does offer standards, like hot dogs, cheeseburgers and macaroni-and-cheese, kids also can order a fish platter, crunchy baked cod or a half lobster (with meat scooped out and put back to make it easier to eat), or fish-shaped ravioli with tomato sauce. All kids' entrées include a fruit and vegetable.

Many QSRs also are answering the call for more diverse and healthful offerings. McDonald's Corporation, Oakbrook, IL, responded quickly to negative publicity by revamping its Happy Meals, both in the United States and abroad, to include more healthful choices. In the United States, for example, McDonald's now offers 1% milk as a soft-drink alternative, and apple dippers to replace French fries. Red Lobster, Orlando, FL, (also a Child magazine winner) changed its children's menu to include grilled mahi-mahi and snow crab legs paired with steamed mixed vegetables (and kids get a bright-red lobster-bead necklace upon seating.) Ruby Tuesday, Inc., Maryville, TN, offers whole grains on the kids' menu and switched to trans-fat-free canola oil for frying. By next year, it will have a whole new menu including a cheese quesadilla using a whole-grain tortilla, a turkey-and-cheese sandwich made with wheatberry bread, and nutritious sides, like fresh fruit, steamed broccoli and a salad bar. The menu was developed with the help of a 7-to-10-year-old focus group. The chain also is considering a separate menu geared toward toddlers and preschoolers.

Other restaurants making an effort to improve children's menus include: Miami-based Benihana, where children also enjoy watching the skilled chefs cook; Anaheim, CA-based Mimi's Café, which has an extensive kids' menu and provides younger kids with bibs saying "Eat Your Veggies;" Portland, OR-based Old Spaghetti Factory, which serves spaghetti entrées in funky child-designed plastic bowls; and Emeryville, CA-based Chevy's Fresh Mex, which serves bean-and-cheese burritos or chicken soft tacos and salsa, and also features guacamole made daily from fresh ingredients.

What kids eat at home and at restaurants is just part of the equation. Children spend most of their waking hours nine months of the year at school and eat at least one meal there, sometimes two. Schools have been taken to task over what they serve and criticized for keeping vending machines stocked with soda and unhealthy snacks.

The USDA's School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children provides the framework that schools need to revamp their menus. The guidelines include the goals of: decreasing cholesterol and sodium levels; increasing dietary fiber; offering total fat of less than 30% of total calories offered; making sure that food offered has 10% or less of saturated fat; and ensuring that lunch will meet one-third of the RDA for protein, iron, calcium and vitamins A and C. The University, MS-based National Food Service Management Institute's report on Healthy Cuisine for Kids includes USDA's requirements along with suggestions including making the food look, smell and taste good, but also fun.

Schools have a difficult task. Funds are limited, and part of the mission includes educating kids about nutrition. Kids are tough patrons and away from home not always apt to choose the best foods. School foodservice managers have begun to change the tide by using marketing tools. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman introduced a new website with the theme "Eat Smart, Play Hard" (www.fns.usda.gov/ eatsmartplayhard/), which provides information about the importance of breakfast, healthful snacks and physical activity, and the resources adults need for teaching those concepts to children. Another tool called "Nibbles for Health" helps parents of preschool children teach their kids about nutrition and physical fitness.

Schools in North Carolina's Wake County began a program last fall called "Winner's Circle," a marketing tool that identifies healthful foods on cafeteria serving lines. The school district also participates in the state's "Farm to School" program by buying seasonal produce from local farmers. Elaine Hunt, senior director of Child Nutrition Services, Raleigh, NC, found that children seem to respond better to eating fresh items instead of canned and processed foods.

Still, education is not necessarily the problem. As Strottman found, kids generally know what is good for them, but it doesn't mean they choose the foods they should when not under the watchful eyes of parents.

Some schools go beyond the cafeteria lines and now offer healthy alternatives in their vending machines (where kids usually make their poorest choices). In Phoenix, for example, eight schools recently began stocking snack bars and vending machines with healthier choices, such as granola, sunflower seeds and bottled waters. Cafeteria managers took out high-fat foods, and teachers developed nutrition lessons.

Schools need products that fall within the strictures of USDA guidelines when serving beverages on the cafeteria line. Also, they need products that they can afford to buy when dealing with vended products. Because so many schools are cash-strapped, many have entered into exclusive beverage contracts in return for monetary consideration, and that often means vending machines filled with soda.

Many school districts now opt to offer more-nutritious products, despite the loss of revenue, replacing soda with water, sports beverages, 100% juice (some school districts designate that juices must have a minimum of 50% full-strength juice) or some of the new milk-based beverages that soft-drink companies have recently introduced. While soft-drink companies have introduced sodas fortified with calcium and other nutrients, these products are unlikely to gain approval from most foodservice directors. "The view is that kids should eat the food from which the nutrients come, not obtain the nutrient from a fortified product," says Barry Sackin, staff vice president for public policy, School Nutrition Association, Alexandria, VA.

New milk vending-machine programs help schools combat the soft drink dilemma. Initially, milk vending machines are an expense for schools. However, many dairy companies find they sell more milk this way and have less waste. The dairy industry's Fluid Milk Strategic Thinking Initiative (FMSTI), a marketing think tank of the National Milk Mustache "got milk?" Campaign, recently conducted tests to evaluate the opportunity for milk vending in schools. They found that, with the right placement and product mix, milk was a huge success with kids, especially when served at a cold temperature, in attractive plastic single-serve containers and in flavors kids enjoy, like chocolate and strawberry.

In addition, a new law signed at the end of July relaxes restrictions placed on schools regarding the milk selection on the school lunch line. Formerly, the school lunch program mandated that a school could only offer the same milk varieties that most students chose in the previous school year. Now, schools have the freedom to expand the varieties of milk based on what they believe are the best offerings for the student body, including flavored milk, lactose-free milk and milk of varying fat levels. In fact, the bill requires at least two different milk options to be offered.

It also gives schools the authority to offer milk at anytime and anywhere on school premises or at school events. This prevents restrictions on milk sales, called "exclusivity clauses," which are sometimes inserted in soft-drink vending contracts with schools. Such clauses cannot be included in future soft-drink contracts, but the law is not retroactive to existing contracts.

"The new Child Nutrition Act makes it easier for school foodservice directors to offer students the kinds of milk they like and want," says Victor Zaborsky, senior marketing manager, International Dairy Foods Association, Washington, D.C. "Now schools can offer milk to students at anytime during the day -- in milk vending machines, for example -- and at any school event without fear of retaliation from soft-drink companies."

The Milk Processor Education Program's (MilkPEP's) "Capturing the School Milk Opportunity" program helps school foodservice directors take advantage of these new provisions. The program offers many different ways to improve school milk -- with a proven average sales increase of 15%. In some cases, milk improvements increase overall school meal participation by as much as 5%.

Other tests that have proven successful, but are yet to be implemented, are serving kids almonds and/or dried fruit in easy-to-open cartons that are resealable so that kids can keep it for later consumption. Almonds, in fact, just became a group B entitlement food item (a bonus food under the USDA entitlement program that does not count toward regular entitlement dollars) for the 2004/2005 school year, making it the first year participating school districts can purchase almonds, though at this time the almonds are only available in bulk packaging.

Veneman also just announced that $9 million will be made available to original pilot schools to fund fresh fruit and vegetable purchase for Washington, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and on two Indian reservations in Arizona and South Dakota. The pilot program's evaluation showed that it was popular with students and administrators, improved student eating habits, and raised student preference for, and awareness of, a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Kids, like any other demographic group, have their likes and dislikes. Today's companies market to kids more than ever before. What kinds of products should restaurants and food processors develop to appeal to this market, while also providing healthful choices?

Look at items that fit these criteria that have been successful. Both kids and parents love yogurt in a tube -- it's easy to eat, nutritious and fun -- and would be a good vending-machine alternative. It's also portable, which is an important factor not to be overlooked. Kids often purchase foods that can be resealed to eat later. Oscar Mayer Lunchables® also are highly successful, and while they may not necessarily be the most healthful option, they fill the need for convenience and ease. Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, AZ, recently introduced a new "Fit Kit" for both commercial and noncommercial foodservice operators. The kit includes a CD-ROM with a menu planner and themed menu templates, a sports-equipment rebate, a list of products with 30% or fewer calories from fat, and information about the USDA Team Nutrition Program. The list of foods includes kid favorites like breaded tenderloins, breaded breast fillets and Crispitos-filled tortillas, as well as ingredients like fajita strips, pulled and diced meat, and unbreaded breast fillets.

Tyson also recently consulted with kids to create its new Tyson Kid Created(TM) products, which feature all-white-meat chicken in funky new forms and flavors including: Hip Dippers (patties shaped like flowers and covered in super-crunchy crumb coating); Cockadoodles (tender chicken planks covered in crisp cereal for breakfast); and Chick-a-ditos (triangle-shaped, all-white-meat chicken chunks coated with crunchy ranch tortilla chips).

Nutrient-enhanced products are likely to win favor as well. Omega Protein Corporation, Houston, introduced a line of omega-3-fortified foods for the Texas School Meals program. Items include breakfast tacos, tamales and cheese sauces. The Watson Foods Co., West Haven, CT, designs a children's cookie using a specialized blend of sugars that the body metabolizes at different rates. It's also high in protein (7 grams) and is fortified with a number of nutrients, such as vitamins A, C, D and E, thiamin, niacin and biotin, to name a few. Dried plum purée has long been used in ground-meat products that contain 25% soy to improve the meat's texture and flavor. It also helps texture in reduced-fat baked goods and bakery items.

What kinds of foods will fit the needs for kids' menus today and in the future? Health will continue to be a concern, and that will mean coming up with foods that are nutritionally balanced, low in fat and portioned appropriately for both the under-7 and 7-to-12 groups. But the task will be to develop foods that are not only good for kids, but also appeal to what matters to them -- good taste, instant gratification and, most of all, fun. And really, isn't that what we all want?    

Nancy Backas is a Chicago-based freelance writer and chef. She has been writing about the foodservice industry for 20 years and can be reached at [email protected].

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