The Restaurant Standard - April/May 2009

COUNTING CALORIES AS THE STATE MENU LABELING MANDATE LOOMS, SMALLER COMPANIES WEIGH WHAT CUSTOMERS WANT By Angelica Pappas

RESTAURANTS AFFECTED BY A NEW MENU LABELING

mandate will face the first phase of enactment this summer, requiring restaurants to provide customers with brochures detailing nutritional information.

The law, to be phased in between July and 2011, applies to restaurant chains with 20 or more locations that offer substantially the same menu items, or operate as a franchised outlet of a parent company.

As larger chains make preparations to print brochures and change menu boards to comply with the law, smaller multi-unit companies and independent restaurants are considering how newly informed customers will respond.

“We’re (menu labeling) because we want to, not because we have to,” said Leslie Swallow of Mixt Greens, a three-unit eco-gourmet concept specializing in custom salads. “Our client base is very knowledgeable about nutrition and we had requests for calorie information.”

Swallow is using the online application MenuCalc to analyze the hundreds of ingredients Mixt Greens offers its customers for salads to develop brochures and to add a calorie calculator to their Web site.

In February, the California Restaurant Association named MenuCalc’s parent company, FoodCalc, a preferred partner for nutritional analysis.

FoodCalc’s lead dietician Alyson Mar said she has worked with several smaller companies that are doing menu analysis as a service to customers.

“I think a lot of smaller companies are going to see the value in providing nutritional information when consumers start seeing it more widely available, especially in restaurants serving the same type of cuisine” Mar said. “The business lunch crowd is huge, and a lot of those customers are more mindful of what they’re eating.

“Restaurants that don’t have to comply, but have the demand, can do just a few items and have a healthy items section of the

menu as a way to stand apart.”

For a restaurant concept reliant on offering healthy options, Swallow said the company plans to use the tool when developing new recipes or ingredients, so they can make necessary revisions as they go.

“There’s a balance of providing healthy food while also meeting taste expectations,” Swallow said. “But overall, we’ll be able to educate the consumer and let them know what we’re doing and what their options are so they can make the best choices for them.”

As restaurant operators scramble to meet looming compliance deadlines, Mar said she thinks eventually restaurants may be inspired to revise some of the more staggeringly fattening dishes.

“I think in the next two or three years we’ll see a lot of reformulation,” Mar said. “But there’s still going to be a market for those delicious, comforting things restaurants specialize in.”