As consumers are increasingly concerned about what they are eating, with figures from the survey showing that 43% of people like to see calorie counts on the menu, outlets are under pressure to provide low-fat, low-sugar, low-carb and free-from (everything) meals.
And the success of those that have an eye to healthy eating says it all, with new contenders in grab & go such as Suchef, The Good Life Eaterie and Filmore & Union piling in with fresh, healthy dishes, to join more established players such as Tossed and Chop’d.
Filmore & Union also hosts yoga classes at its Skipton premises and on external sites, further promoting a healthy lifestyle choice rather than a quick fix.
But there is a dichotomy in the food fray. With obesity Britain at the other end of the scale, it is almost as though there are those who obsess about what they eat and those who eat obsessively. In fact, there now a term for fixation with ‘right’ or ‘correct’ eating, orthorexia nervosa, and people who gorge themselves on granola bars or sugar-free brownies are missing the point – these still contain sugar and fat in some form.
The food labelling regulations introduced in December put a further spotlight on diet, bringing the need to supply allergy/intolerance information on 14 prescribed substances on labelling for pre-packed food, and for loose food or items made and wrapped on the premises, details have to be available somewhere in store.
Tossed, which opened 10 years ago, was founded by Vincent Mckevitt because he struggled to find somewhere to eat healthily. “Those places were quite expensive then and healthy eating was chiefly about smaller portions,” says the company’s food and commercial Angelina Harrison. “He wanted to eat well and be mindful of the type of things he was eating.”
Tossed has four sub brands: lean protein, low GI carbs, lots of fruit and vegetables and a skinny offering for those watching their calories. “We are all about healthy eating every day without feeling guilty and as part of a healthy lifestyle, rather than ‘I want to get into a bikini in the summer’,” she says. Customer feedback shows they want choice, larger portions and “to know that someone has put some thought into what has gone into their food”.
Harrison says the new regulations made the business look at allergens differently. “We had always been hot on making information available to our guests but it was quite an operational task to ensure that every single member of staff in our shops knew we were now legally obliged to provide this information and knew where to find it. It is available online and in print.”
Tossed changes menus every month, so the information has to be constantly updated and the business invested in software to pull together nutritional information. “It was a small cost. The biggest outlay was the time it took to produce the information and to train to stores,” says Angelina Harrison.
It was also labour intensive for Sodexo, which has supply chains to consider as well as its own dishes. “Because Sodexo is in schools and healthcare, we have long been catering for a broad range of allergies and intolerances but understanding the ingredients was a huge piece of work,” says head of nutrition and dietetics for Sodexo UK & Ireland Wan Mak. “The big challenge is keeping the information up to date and how that is communicated front of house, back of house and to the consumer,” she says.
Similarly, “Collecting all the allergen data for every product that we have listed throughout our business and then storing and applying this across our recipes resulted in a huge investment of resource and we have trained all our colleagues on the regulation, our processes and what this means for the consumer, which has an impact on many day to day roles,” says head of nutrition for Compass Group UK & Ireland Nicky Martin.
Before the regulations came in, the British Hospitality Association estimated that they would probably cost the industry £200 million per year.
“The law was brought in because more and more people were becoming allergic to substances,” says co-founder of Filmore & Union Will Pugh. “Processed food has contributed to that, we do not know what is in a lot of food: 50% of our customer base is gluten free, which also goes back to refined foods. We shout from the rooftops that we don’t have those.”
He also points out there has been a shift in thinking. Not so long ago, anyone who was vegetarian or food intolerant was viewed with – well, intolerance; now it has come full circle and healthy eating has become “quite cool”, he says.
And as food policy lead at Coeliac UK Kathryn Miller points out: “The market for gluten-free is growing, with Mintel predicting a 47% growth in the free from market in the UK between 2013 and 2018, taking it to £538 million by 2018. Gluten-free represents around half of this, a huge market that continues to grow. It is not just people with coeliac disease who are following a gluten-free diet, 8% of households choose gluten-free options and there is a big opportunity for the grab & go sector to improve provision for people looking for gluten-free options.”
A YouGov SixthSense Health Eating Survey (July 2013) showed that more than 60% of consumers believe that healthy foods are those low in salt, sugar and saturated fat, 43% say they need to drink more water and 39% that they need to eat more fruit to be healthy. Foods that are low in salt, sugar and saturated fat are the top three healthy food associations, chosen by well over 60% of respondents; fibre-rich foods at 59% and low cholesterol at 57%.
Consumers, however, are fallible (the human factor) and often wash down their salad with a diet coke or a glass of wine. But all is not lost: “Our largest sale is diet coke but we have seen a 35% growth year on year to April 2015 on our smoothies and juices,” says Angelina Harrison. And, “Water is our top selling drink,” says Compass Group’s Nicky Martin. Filmore & Union does not serve any branded drinks, and juice and smoothies are made in-house.
At this rate, coffee may soon be a has-bean thanks to a new study from the European Food Safety Authority, which suggests that drinking more than four cups of coffee a day could be damaging to health.
“Each person’s body treats caffeine differently and there are other factors such as general health and lifestyle, so a set limit can only be used as a guideline which most people would not understand,” says chairman of the BSA Steve Slark. “The media pick up on coffee but there are many sources of caffeine: dark chocolate and some soft drinks contain high levels of caffeine and people are not aware of that. Like all things, moderation is the key.”
The drive for healthier eating comes from greater knowledge about food, nutrition and specific nutrients and how they affect our health in the long and short term, according to registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the British Dietetics Association (BDA) Alison Clark. “For example, we know a lot more about blood sugar control and how low GI carbs release their energy over a longer period, which will keep you productive at work, help you concentrate and be accurate.”
She says people are happy to pay for the convenience of having something freshly prepared in front of them, especially when the alternative is preparing it themselves the night before or in the morning, which requires the time and having the ingredients in the fridge.
Co-founder of The Good Life Eatery Shirin Kouros is passionate about ingredients, frustrated about some of the myths surrounding healthy eating and feels that often the tone of healthy eating messages is preachy. “There are some niche healthy eating products, using fancy, expensive ingredients, which not everyone has access to,” she says. “At Good Life we use fresh food that happens to be good for you: the body needs a certain amount of protein, carbs, a small amount of natural sugars every day. We never preach about food.”
Everything is made on the premises or in the company’s kitchens and no processed foods are used. “We have something on the menu to keep everyone happy and we make sure it is balanced – green, protein from pulses, carbs from vegetables, and with Mexican and Asian influences,” she says. Negotiations are under way on a third outlet and a cook book follows next year.
Filmore & Union has seven shops in Leeds (2), York (2), Harrogate, Wetherby and Skipton, with plans to grow to 30 over the next five years, and co-founders Adele Carnell and Will Pugh saw a gap in the market for healthy dining out, outside the south east. “It is not about the calorie count, it is clean, natural food that is not messed about with in the cooking,” he says. “Everything is homemade either on site or in the production kitchen.
“We do not arm staff with advice about losing weight,” he says. “Our products are deemed to be healthier, it is all about balance.” Following through on the lifestyle message, Filmore & Union also holds yoga sessions at five locations.
Suchef set out to provide quality hot food in honest portions: “There is an abundance of hot food but quality was difficult to find,” says head of operations Mikhail Shiyanov. “Our hot offer is popular regardless of the season and the concept is built on cooking without additives. The majority of our dishes is made on the premises.”
And to balance a focus on indulgent cakes and baked goods, “At Timberyard we have also long been advocates of high quality, gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian products too, to help customers manage a more balanced diet,” says operations director Darren Elliott. Wellbeing menus focused on low gluten, more grains, fruits, salads, vegetables and options to dairy such as coconut and nut oils follow in July.
Consultant to the catering industry Andrew Etherington feels there is a problem in the messages consumers receive: “I think we all know that is if we eat too much fat, sugar, salt, it is not good for us,” he says. “But there is not a huge amount to say that they are part of a healthy balanced diet. We are being told what is bad for us but are we being told what is good for us?
“Sometimes food is thought to be healthy because it is in a green packet or there is a picture of a bee or a leaf on them – ignorance about bad ingredients is an issue,” he says.
And regarding one of the main causes of obesity, he says: “Supermarkets are selling low-cost, high-fat foods in large packs, double packs, multi-buys and buy one get one free, and the worst food is the cheapest and that is reflected in the buying power and disposable income of a certain socio-demographic group.”
In short, although healthy eating is here to stay and the number of operators offering notably healthy food will continue to proliferate, when it comes to consumption, moderation may be some way off.