Steffen brings up a good point in his latest blog post about vegetarians and vegans. But it's one that leaves me pretty confused.
His argument is that there's an increasing number of vegetarians and vegans consumers out there today, and restaurants that think they can ignore their menu needs are putting themselves at risk. This makes complete sense to me and is an argument I 100 percent agree with (just read the recent article from the Boston Globe on this growing consumer segment).
But there was one line in Steffen's post that I think is worth paying closer attention to:
His argument is that there's an increasing number of vegetarians and vegans consumers out there today, and restaurants that think they can ignore their menu needs are putting themselves at risk. This makes complete sense to me and is an argument I 100 percent agree with (just read the recent article from the Boston Globe on this growing consumer segment).
But there was one line in Steffen's post that I think is worth paying closer attention to:
"For instance, labeling a menu item as 'vegetarian' may not be the best
advertisement for the product even if it is vegetarian. At this stage
in the game, 'vegetarian' among most consumers still means 'taste
compromised' even for those that want to order it."
Don't get me wrong, I agree with this one too. QSR even covered the "stealth health" trend in the October issue. Customers, for the most part, see any health claims as warning signs that the menu item might not taste good. As a result, some chains are down playing their health efforts in an effort to keep consumers interested.
This seems to fly in the face of what consumer advocacy groups and the consumers themselves are all saying. A majority of what the industry hears from outsiders is how all they want is fresh, healthy foods on menus. But when push comes to shove, the low-sodium, low-cal, corn syrup free, vegetarian labels make consumers wary of ordering those foods.
There are certainly consumers who will tell you that they can taste the difference in these types of menu items when compared to their traditional counterparts, but I'm willing to bet a majority of them haven't ever gotten beyond the menu label and actually tried them in the first place. At this point, what is a quick-serve brand to do?
The industry is beat up for not offering better options, but at the end of the day consumers aren't even interested in trying them. As a result, the obesity epidemic rages on and quick serves (especially the Big Guys) are the ones being crucified.
I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way. But I might not have the whole story either. What is your brand seeing? How are consumers reacting to your healthy menu items? Do these types of offerings really taste as good as the others? Do consumers even know what they want?
This seems to fly in the face of what consumer advocacy groups and the consumers themselves are all saying. A majority of what the industry hears from outsiders is how all they want is fresh, healthy foods on menus. But when push comes to shove, the low-sodium, low-cal, corn syrup free, vegetarian labels make consumers wary of ordering those foods.
There are certainly consumers who will tell you that they can taste the difference in these types of menu items when compared to their traditional counterparts, but I'm willing to bet a majority of them haven't ever gotten beyond the menu label and actually tried them in the first place. At this point, what is a quick-serve brand to do?
The industry is beat up for not offering better options, but at the end of the day consumers aren't even interested in trying them. As a result, the obesity epidemic rages on and quick serves (especially the Big Guys) are the ones being crucified.
I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way. But I might not have the whole story either. What is your brand seeing? How are consumers reacting to your healthy menu items? Do these types of offerings really taste as good as the others? Do consumers even know what they want?
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