Some Findings on Nutritional Information Issues

The idea of our startup is to provide our users a resource for their food choices - enabling them to find a place to eat out or buy products. Depending on our findings this may include cuisines (e.g. Indian, Italian), various dietary requirements (e.g. Vegetarian, Vegan), and nutritional information (e.g. calories). This blog post should give you an idea on what we found out on the latter.

Source: Calories on menus in Ireland
REPORT ON A NATIONAL CONSULTATION
June 2012

From our in-person interviews and survey conducted from consumer side of the market (168 responses so far) we found out that people have various food preferences and requirements. Some of them mentioned that they do not count calories per se but are sticking to a reasonable food portions. Others implied that eating out derives them from their healthy diet or they tend to intake too much calories.

Source: Calories on menus in Ireland
REPORT ON A NATIONAL CONSULTATION
June 2012

So with our solution we will be trying to address these (and many other) customer pains. One interesting finding was that even if the person does not really count calories, when they have them displayed on the menu, they will still go for lower calorie meals. This shows that providing customers with such information can impact their choices. To add, we came upon the Report On a National Consultation "Calories on menus in Ireland" created already couple of years ago. Already then the surveys were conducted and according to the report "Consumers who report using calorie information (15%) tend to make lower calorie food choices. In addition, there is evidence that calorie menu labelling creates a demand for healthier options – including smaller portion sizes." So our observations are actually confirmed by a nation-wide research. What is interesting is that the report also confirms that people who use the calorie information provided actually do purchase/ear fewer calories. 15% of the surveyed population already used the calorie information on menus at the time when the research was done. To add, here are some additional useful facts from the report:

A total of 3,130 submissions (2,666 consumers, 322 health professionals, 73 food businesses and 69 others) were received via the consumer survey. Ninety six percent of submitters want calorie menu labelling in all, or some, food outlets. Eighty three percent want calorie labelling in all food service businesses. Of the 13% who preferred calorie labelling in some outlets, their order of priority was: fast food outlets (95%), coffee shops and delis (63%), cinemas (58%), vending machines (57%), pubs (26%) and restaurants (18%). The main reasons given for wanting vs. not wanting calorie menu labelling was ‘empowerment to make informed food choice decisions’ vs. ‘calorie labelling is unnecessary and ineffective’ (46% vs. 3% of the total group respectively).

All of the above helps us to validate our hypothesis for the Value Proposition for the one side of the market (consumer) and the product therefore may enable people to make informed food choice decisions they are looking for (here we are referring to calorie count ONLY and not taking into account other information we may be able to provide). If the problem is calorie count, then consumers may be able to find a place within their calorie limit.

Source: Calories on menus in Ireland
REPORT ON A NATIONAL CONSULTATION
June 2012

However, the other side of the market (e.g. restaurants) may not completely agree to display the calorie count of their meals. This, according to the report is quite some problem. Implementing calories on menus may be a challenge if the menus are seasonal and changing often as it is the additional time and resources restaurants have to invest. McDonalds, Burger King, Subway and Insomnia are among the chains that have introduced calorie labeling on their main overhead menu display, but Beshoffs and O'Brien's Sandwich bars have not, an Irish Independent survey in Dublin city center showed. Supermacs has a small panel with calorie counts at the side of its flagship O'Connell St base, but not on its main overhead menu, meaning a customer would have to actively seek them out before ordering (Source: Independent.ie). So, theoretically this is doable. Nevertheless, Health Minister James Reilly has pledged to introduce legislation by the end of the year forcing every business that serves food to display calories on their menus, if they are not complying voluntarily (Source: Irishhealth.ie).

If the calorie labeling is forced by a law, then our product will have more restaurants to offer within the app. In our case calorie information is not the only nutritional information we are planning to provide, therefore restaurant attitudes may not have as heavy impact on our product, because there is much more information we can use. What matters is that the consumers are actually alert about their food choices and want to be enabled to make informed and healthier ones.

Post by: Laura