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BIGGER EFFORTS FOR SMALLER CUSTOMERS

13 June 2007

The time may be ripe for a new look at catering for youngsters. For while children are becoming more brand-conscious and demanding in terms of expecting a greater choice - there's also a widening opportunity out there.

Children are becoming more fond of eating out of home and more familiar with the experience too. Our customers of tomorrow are already accounting for a fair bit of turnover and signs are that this will continue.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for the frying trade though is the perception held by many parents that fried equals unhealthy. Time therefore, we feel, to be taking a look at what's going on elsewhere in families' lives - in the home and in rival catering operations...

In the home it seems that some old fashioned values are returning. That was certainly the message from last month's 'Fairy Knife & Fork Report', an in-depth trends report commissioned by Fairy into family eating across the UK. It early identified that parents are being more 'responsible' when it comes to family bonding, and finally taking the time to serve their children more nutritious food in the heart of the home.

Key findings included:

• 70% of families in the UK eat at the dinner table at least three times a week, correcting current social myths about the death of the dinner table
• The 'Jamie Oliver effect' can be seen in the fact that only 5% of parents tend to use pre-packaged food to feed their families, as attitudes to food are becoming a matter of moral concern, particularly when it comes to obesity among children
• Over half of parents (55%) spend half an hour preparing meals, using a mixture of pre-packaged and fresh ingredients and for 36% of parents, up to an hour is spent cooking meals from scratch with fresh ingredients

Rapid Responses

The pressure to at least offer some healthier options appears to be well and truly on and in some catering operations rivalling the Fish & Chip trade the response can be most interesting.

Take Victor and Marion Buchanan, who run two such operations in Pickering - Tutti, a new family run pizzeria - and The White Swan Inn next door, a former old coaching inn now renowned for its fine wining and dining. The pair are saying no to nuggets and yes to homemade food and plenty of choice, believing thatChildren's menus are always predictable, rarely nutritious and usually pre-prepared. With so much attention now on locally sourced food and healthy school dinners for children, why they ask should we settle for second best when it comes to eating out?.

And so the Buchanans have at Tutti's created a children's menu packed with tasty homemade dishes and are also encouraging children to eat off the big menu just like mum and dad. They have three young children themselves and maintain that the time has come for restaurants to take children's food more seriously.

Nobody's perfect

Victor Buchanan tells us: "Like most parents we try and give our children a balanced, nutritious diet. We are by no means perfect, though, and yes, there is packet of fish fingers in the freezer at home!

"But we would like to see interesting dishes for children when eating out. At Tutti the children's menu includes freshly made spaghetti bolognaise, ravioli and pizza and we really try and encourage children to do what Italian bambinis do and eat from the big menu. At Tutti we cook everything from scratch so recipes can easily be adapted to suit younger palates and of course serve up smaller helpings at much lower prices.

"Children can be hard to please but like adults they enjoy and deserve great tasting freshly prepared food which is exactly what we have on the menu here and next door at The White Swan."

Bizzie times

So much for outside the frying trade. Within it though there are some stirrings of change to set every operator thinking just as much.

At the Skipton-based Bizzie Lizzie's chain of Fish & Chip shops Rebecca Lacy is well aware of the need to be offering choice and some healthier options too, adding that "We do think about our kids a lot really. We take quite a bit of effort.
"We have separate children's menus for the restaurant areas and kids meal boxes available in the take aways. For the boxes we offer things like Fish Bites, which is like a mini Fish and Chips really, as well items like sausages, jacket potatoes and nuggets - the healthiest we can get! "Even although children are coming out for a treat we're keen to be seen to be offering choice and healthier options. This also means that there's nothing homogenised and no GM."

At Bizzie Lizzie's younger customers clearly are valued. As well as its menu offerings the group is also a regular sponsor of community events and initiatives that help young people such as schools football. A database of younger customers is maintained and each child receives a birthday card from the fryer as part of the successful Bizzie Bees Club. The club itself is set for a revamp and expansion with younger diners about to be incentivised through being given the chance to win 'cool' prizes such as iPods.

Making the effort

"We really do try to do our bit," adds Rebecca Lacy. "Not just with the community events and the club but even with the drinks we offer. For instance we always have both milk and water available. It amazes me how few places offer milk - especially when they do sell tea."

It would appear therefore that just as important as choice and child-friendly menu items is that key quality - effort. And this is certainly the case down at the recently-opened Fish & Chip shop The Odyssey at Eastbourne (see Fry Monthly, February). This stylish new shop is run by brothers Panayiotis and Demitrious Photiou and together the brothers make quite some effort toward attracting family groups.

"It is important to make the effort - we're both parents ourselves and know that when going out it's always a worry as to whether we'll be welcome," says Panayiotis."Children here have their own little menu in a fancy design that includes something to colour in and a competition. The menu is something that they can take home too. It has four types of food in fish, fish cake, chicken nuggets and sausage. We offer them a set meal at £4 and this includes a main meal with a drink and a dessert.

Family target

"But we don't make much out of kids - it's the parents. What you've got to do is be welcoming toward the family groups - again we know that as parents - and we're certainly welcoming here. And making the effort is important. We even take it so far as having high chairs available and baby-changing facilities."Panayiotis has indeed hit the nail on the head here. In these days where the hospitality industry has taken 'segmentation' of customers to the limit it's perhaps best not to be addressing children as a separate little entity on their own, rather it's the wider family group the trade should be targeting.

- Look out for all the very latest products on the market as part of our Catering for Kids special in the August edition of FRY Monthly