Delicious, desirable & healthy

Welcome to Healthy Dishes

It can be a challenge to meet the demand for healthy options out of home. Healthy food and drink options have held steady as an important trend throughout the downturn and is the number two demand of guests after 'better value'. Some guests believe that healthy dishes can lack flavour. Keep this in mind for your menus so taste is never compromised. This will keep your guests coming back for more and your menu more profitable. There are lots of small steps you can take with your ingredients, preparation methods and a new menu items that can make your menu healthier and even more appealing.

This first issue of Healthy Dishes contains practical ideas covering:

Making your current menu healthier
Making perceived healthy dishes more appealing
Catering for guests with allergies

The Unilever Food Solutions team of chefs, nutritionists and marketers can help you deliver the tasty, healthy and more profitable menus so you can stay ahead of the competition.

Check how 'healthy' your menu is with our quiz

Do you have a least two salad choices?
Does your menu feature at least one fish dish?
Do you serve dishes with plenty of vegetables/fruit?
Do you use 'low saturated fat spreads or margarines' on sandwiches/bread/vegetables rather than butter?
Do you use lean meat in your dishes?
Do you limit adding salt to your dishes?
Do you limit adding sugar to your dishes?
Do you offer any wholegrain bread, pasta, noodles or rice options?
Do you use deep-frying techniques sparingly?
Do you serve at least one vegetarian option in each section of your menu?
Do you use dairy products with a lower fat content such as lower fat cheese and semi-skimmed milk?
Do you use a measurement to control your portion sizes?
Do you serve sauces separately?

See how your menu performed. If you answered YES to…

All 13 questions – FANTASTIC! You have your customers’ health interests at heart, read on for more great ideas.

7-12 questions – your menu is well balanced and your customers do have the choice of healthy menu options, but you could offer more.

6-3 questions – your customers may want more choice of healthier dishes and this demand will increase in the future. Time to put a plan in place.

2 questions or below – your menu could limit your appeal and needs to have more healthier options.