Restaurant Industry Practices to Promote Healthy Sustainable Eating: A Content Analysis of Restaurant Websites Using the Value Chain Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to help researchers and restaurant owners gain an understanding of healthy sustainable initiatives within restaurant businesses. This study applied a content analysis of 93 restaurant chains’ websites with a systematic coding procedure. The study identified fifteen healthy sustainable initiatives under a value chain framework, four of which follow value chain dimensions: sourcing, production, marketing, and service. The most frequently mentioned healthy sustainable practice was presenting nutrition-related information, followed by providing healthy menu options and using organic/natural produce. Sit-down restaurants were more likely to engage in healthy sustainable eating initiatives than were fast-food restaurants (e.g., increasing the availability of healthy options, smaller/reduced portion sizes, using fresh and local food, and using healthy cooking methods). This study contributes to the restaurant/foodservice management and food marketing literature by showing a comprehensive picture of what U.S. restaurant chains are doing to promote healthy sustainable eating. The findings can be used as a benchmark tool for practitioners to evaluate and develop healthy sustainable restaurant initiatives and as the foundation of measurement items for scholars.

A recipe for sustainable development: assessing transition of commercial foodservices towards the goal of the triple bottom line sustainability

“…Additionally, a significant number of studies (17 articles) encompass multi-perspectives of managers, employees and consumers, which is merited. It is noticeable, however, that a few studies are neutral in the perspective(s) they adopt as they focus on the analysis of secondary materials such as corporate websites and menus (see, for example, Vercammen et al, 2019;Yoon et al, 2020). Recipe for sustainable development The review uncovers disperse geography of research (Figure 5).…”

“…4.2.5 Healthy meals. Yoon et al (2020) reveal the role of commercial foodservices in promoting healthy eating by providing nutritional information, increasing healthy menu options, offering smaller portions and using organic/fresh/local ingredients. This is supported by Niederle and Schubert (2020) who elaborate on how foodservice providers can reduce portion sizes by offering free-of-charge extra food to customers who agree to have small portions first but still feel hungry afterwards.…”

Attitudes and beliefs about how chefs can promote nutrition and sustainable food systems among students at a US culinary school

“…Attitudes and beliefs were assessed by asking respondents to reflect on a series of statements relating to nutrition and sustainability, indicating the level to which they agreed with each statement. All items were measured on a fivepoint Likert scale from strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neutral (3), agree (4) and strongly agree (5). Prompts related to general attitudes included the statements 'Poor diet quality is a big problem in the US,' and 'Food system contributions to climate change are a big problem.'…”

“…Chefs have emerged as key stakeholders in efforts to positively shape consumer eating habits and food systems transformation (2,3) . Food away from home now makes up close to 1/3 of total calories consumed and more than 1/2 of household food expenditures (4) , making chefs uniquely positioned to influence dietary intake of Americans via the nutritional quality of food away from home (5)(6)(7) . In addition, chefs can promote sustainable food systems and mitigate food systems-related climate change by adapting their menus and business practices (5,(8)(9)(10) .…”

“…Food away from home now makes up close to 1/3 of total calories consumed and more than 1/2 of household food expenditures (4) , making chefs uniquely positioned to influence dietary intake of Americans via the nutritional quality of food away from home (5)(6)(7) . In addition, chefs can promote sustainable food systems and mitigate food systems-related climate change by adapting their menus and business practices (5,(8)(9)(10) . The potential for impact extends beyond more traditional full service restaurants to encompass other settings and sectors that reach large numbers of people including institutional food service (e.g.…”