Healthy Appetites

Take a couple of apples, carve them up to look a little bit like french fries, pop them in a standard fast-food french-fry container, add a blister-pack of low-fat caramel sauce, and what you have is a fast-food innovation that might just be the simplest, yet most groundbreaking, quick-service product introduction of 2008.

Making healthful foods fun for kids has always been a battle. After all, what hope do fresh fruits and vegetables have of winning a kid’s heart when shelf-stable, preservative-laden, sugar-saturated cookies, crackers, and ice cream pops molded into the shapes of animals are just a few aisles away at the grocery store?

But Burger King’s inspired stroke proves that nutritious foods really can be fun, given a little creativity and some promotional muscle. And in a year when the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children as young as 8 years of age be placed on cholesterol medication if their low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels are elevated, the quick-serve industry has a great opportunity—and I might suggest an obligation—to use its ingenuity, profile, and purchasing power to take a leadership role in the promotion of more healthful kids’ snacks.

The movement toward healthier offerings has been under way in the packaged-foods realm for quite some time. The snack-foods segment is now awash in chips, crackers, and other munchables made with whole grains, decreased sodium, and even dried fruit and vegetable ingredients. Baked, puffed snacks are readily available alongside their deep-fried counterparts. And the ranks of nutrition bars with functional additives are continually expanding as well.

The challenge, of course, is that many healthful foods can fall short on taste. And there is absolutely no question that taste will always be paramount with kids. So what sorts of treats might strike the right balance? Here are a few ideas:

Tempura Temptations

The deep-fat fryer will never fall completely out of favor in quick-serve environments. But just as generations of kids first learned to love potatoes and onions that were sliced up, breaded, and plunged into hot oil, we might well wonder whether we could instill the same love of asparagus, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and even bananas by flash-frying them with lighter, whole-grain batters. Anyone who has ever enjoyed good tempura knows that the delicacy of the batter and the speed of the cooking process make for a delicious, even addictive treat. While offering kids tempura-fried vegetables wouldn’t be quite as healthful as getting them to eat steamed or grilled varieties, it would represent a significant step in the right direction.

Bent on Bento

The bento box—that elegant, compact, colorful Japanese balanced-meal staple—is enjoying phenomenal popularity these days. A traditional bento box might contain portions of fish or chicken, rice, and vegetables, all carefully portioned within a small lacquered bowl or box. The bento’s many flavors, textures, and temperatures offer the variety kids love, in quantities that are generally more modest than the typical fast-food meal. The good news is bento boxes can be customized any number of ways, with foods from any and every corner of the globe. And some restaurateurs and manufacturers are exploring the options.

Mifune, a popular noodle restaurant in San Francisco’s Japan Center, has created a bento in the shape of Japan’s famous bullet train, while CrunchPak’s line of Disney Garden Foodles consists of plastic Mickey Mouse ears filled with ingredients such as carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, and ranch dressing for dipping. Kidfresh market in Manhattan, meanwhile, sells grab-and-go prepared dinners containing elements such as grass-fed beef enchiladas, organic green beans and corn, as well as snack packs built around organic cheese-pop sticks with baked animal crackers. All represent intriguing directions for quick-serve chains looking to expand their healthful options for kids.

A Bushel of Fruit

Apple fries were a particularly ingenious way of making fruit more fun, but the possibilities don’t end there. Pizza Hut or Papa John’s could consider something along the lines of fruity pizza sticks, little finger-shaped cylinders of pizza dough with fruit baked on top. And Latin chains such as El Pollo Loco and Del Taco could consider a line of fresh fruit tortilla roll-ups, with mango, jicama, or oranges stuffed inside bite-sized tortilla wraps lightly dusted with cinnamon sugar.

The ultimate question for quick-serve chains when it comes to healthful kids’ snacks is whether a major investment in creative, new ideas will pay off at the cash register. I firmly believe that chains that choose to pursue this direction will ultimately be rewarded not just with greater guest loyalty but also with corporate-reputation benefits that can make for a healthy bottom line today and well into the future.