Restaurants bring nutrition to
the kids table, offer youngsters choices with a twist
By Liza Berger
When it comes to serving kids, restaurants aim to
please.
Children 12 and younger today — all 50 million of them — are a highly selective and powerful group of patrons. According to C3, an integrated brand marketing agency that specializes in marketing to kids, when Mom and Dad decide to take the family out to eat, the kids are involved in where to go 91 percent of the time.
This kind of influence has affected the way restaurants reach children, from the food they serve to the games they offer at the table.
"A good [kids] program empowers kids," said Jenny Ferguson, C3's research manager.
Last month, Spartanburg, S.C.-based Denny's introduced a new kids program called the D-Zone. The program is specially tailored to kids, with a selection of seven new healthful side dishes, games and drinks added to the regular kids menu.
Some new sides include Deep-Sea Salad, complete with fish-shaped crackers and bright-green salad dressing; Applesauce Swimmers served with Teddy Grahams in applesauce; red grapes; and mashed potatoes. A Thanksgiving Jr. entrée also was added to the children's menu, while two fried entrées were eliminated.
Besides the food choices, Denny's added some games that kids could play with or without parents at the table as well as color packets that turn drinks different colors.
Why the new program? Denny's, which has more than 1,600 restaurants around the world, recognizes that kids, who make up roughly 7 percent of total Denny's traffic and about 10 percent of revenues, are a sizeable — and influential — group of patrons.
"Kids are decision makers and decide where families go out to eat," said Debbie Atkins, spokeswoman for Denny's.
But Denny's also knows that kids can't drive to the restaurants or pay for their meals on their own.
A major goal of restaurants is to counteract the veto vote. Denny's said its program appeals to kids' sense of fun and parents' appreciation of healthful choices.
"You've got the parents, and you've got the kids," said Drew Eagar, Denny's senior director of brand marketing. "I'm happy to say we've put together a program that overcomes the veto vote on both sides."
Healthful eating is one of the major themes among kids programs today, according to C3. Restaurants know that parents want their children to eat better and are working to help them in that effort.
A few cultural phenomena also have prompted restaurants to aid Mom in instilling good food habits.
According to C3, since Sept. 11, more families are bringing their kids to restaurants.
"9/11 brought families together at a dinner table," said Randy Jordan, C3's senior vice president of new business. "The only difference is that it is at a restaurant," as opposed to the home dining-room table.
Another cultural element that affects family-dining trends is Mom's willingness to give up cooking in favor of spending time with her kids at a restaurant.
"These Moms have really decided that spending time with kids and developing family relationships are more important than other things," Ferguson of C3 said.
Gloria Jeans, a 418-unit chain of Irvine, Calif., found a way to cater to Moms and kids. The adult-oriented coffee retailer started selling Artic Koolerz — four specialty-flavored 12-ounce drinks for kids age 10 and younger. The blended cold drinks start with a powder as the main ingredient, and they turn colors upon contact with ice or milk.
According to the chain, the drinks, which include Purple Plunge, Smashin' Strawberry and Ragin' Red Melon, not only look and taste good, but Mom likes them, too. Made with 6 ounces of real milk, they are a healthful alternative to sodas and other drinks. They have no caffeine.
Gloria Jeans, whose stores are located in malls, said it was time to pay attention to kids, since 70 percent of mall traffic is women, who often shop with their children. Typically, women come to Gloria Jeans for a coffee and then go elsewhere in the mall for their children's drinks.
"We figure [children] come into our stores and should come out with a drink in hand," said Diane Hays-Hoag, Gloria Jeans' vice president of marketing.
The chain has marketed the drink in such a way that children will remember it. A Polar Bear icon represents the new drink line. Gloria Jeans also said it would for a limited time offer a promotional cup sporting the logo so that kids could take it home with them and remember Gloria Jeans.
Premiums like the cup can be a powerful way to turn kids on to a brand. Sonic Corp., an Oklahoma City-based quick-service restaurant chain with nearly 3,000 units, has been successful with its educational giveaways that it puts in its Wacky Packs Kids' Meals.
Last year it used Spanish language cards with Spanish words on one side and English on the other. It recently introduced Smart Cubes, cubes with fun facts and information.
"For Sonic it's really been about having fun with the brand," said Dominic Losacco, director of brand communications.
Getting a child to know and like a brand means he or she most likely will return with his parents — the ultimate goal of restaurants.