In the fourth part of our menu development series, Leanne King, Head of Nutrition & Wellbeing for ESS, introduces the key role our registered nutritionists play in the development of our food offer.
We know that healthier food is important to service personnel, as well as being an MOD requirement, so providing a wide range of nutritionally balanced options that are appealing for our customers is key. As registered nutritionists, we work closely with our culinary colleagues to deliver this.
Our menus comply with a range of MOD standards and are signed off by the Defence Nutrition Advisory Service.
All items have military performance choice labelling, which supports customers to make better informed choices with items rated red, amber or green based on the HFSS classification, which identifies products high in fat, salt or sugar. At least 25% of our offer must be categorised green and these requirements are front-of-mind in the development process.
We focus on making healthier options exciting for customers to promote uptake. This includes combining lean proteins with dressings, sauces, pastes and rubs that are full of flavour, and making vegetables more appealing by using spices, eye-catching garnishes and different cooking methods such as charring. We don’t add salt, instead giving a rich, savoury kick through umami flavours.
As well as individual and societal health, the environment is increasingly important to our business and our customers. To address both priorities, we’ve taken significant steps to increase the plant-based ingredients in our menus. We’ve introduced plant-forward dishes where meat content is reduced by at least 30% with total protein content maintained or increased, along with an average 1g increase in fibre and lower fat and saturated fat.
Once the menus are launched, we’re proud to offer a variety of tailored wellbeing support to our customers and clients to help them embrace healthier lifestyles.
Next week, we’ll hear from Tom Lannary, Marketing Director for ESS, who will discuss how our marketing specialists work with the wider team to create concepts that will resonate with our consumers.
