A global financial services company is dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of their employee population through its wellness program. One of their goals was to establish a certified wellness program at their Fort Worth café to align with the Blue Zones Project®, a vital part of Fort Worth’s Healthiest City Initiative which encourages changes in the community that lead to healthier options. The challenge for this intervention was increasing the number of healthy menu items at the Fort Worth café located in a call center.
Solution
The Blue Zones Restaurant Pledge is not focused on restricting, but rather offering healthy menu items to encourage choice. The best practices encourage sustainable and plant-based menu options, so the account team at this location marked certain items such as on-the-go fruit cups, snacks at registers, and roots + seeds salad station with FIT marketing to feature plant-based blue zone approved ingredients. In an effort to incorporate the Blue Zone best practices with the established FIT program, the café ran 50% FIT menu items daily, made healthy suggestions to customers, and created an environment that speaks to the blue zone values.
Changes to the café refresh to meet customer demand included modifying the roots + seeds salad station to make it self-service and allow customers to build their salad and to control both portion and price.
Among other changes was the transition to a weekly branded program at the deli station to provide more variety and incorporate more “comfort food”, the addition of new brands at the exhibition station to provide more traditional menu items at lower price points, and an added fountain beverage program. Lastly, value-driven bundles including chips, fruit, etc. were added to the café offerings. All proposed changes were implemented while adhering to the 50% FIT criteria to be Blue Zone® compliant.
“We love the changes that you have made with the café. You actually listen to the customers and it is great. The Caesar Salad is my favorite. I wish we could have it more often. Thanks for listening to us.”
Results
The café environment became more optimized with better-for-you options and increased business as the amount of best practices adopted increased. The café saw a 2.5% increased participation rate beginning in February 2018.
How did the café achieve the Blue Zone ® certification?
- Offered half portions for most entrée items
- Offered one entrée that meets the blue zone (FIT) criteria
- Offered a vegetable, fruit, 100% whole grain, or salad as the default side dish selection
- Offered whole-grain alternatives to all refrained grain options
- Offered fruit + ½ size dessert options
- Sourced from local farmers
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