Children Eat Better at Butler’s Pantry
"Too tired to make something at home"
In 2001, 20% of Irish people gave the above as their reason for eating out more. In 2003, this had risen to 32%, according to extensive research conducted by Bord Bia.
In the same research, while 7% said in 2001 that they ate out because there “was no food at home”, by 2003, this had risen to a startling 13%.
Tentative conclusions from this research found that there had been a significant shift to “convenient” solutions in Ireland in just two years. There had also been a decline in confidence around food preparation at home, increased incidence of “take out” and much greater acceptance of “chilled” or ready-to-eat meals by consumers in Ireland. These trends mirror those of the UK, even though Ireland still remains more tied to a traditional focus – despite an increase in willingness to try new foods, more Irish people feel able to prepare a Sunday roast with all the trimmings and there are still more homemakers in Ireland cooking fresh meals regularly… (see Bord Bia research slides)
What does this research have to tell us about children’s diets? Well, as one regular customer of The Butler’s Pantry put it, when asked what meals their ready-to-eat dishes were replacing (was it home cooked, takeaway etc?) –
“ I don’t know. The nanny can’t cook real food so I buy from The Butler’s Pantry because I know it’s safe and healthy and I just give it to her” (the nanny)….
Increasingly, children get what they want. In homes with two or more children, half of parents recently surveyed in the UK readily admitted that they give in and succumb to their children’s demands. Pester power works.
Canned pasta, pot noodles and confectionery top the child dependent list. Ambient, long shelf life, convenient and “multi-functional” characterize children’s foods, according to the research carried out by Taylor Nielson’s Family Food Panel in … Fresh food doesn’t even get a look-in in the top 15 categories of preferred foods. Over the past three years, categories which have grown among children tend to be those which offer parental convenience and child acceptance (minimizing the arguments at home?) – such as pizza and frozen chips. The Taylor Nielsen research also notes that some four million children in The UK today are overweight or obese – one in 10 six-year-olds.
The lifestyle changes that have contributed to this boom in child friendly convenience foods are set to continue. Female employment is high, commuting distances and journey times are increasing, couples with longer working hours ( Ireland has one of the longest working days/weeks within the EU). On top of that, as evidenced in the Bord Bia research highlighted above, cooking skills are in decline – again a combination of less time to prepare meals from scratch so less practice, plus less confidence. Two thirds of scratch cooking in the UK is undertaken these days by the over-45s age group. The family meal has all but disappeared (except at weekends) and currently is showing little sign of recovery. The recent Customer research conducted by The Butler’s Pantry substantiated this, that it is a challenge for many families to eat together during the week. At the end of a long working day many parents focus on getting children fed and into bed before they sit down to eat themselves
The Butler’s Pantry conducted some face to face research amongst its own customers, asking them why they bought the children’s meals and what these dishes were replacing. In just over half the cases of cases, the meals replaced home cooking (comments including ‘I’m just too tired to cook now, “it’s my night off from cooking”, “my children choose this as a treat”). However, the others said that TBP dishes replaced other forms of convenience foods such as pizza, frozen options (e.g. burgers), or takeaways.
The International Obesity Task Force (IOT) reveals that obesity is rapidly increasing. In 1980, 6% of men and 8% of women were considered obese. In 2001, these figures had (literally) increased to 21% of men and 22% of women. What’s going on?
A food manufacturer sets its Innovation Department to work. The task is to create a healthy snack with reduced salt, reduced fat and reduced sugar levels. During the blind taste tests, consumers were given four alternatives – one was rice-based, one corn-based, one wheat-based and one is made of cardboard with a high level of fat and salt.
The cardboard option won hands down. “All you have to do is add fat & salt and it will sell”, as the food technologist quipped.
One hand on the remote and one in the cookie jar/crisps packet… as Martin Glenn, president of Walkers Snacks has said: “ …It all come down to choice and individual lifestyle. Obesity is not just caused by bad diet, but by lack of regular exercise”. Youth culture has changed – more unfettered TV watching, parents no longer a constant presence in the house, longer commuting times, both parents working, protectiveness leading to less outdoors unsupervised activity…
The president of Coca Cola, Tom Long, points out that in the past 20 years, “ a marathon of activity has been taken out of children’ lives – the equivalent of 26 miles a month”
Against this backdrop – what to do? The requirement for no-nonsense, convenient but healthy food which is acceptable to adult and child alike is gathering pace. As the health and obesity debate gathers momentum, the challenge for the food industry is to provide innovative meal solutions.
The Butler’s Pantry launched its new children’s range My Nosh to a resounding welcome last autumn. “Obviously all the available research proved that there has been a significant increase in sales of ALL ready-to-eat and chilled meals, but in truth many are not all that wholesome and healthy. Children just love the ol’ favourites. Eating should be a fun time for children and parents. My Nosh is just that. The range is full of the ol favourites and we have presented the range in a fun way with the introduction of Basil the Butler and Parsley his dog”
The Butler’s Pantry saw its introduction of the children’s range My Nosh as a natural extension to the current main product range, ‘We wanted to ensure there was an offering for everyone in the family, thus promoting the concept of the family meal. Meal time is a very important part of family life. It also allows us to develop our Children’s tastes and encourages them to experiment with different foods says Eileen Bergin. Older children and young teenagers move on to our main range with choices like Lasagna, Chicken Boscioli and Thai Chicken Curry.
The real difference is that only fresh ingredients are used and all products are prepared by hand by the team of Chefs. No additives, preservatives, stabilizers or life enhancers are used in any of The Butler’s Pantry dishes. Taste panels including children provide feedback to the Butler’s Pantry’s team of chefs led by Niall Hill. All recipes are balanced to ensure a balanced intake of protein, carbohydrates fat and salt. In common with the entire product range, the emphasis is on using the freshest seasonal ingredients, hand prepared.
As another regular customer said:
“It is great to be able to pick up a tasty and nutritious meal for my daughter on my way home from work. Something that she will like and eat, which I know is good for her. God bless the Butler’s Pantry for keeping us both so well fed!”
- Products in the Children’s range – My Nosh include:
- McGregors Shepherd’s Pie (the number one favourite),
- Italian Yo Yo’s (meatballs with light tomato sauce on a bed of egg pasta,)
- Pirates Pie (baked fillet of cod with baked beans, and topped with cheesy mashed potato)
- Jolly Spag Bolly (traditional spagetti bolognaise)
- Chilli Yum Yum (Child friendly chilli con carne made from 100% irish beef)
In the words of Miss Piggy ‘ never eat more than you can lift!’
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