Marketing Healthy Foods on the Line

Crisp

Vegetable

s

Marketing on the Line is Important

You are in a position to influence all of the students in your schools to choose healthy items!

In person marketing should be done by each server and cashier.

Make eye contact, interact with your customers.

Talking is a more effective way to market then expensive signage.

“It’s not nutrition until its eaten.”

Suggestive Selling Works

Instead of… Try this…

Do you want fries with that? Do you want broccoli with that?

You must take three components.

Have you tried the fresh broccoli today? It is delicious.

You know you should really eat your vegetables.

That broccoli will give you the energy you need for your game tonight.

You didn’t take any vegetables, don’t you like them?

Try a little bit of the new vegetable today, you may be surprised how good it is.

Silence on the line…. Look Joe is going to do well in school because he is making healthy choices.

Good job Hannah for choosing the healthiest choice!

The Smarter Lunchrooms Movement

Smarter Lunchrooms Movement Cornell University, Foods and Brands Lab

The Smarter Lunchrooms Movement has assembled a set of Best Practices which are effective at creating an environment that nudges kids toward healthful choices.

Fruits Veggies White Milk

Targeted Entree

Reimbursable Meal

Increase the

number of

students that

select:

The Smarter Lunchroom Movement

What’s it all about?

General Recommendations

Look at the lunch line from the perspective of the students in your school.

Remember to consider the height and reach of the kids. You may have to bend over to look at the line from their point of view and imagine how far they can reach.

Make healthy foods stand out: Add signs, a desk lamp or other illumination so that

kids won’t miss seeing the fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc

Increase the number of students that select: FRUIT

Cornell’s studies showed that moving and highlighting the fruit increased sales by up to 102%

Recommended Strategies: Can you see the fruit clearly as you make your way

down the lunch line? Look for the most visible and convenient, easy to see

reach spot near the register. Put it in a nice basket or bowl, anything to get it out of

the stainless steel serving pans

Best Practices

Display fruit near

the register

Display whole

fruit in a bowl.

Use signs to draw

attention to fruit.

Sweet,

Juicy

Peaches

Increase the number of students that select: VEGETABLES

Cornell’s studies showed that naming vegetables (and having the names displayed with the foods) increases selection from between 40% and 70%).

Recommended Strategies: Do the vegetables have inviting and age appropriate names? Younger

children respond to fun, creative names like X-Ray Carrots, while older student respond to names that include descriptive or taste-enhancing words like spicy, fresh or wild.

Let the kids come up with the names; hold a school wide contest! Make sure the names are visible, written on a poster or name card next

to the vegetables Make sure that the veggies are more prominently displayed and better

lit than the other side dishes.

Best Practices

Give veggies a creative/ descriptiv

e name

Display names of

veggies on menu

boards

Display veggies in

a prominent

place

Fresh

Crisp

Vegetable

s

Increase the number of students that select: MILK

Cornell’s studies showed that placing white milk first in the cooler has resulted in an increase of up to 46% in milk sales.

Recommended Strategies: Is the white milk in all beverage coolers and the most

visible and easiest to reach of the drinks for sale? Is white milk 1/3 of the total number of visible milk

cartons? The white milk should also be the first and easiest milk

for kids to grab. As little effort as possible should be needed for kids to select white milk.

Best Practices

Place white milk in front of flavored

Place white milk in every cooler

Have at least 1/3 of

all milk offered be

white

Ice Cold

Milk

Increase the number of students that select: TARGETED ENTREE

Cornell’s studies showed that the first or highlighted item in line has an 11% advantage over the second option.

Recommended Strategies: Determined which entrée you wish to highlight (least caloric, most

nutrient dense, lowest sodium, etc). Visibility is the key. Is the targeted entree more visible than other

items and easy to reach (if the students are serving themselves)?  Does it have it a name and is the name prominently displayed next

to the item? If students are being served, give the entrees the star treatment,

do everything you can to make sure that this is the entrée the kids see first.

Best Practices

Make the entrée most

prominent dish

Give the entrée a

name and display it

Market the entrée

outside the

cafeteriaGarden-

Fresh

Wrap

Increase the number of students that select: REIMBURSABLE MEAL

Cornell’s studies showed the number of student consumption of healthy items increased by 35% after the introduction of a “healthy choices only” convenience line

Recommended Strategies: Visibility and convenience are again the key. Are all the components to make a reimbursable meal available at every

location where students can buy any type of food? Is it easier (faster) for a student to purchase reimbursable meal

components than it is for them to buy competitive foods? Take advantage of every point of interaction. Grab and go reimbursable

meals should be available at the snack window and any convenience line your school may have.

Best Practices

Have a reimbursabl

e meal at every

location

Move all competitive foods away

from serving counter

Create a healthy

reimb meal convenienc

e line

Gold Star

Meals

The Results

SMART Discussion

Now its your turn:What recommended strategies can you

implement that will encourage the healthy choice on your lunch line?

Cornell University, Foods and Brands LabSmarterlunchrooms.org

For additional information on Idaho Smart School Meals contact:Child Nutrition Programs at 208-332-6820 or email the NSLP

team

"This institution is an equal opportunity provider."

Resources