NRA News

Thousands of restaurants around the country are participating in Kids LiveWell, a program developed and initiated by the National Restaurant Association in collaboration with Healthy Dining.

The program, which debuted last July, helps parents and children make more healthful choices when dining out. Participating restaurants offer kids' meals that focus on increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and low-fat dairy items, while limiting the amount of unhealthful fats, sugars and sodium they eat.

As part of an occasional series on Kids LiveWell participants, profiled here is family-dining stalwart Denny's.

Denny's: Big ideas for the small set

If you are one of America's largest family-dining chains, satisfying your smallest customers is a big part of a successful equation.

Recognizing the importance of providing children with healthful food items, Denny's became a member of Kids LiveWell and rolled out a new kids' menu that offers its youngest guests a variety of flavorful, healthful choices.

"Denny's is committed to offering options for kids that are not only delicious, but will also give them the fuel they need to tackle the day," said John Dillon, vice president of marketing and product development for Denny's. "Our new kids' menu encourages children to make healthy eating choices in a format they will respond to."

According to Dillon, Denny's worked with Kids LiveWell to create a pair of dishes that met the dual goals of cutting calories without sacrificing taste. The result was the Spartanburg, S.C.-based chain's 270-calorie Spaghetti Plate and its Build Your Own Jr. Grand Slam, which is 332 calories.

When it comes to creating more nutritious meals, 2011 was a big year for the 1,500-plus unit Denny's.

In June, Denny's introduced a series of nutritious Fit Fare® meals for all diners, which are lower in fat and calories and higher in protein and fiber.

And last September, the chain completely revamped its kids menus to encourage children -- subtly -- to make healthful eating choices by offering each entrée with a lower-calorie side item such as vegetables or Goldfish® crackers instead of French fries.

"Accessibility to nutritious menu options that don't compromise taste, value or variety is an important step to improving the well-being of future generations," said David Coltrin, Denny's senior director of product marketing and strategy. "We're excited to work with Kids LiveWell and showcase healthier alternatives to some celebrated American classics."

In comments filed this week, the National Restaurant Association told the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agirculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service that government mandates aren’t the way to go in reducing the use of sodium in food.

"Incremental reductions over time are the best way that meaningful sodium reductions will occur. Mandatory targets are unrealistic, unnecessary, and fail to address head-on the primacy of how consumers purchase, prepare and consumer foods ever day," we wrote. "Sodium reduction for menu items is a complex, highly technical, expensive, and labor-intensive task that challenges our current knowledge and food-science limits for product development."

The agencies solicited comments last September on how to cut sodium consumption in the United States. Read the NRA's full comments.

The NRA is ramping up its requests for Congress to extend two tax provisions important to restaurant operators: the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and a 15-year depreciation schedule for restaurant spending on new construction and building improvements.

The Mississippi Hospitality & Restaurant Association today unveiled a statewide initiative to give consumers access to more healthful dining options.

Eat Healthy Mississippi links restaurants and farmers, thanks to a USDA grant through the state agriculture and commerce department. The program helps restaurants add locally grown and healthful food to their menus and helps farmers market local specialty crops, says MHRA Executive Director Mike Cashion.

"There are hundreds and hundred of ways restaurants can incorporate local products into their menus," he says.

In response to President Barack Obama's Jan. 24 State of the Union address, the National Restaurant Association called for advancement of several pro-growth policies to allow the restaurant industry to continue its position as a leading job producer and engine of economic success.

"After adding an impressive 230,000 jobs in 2011, the strongest gain since 2006, America's restaurant industry is expected to outpace the overall economy in job growth in 2012," said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the NRA.

The National Restaurant Association estimates that 48 million Americans will order takeout or delivery food from a restaurant while watching the professional football championship game on Super Bowl Sunday, February 5. In addition, 12 million are expected to visit a restaurant or bar to watch the big game.

New National Restaurant Association research also shows that salsa/dips/spreads, chicken wings and pizza are considered must-have foods on game day.

“Sporting events and great food go hand in hand, so it is no surprise that millions of Americans will incorporate restaurants into their plans for watching the professional football championship game this year,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the National Restaurant Association.

Four National Restaurant Association members were named to Fortune Magazine's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the second year in a row.

The companies are Darden Restaurants, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Marriott International and Starbucks Coffee.

The magazine determined its list by conducting a broad, random survey of employees. The survey sought employees' attitudes about their company's management, their job satisfaction and camaraderie. The magazine surveyed employees who worked at companies at least seven years old with at least 1,000 U.S. employees.

Pulitzer Prize nominee Ron Brownstein, one of America's top political journalists, will provide election-year insights at the National Restaurant Association's Public Affairs Conference, April 17 to 18, in Washington, D.C.

The next round of National Restaurant Association study group meetings begins in February.

The NRA's executive study groups are bi-annual conferences for multi-unit restaurant company executives in human resources, risk and safety, nutrition, quality assurance, internal audit, marketing, information technology, finance and quality assurance.

The first conference of the year is a joint meeting of the Human Resources and Risk & Safety Managers study groups. The meeting is set for Feb. 7 through 9 in Las Vegas.

The Information Technology group is scheduled to meet Feb. 20 through 23 in Austin, Texas.

Other upcoming meetings include:

• Nutrition, March 20 through 22 in Portland, Ore.
• Internal Auditors, March 28 through 30, Orlando.
• Marketing Executives Group, May 2 through 4, Chicago.
• Supply Chain Management, May 3 and 4, Chicago.
• Finance and Tax Executives, June 27 through 29, Boston.

Participants gain insight into specific business challenges through presentations from their peers and other experts. In addition to the education sessions, the meetings offer benchmarking, best practices and networking opportunities.

In a nod to its importance on the U.S. economy and relationship to the restaurant industry, President Obama, at an appearance last week at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., pledged his full support for the U.S. tourism and travel industry. He also named former National Restaurant Association chairman Michael C. Gibbons as one of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board's 32 new members.

Gibbons, president and CEO of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Mainstreet Ventures, which owns and operates fine-dining restaurants in five states, will help advise the Secretary of Commerce on government policies and programs that affect U.S. travel and tourism and provide counsel on current and emerging issues affecting that industry. One important area of focus will be working to increase hotel-room occupancies here in the United States, which ultimately will lead to job creation, he said.

"Filling hotel rooms ... helps the entire tourism and hospitality industry," Gibbons stated. "When hotels are busy, they hire staff; same with restaurants, theaters, retailers, etc. Job growth will help the economy and reduce the government's debt through increased revenue."