New NIH Cafe Includes Eurest Balanced Kitchen Concept

Eurest has introduced a new food and nutrition concept called Balance Kitchen in the ACRF Cafe at the National Institutes of Health that is designed to foster and promote worksite health and sustainability.

Three iPad tablet kiosks located just inside the main entrance of the cafe are synced with Eurest's proprietary online nutrition platform Webtrition and with a few swipes of a finger, guests can determine how their meal will affect their daily nutritional values and goals.

Eurest, which operates foodservice for NIH, held its grand re-opening of the newly renovated ACRF Cafe on September 15, implementing Balance Kitchen, which includes daily and weekly offerings marked as Sensible Selections, and highlights better-for-you options throughout the cafe. In collaboration with NIH's health and wellness goals and demographic profile, Eurest customized its offerings with a balance of health-promoting foods at all service points, featuring a bountiful variety of fresh, local and sustainable menu items. Customers will still be able to find their traditional favorites, but a plentiful variety of better-for-you foods and beverages will be positioned front and center to tempt customers to make more healthful choices.

"National Institute of Health's mission is to improve the health of the nation and the world through its medical research," says John Crawford, director of food services and concessions programs at NIH. "Balance Kitchen directly supports that mission by providing the ability to make educated choices by our staff, patients and visitors. It's the right concept in the right place and allows the consumer to package a meal in such a way as to show the total impact on their dietary requirement."

At the grand re-opening, customers said they loved the renovations, the overwhelming freshness of the cafe and the variety of Sensible Selections highlighted in green. The better-for-you Bolognese on the crEATe station with whole wheat penne and spaghetti was a big hit. The new marketing and choice architecture of Balance Kitchen provided visual cues to prompt guests to compose healthful meals.

"We have over 1200 guests come through our cafe every day and we want to ensure we provide a balance between delicious and healthful food and beverage choices that please everyone," offers Andy Tzortzinis, Eurest's marketing and communications manager.

Key features of Balance Kitchen include...
• fresh, local and health promoting food offerings;
• 30%-50% of all menu items and 75% of all beverages meeting FIT criteria;
• every menu item being strictly controlled through the Webtrition program;
• better-for you sides with steamed vegetables and whole grains;
• better-for-you snacking choices;
• nutrition labeling and nutrition kiosks.