Flashy Terms to Market Vegetable Consumption

Taste Adds Charm to Vegetables

Flashy Terms to Market Vegetable Consumption

Time and again it has been repeated that a nutritious diet is one that has the perfect blend of healthy proteins, carbohydrates and fats with primary focus on whole grains, dairy, fruits and vegetables in reasonable portions.

Except for the rare few vegetables such as potatoes (these are high in carbs and increase blood glucose levels similar to sweets) which need to be consumed in moderation, rest of the vegetables can be consumed in ample quantities without inhibitions. Best in nutrition values, vegetables remain down in the preferred list of foods. It might be because people dislike the bland taste of vegetables, some just don’t like them or some others have a bias simply because it is healthy. However colorful the veggie might be, it can never compete with deep-fried, calorie-rich junk foods.

Sharper Marketing Skills

Standard nutrition recommendation is to consume at least 2 cups of vegetables and 2.5 cups of fruits daily which most of us don’t. A new study published in the journal JAMA emphasizes that labeling vegetables with indulgent words/phrases makes people choose these vegetables and feel good after eating them. Simply put, this is nothing but a marketing strategy for the long-known vegetable fraternity with some polishing and tinkering. Where the world has come to! Marketing for foods that have been used for hundreds of years.

The study was simple. A university cafeteria served its regular vegetable in its typically normal way. The only difference was the signboard denoting the vegetable changed every day in any of the four ways-basic, healthy restrictive, healthy positive and healthy indulgent.

Basic	Healthy Restrictive	Healthy Positive	Healthy Indulgent
This label simply stated the name of the vegetable (for instance, “corn”)	This label contained the name of the vegetable plus a missing nutrient that makes it healthier (for example, “reduced-sodium corn”)	The label contains details about a nutrient in the vegetable that makes it healthier (for example, “vitamin-rich corn”)	This label described the veggie in the most novel, enticing and tempting way (e.g., “mouth-watering buttery roasted corn” or “tangy lime-seasoned carrots and spicy red chilis)

Every reader’s thoughts would have been shipped out to the veggies described in each of these columns and the final column would surely have been mouth-watering to many. Using fancy words can add so much beauty and charisma to such a simple food without much hype. Study results showed that:

• Almost 28,000 diners (30%) chose the selected vegetable.
• Labeling made a huge difference-almost 25% more people chose the vegetable when it had the indulgent labeling than when it was labeled in a basic way. 35% more people choose indulgently labeled veggies over healthy positive-labeled veggies and 41% more took indulgently labeled veggies over healthy restrictive-labeled ones. Also, the quantity of the chosen vegetable increased greatly when an elaborate description was provided.
• Healthy restrictive and healthy positive labeling had the opposite effect on diners. Few diners chose the vegetables bearing these labels than when only the name of the vegetable was used.

Marketing gimmicks and playing with words have been practiced for other foods since a long time to attract customers. Guess veggies too need all the hype and publicity to become famous and revamp its outlook.

The fact that indulgent labeling fulfills people’s requirement to eat something tasty is the reason for its instant hit among the University fellows. Researchers also made it clear that they were not trying to cheat the diners anytime by adding fancy words and tastes that don’t prevail for a certain veggie but always put forth true facts in attractive words.

One downside of this study is its long-term effectiveness. Initially all these sugar-coated words might do the trick and motivate people to choose more veggies. But, as the person gets used to such labeling, it’s a matter of time before which the fancy wears off and the customer starts ignoring the vegetable. On the brighter side, this study confirms the fact that insisting the health quotient of a vegetable is not as effective/result-oriented as talking about its good taste. Also, when adults start eating more veggies from the selected range of dishes offered, kids are sure to follow suit. Find interesting and attractive kid-friendly veggie ideas at www.firsteatright.com. Use them to prepare your child’s school snack box or meal and don’t be surprised to find their box empty!

Basic

Healthy Restrictive

Healthy Positive

Healthy Indulgent

This label simply stated the name of the vegetable (for instance, “corn”)

This label contained the name of the vegetable plus a missing nutrient that makes it healthier (for example, “reduced-sodium corn”)

The label contains details about a nutrient in the vegetable that makes it healthier (for example, “vitamin-rich corn”)

This label described the veggie in the most novel, enticing and tempting way (e.g., “mouth-watering buttery roasted corn” or “tangy lime-seasoned carrots and spicy red chilis)