Effectively implementing healthy and sustainable food practices in out-of-home food service locations: The perspective of the catering staff members.

Restaurants, canteens, residential care, hospitals and other out-of-home food service locations can play an important role in improving people's diet quality by offering healthier and more sustainable food choices. However, the effectiveness of implementing sustainable and healthy food practices at these locations is, at least partly, dependent on the extent to which they are accepted and implemented by the staff members. This study aims to assess staff members' motivation, perceived capability, perceived opportunity and their readiness to change their behaviour (i.e., stages of change) in offering more healthy and sustainable food options to their customers or patients. Eleven out-of-home locations that wanted to adjust their assortment towards more healthy and sustainable product offerings participated in this study and were able to distribute a comparable questionnaire among their staff members to assess their perceived readiness to change. Results among 268 participants show that staff members find both a healthy and sustainable food assortment important and also seem to be motivated to improve their food assortment regarding health and sustainability. Perceived opportunity seems to be the largest barrier for staff members, although there is also room for improvement regarding their perceived capability. In addition, personal motivation seems to play the dominant role in staff members' readiness to change the health of the assortment, whereas perceived capability seems to play the dominant role in their perceived readiness to change the sustainability of the assortment. This study shows that taking into account the perspective of the catering staff members may help to effectively implement healthy and sustainable food practices in out-of-home food service locations.

Design Issues in Personalized Nutrition Advice Systems.

The current health status of the general public can substantially benefit from a healthy diet. Using a personalized approach to initiate healthy dietary behavior seems to be a promising strategy, as individuals differ in terms of health status, subsequent dietary needs, and their desired behavior change support. However, providing personalized advice to a wide audience over a long period is very labor-intensive. This bottleneck can possibly be overcome by digitalizing the process of creating and providing personalized advice. An increasing number of personalized advice systems for different purposes is becoming available in the market, ranging from systems providing advice about just a single parameter to very complex systems that include many variables characterizing each individual situation. Scientific background is often lacking in these systems. In designing a personalized nutrition advice system, many design questions need to be answered, ranging from the required input parameters and accurate measurement methods (sense), type of modeling techniques to be used (reason), and modality in which the personalized advice is provided (act). We have addressed these topics in this viewpoint paper, and we have demonstrated the feasibility of setting up an infrastructure for providing personalized dietary advice based on the experience of 2 practical applications in a real-life setting.

An explorative study with convenience vegetables in urban Nigeria-The Veg-on-Wheels intervention.

Nigerian consumers have been found to view vegetables as healthy and health is a principal motivation for consumption; however, consumers also experience barriers related to preparation time and availability of vegetables. We therefore conducted a Veg-on-Wheels intervention, in which ready-to-cook, washed and pre-cut green leafy vegetables (GLV) were kept cool and sold for five weeks at convenient locations near workplaces and on the open market in Akure, Nigeria. Surveys were conducted prior to the intervention with 680 consumers and during the final week of the intervention with 596 consumers near workplaces and 204 consumers at the open market. Both buyers and non-buyers of the intervention were included; 49% buyers in the workplace sample and 47% in the open market sample. The Veg-on-Wheels intervention was successful, with high awareness, positive attitudes and high customer satisfaction. GLV intake was higher for Veg-on-Wheels buyers compared with non-buyers after the intervention, i.e., 10.8 vs. 8.0 portions per week, respectively. Also the intake of other vegetables was higher in the intervention group. The motives and barriers for buyers and non-buyers differed across the selling locations: main barriers were trust in the vendor and GLV source. These trust issues and vendor preferences were viewed as more important to respondents at the market than those near workplaces. This study is the first intervention study on the selling of ready-to-cook convenience vegetables in urban Nigeria. It shows that a market exists for convenience vegetables and that they have the potential to increase vegetable intake. Insights on both the food environment and consumers' motives and behaviour was crucial for designing and evaluating the intervention.

The Impact of Both Individual and Contextual Factors on the Acceptance of Personalized Dietary Advice.

(1) Background: The aim of the current study is to investigate which between- and within-person factors influence the acceptance of personalized dietary advice. (2) Methods: A repeated measurements design was used in which 343 participants (M (SD) age = 48 (17.3), 49% female) filled out a baseline survey and started with nine repeated surveys. (3) Results: The results show that the acceptance of personalized dietary advice is influenced by both within-person and between-person factors. The acceptance is higher at lunch compared to breakfast and dinner, higher at home than out of home, higher at moments when individuals have a high intention to eat healthily, find weight control an important food choice motive and have a high healthy-eating self-efficacy. Moreover, the acceptance is higher when individuals do not see the eating context as a barrier and when individuals believe that personalized dietary advice has more benefits than risks. (4) Conclusions: Future behavioral interventions that use personalized dietary advice should consider the context as well as individual differences.

A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives.

Restaurants are characterized by high levels of meat being consumed in this out-of-home setting, while plant-based meat alternatives remain a niche product, thus preserving a high environmental impact of food consumption. We tested whether subtly re-designing the restaurant menu, so that plant-based meat alternatives were perceived as the default to a greater extent, increased consumer selection of plant-based meat alternatives. Consumers' freedom of choice was preserved by leaving all choice options on the menu. An online experiment in The Netherlands showed that consumers choose plant-based meat alternatives more often relative to meat when the plant-based option is framed as the default. In a field experiment in a Dutch restaurant, we found that the amount of ordered plant-based meat alternative dishes substantially increased relative to an equivalent meat dish when implementing a default nudge (bean alternative: from 8.6% to 80.0%; seaweed alternative: from 16.1% to 58.3%). Thus, re-designing the menu in a way that suggests that plant-based meat alternatives are the default, while preserving autonomous decision-making, is a promising route to promote out-of-home adoption of plant-based meat alternatives in restaurants.

Context matters: Self-regulation of healthy eating at different eating occasions.

Self-regulation plays an important role in healthy eating behaviors. The current research explores temporary fluctuations in self-regulation next to variations between individuals. In an online observational study, 892 participants (Mage = 44.3, SDage = 12.7) monitored their self-regulation three times a week before a meal moment for 3 weeks. To analyze the data, a random intercept and slopes model was used, including variables on within-individual level (i.e. meal moment, tiredness, distractedness, social, and physical environment) and variables on between-individual level (i.e. self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and perception of social and physical opportunity). Self-regulation was found to be higher at breakfast compared with dinner (estimate = -0.08, p < .001), higher at home than out-of-home (estimate = -0.08, p < .001) and lower when individuals are more tired (estimate = 0.04, p < .001) and distracted (estimate = 0.07, p < .001). Moreover, self-regulation was higher for individuals with higher levels of intrinsic motivation (estimate = 0.19, p < .001) and self-efficacy (estimate = 0.41, p < .001). Insights from this research advance our knowledge regarding temporal influences on self-regulation and can provide input for behavior change tools such as personalized dietary advice.

Healthy eating strategies: Individually different or context-dependent?

Individuals can apply different healthy eating strategies to help them make healthy eating choices. Previous research showed that individuals differ in their preferred strategy, but also that a mix of strategies is often applied by a single person across contexts. The current research investigated the extent to which differences within an individual across contexts (i.e., meal moments, social environment and physical environment) predicted openness to healthy eating strategies in addition to personal predictors that differ between individuals (i.e., intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, physical opportunity and social opportunity). A representative sample of the Dutch adult population was recruited (N = 892). The within-individual (contextual) predictors were measured nine times just before a meal moment over a period of three weeks, by means of a smartphone application. The between-individual (personal) predictors were administered with a baseline questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis distinguished three healthy eating strategies: Increasing healthy foods, Limiting unhealthy foods and consuming Light products. A random intercept model, in which within-individual predictors and between-individual predictors were entered successively, showed that context matters for openness to all three strategies, but is most important for increasing healthy foods and least important for light products. Individuals are most open to increase healthy foods at dinner as compared to breakfast, whereas the opposite is true for limiting unhealthy foods and consuming light products. Eating at home is beneficial for openness to all three strategies and eating with others positively influences openness to increase healthy foods but has no effect on the other strategies. Insights gained from this research increase our understanding of an individual's openness to apply healthy eating strategies.

Consumer acceptance of personalised nutrition: The role of ambivalent feelings and eating context.

Providing dietary suggestions based on an individual's nutritional needs may contribute to the prevention of non-communicable dietary related diseases. Consumer acceptance is crucial for the success of these personalised nutrition services. The current study aims to build on previous studies by exploring whether ambivalent feelings and contextual factors could help to further explain consumers' usage intentions regarding personalised nutrition services. An online administered survey was conducted in December 2016 with a final sample of 797 participants in the Netherlands. Different models were tested and compared by means of structural equation modelling. The final model indicated that the result of weighing personalisation benefits and privacy risks (called the risk-benefit calculus) is positively related to the intention to use personalised nutrition advice, suggesting a more positive intention when more benefits than risks are perceived. Additionally, the model suggests that more ambivalent feelings are related to a lower intention to use personalised nutrition advice. Finally, we found that the more the eating context is perceived as a barrier to use personalised nutrition advice, the more ambivalent feelings are perceived. In conclusion, the current study suggests the additional value of ambivalent feelings as an affective construct, and eating context as a possible barrier in predicting consumers' intention to use personalised nutrition advice. This implies that personalised nutrition services may need to address affective concerns and consider an individual's eating context.

The paradox between the environmental appeal of bio-based plastic packaging for consumers and their disposal behaviour.

To realize the potential environmental benefits that recycling and/or composting bio-based plastic packages can deliver, it is important that consumers view bio-based packaging as environmentally-friendly, but also correctly dispose of the packaging. The current experimental lab-in-the-field study was conducted among German consumers (n = 281) and explores whether consumers' perceived environmental benefits of recyclable and compostable bio-based plastic packages match with how consumers dispose of these packages. The results show that consumers only perceive compostable bio-based packages to have more environmental benefits than fossil-based packages. However, consumers dispose of compostable bio-based packages in an incorrect manner (not in line with what is communicated on the packaging label) relatively often. Consumers with a stronger familiarity with bio-based products more often correctly dispose of compostable bio-based packages, but not recyclable bio-based packages, relative to fossil-based packages. Thus, although mainly compostable bio-based plastic packages have strong environmental appeal to consumers, paradoxically this does not translate in the proper disposal actions to fully capitalize on the environmental benefits that bio-based packages can actually deliver. Increasing consumers' bio-based product familiarity might be an avenue to increase the levels of sustainable disposal.

Motive-based consumer segments and their fruit and vegetable consumption in several contexts.

A targeted approach to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, considering the heterogeneity of food choice motives across consumers and across contexts, is expected to be more effective than the often used 'one-size-fits-all approach'. Therefore, the current study aims to increase understanding of consumers' food choice motives across contexts, to identify consumer segments based on these motives and to gain insights in fruit and vegetable consumption, perceptions and demographic characteristics of these segments. An online survey was conducted in May 2015 among consumers in the Netherlands, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Serbia. 3064 participants completed the survey on fruit and 2998 participants completed the survey on vegetables. Four segments were identified, differing in their focus on present versus future food choice motives for main meals at home and for other contexts. The segments differed in their consumption, perceptions of fruit and vegetables and in their demographic characteristics. Implications for targeted approaches to increase fruit and vegetable consumption are discussed.

Portioning meat and vegetables in four different out of home settings: A win-win for guests, chefs and the planet.

Individuals increasingly consume their meals away from home. This article describes a series of studies that examined the effects of meals with reduced amounts of meat and increased amounts of vegetables on food consumption, waste and guest satisfaction in four real-life restaurant settings in the Netherlands: an a-la-carte restaurant, six company canteens, a self-service restaurant, and a buffet restaurant, including nearly 1500 participants in total. The four studies in these four different out of home settings consistently showed that adapting portion sizes of meat and vegetables was effective to reduce meat consumption and increase vegetable consumption, while maintaining high guest satisfaction. Guest satisfaction even increased when vegetables were presented and prepared in a more attractive and tasty way. Thus, adapting portion sizes of meat and vegetables provides a viable strategy to stimulate healthy and environmentally sustainable consumption patterns in out of home settings.

Beneficial effect of personalized lifestyle advice compared to generic advice on wellbeing among Dutch seniors - An explorative study.

The aim of this explorative study is to evaluate whether personalized compared to generic lifestyle advice improves wellbeing in a senior population. We conducted a nine-week single-blind randomized controlled trial including 59 participants (age 67.7 ±â€¯4.8 years) from Wageningen and its surrounding areas in the Netherlands. Three times during the intervention period, participants received either personalized advice (PA), or generic advice (GA) to improve lifestyle behavior. Personalization was based on metabolic health measures and dietary intake resulting in an advice that highlighted food groups and physical activity types for which behavior change was most urgent. Before and after the intervention period self-perceived health was evaluated as parameter of wellbeing using a self-perceived health score (single-item) and two questionnaires (Vita-16 and Short Form-12). Additionally, anthropometry and physical functioning (short physical performance battery, SPPB) were assessed. Overall scores for self-perceived health did not change over time in any group. Resilience and motivation (Vita-16) slightly improved only in the PA group, whilst mental health (SF-12) and energy (Vita-16) showed slight improvement only in the GA group. SPPB scores improved over time in both the PA and GA group. PA participants also showed a reduction in body fat percentage and hip circumference, whereas these parameters increased in the GA group Our findings suggest that although no clear effects on wellbeing were found, still, at least on the short term, personalized advice may evoke health benefits in a population of seniors as compared to generic advice.

A cross-cultural perspective on impact of health and nutrition claims, country-of-origin and eco-label on consumer choice of new aquaculture products.

Over the last decade, an increasing number of new value-added aquaculture products made their way onto the European market, as a response to growing demand for healthier diet, and more sustainable and locally produced protein sources. The importance of these drivers of consumer choice for aquaculture products' acceptance paves the way for a relevant reorientation of the European aquaculture industry towards a more consumer-centred approach. This research uses discrete choice experiments to examine the effect of health and nutrition claims, country-of-origin (COO), and eco-labels on consumer choice of new aquaculture products in a cross-cultural context. Three products with different preserving methods have been chosen for the study: fresh (chilled), canned, and smoked product. Results indicate that COO label "produced in own country" together with ASC eco-label function better than the health and nutrition claims as driver of choice. Results further point to the existence of different segments of "nutrition conscious", "ethnocentric", "price conscious", and "eco-conscious" consumers.

Menu-engineering in restaurants - adapting portion sizes on plates to enhance vegetable consumption: a real-life experiment.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this research was to investigate whether increased portion sizes of vegetables and decreased portion sizes of meat on main dishes increased the amount of vegetables consumed in a real-life restaurant setting without affecting customer satisfaction. The participants were unaware of the experiment. METHODS: A cross-over design was used in which three restaurants were randomly assigned to a sequence of an intervention and control condition. In the intervention period, the vegetable portion sizes on the plates of main dishes were doubled (150 g of vegetables instead of 75 g) and the portion sizes of meat on the plates were reduced by an average of 12.5%. In the control period, the portion sizes of the main dishes were maintained as usual. In total, 1006 observations and questionnaires were included. RESULTS: Vegetable consumption from plates was significantly higher during the intervention period (M = 115.5 g) than during the control period (M = 61.7 g). Similarly, total vegetable consumption (including side dishes) was significantly higher during the intervention period (M = 178.0 g) than during the control period (M = 137.0 g). Conversely, meat consumption was significantly lower during the intervention period (M = 183.1 g) than during the control period (M = 211.1 g). Satisfaction with the restaurant visit did not differ between the intervention period (M = 1.27) and control period (M = 1.35). Satisfaction with the main dish was significantly lower during the intervention period (M = 1.25) than during the control period (M = 1.38), although in both cases, the scores indicated that participants remained (very) satisfied with their main dish. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that increasing vegetable portions in combination with decreasing meat portions (unknowingly to the consumer) increased the amount of vegetables consumed and decreased the amount of meat consumed. Furthermore, despite the changes in portion sizes, participants remained satisfied with their restaurant visit and main dish. The findings of this study suggest that modifying portion size in restaurants is an effective tool for stimulating vegetable consumption and consequently healthy and sustainable diets.

Consumers as co-creators of new product ideas: An application of projective and creative research techniques.

Involving consumers in the process of modification and creation of new food products has been recently identified as a vital factor for new product development. However, little attention has been devoted to consumer-generated product solutions, and instead, researchers continue to view new product development process as a firm-centred activity. This study uses projective and creative research techniques to involve consumers in the process of modification and creation of new aquaculture product ideas. We provide guidelines for the use of these techniques in the new product development process, as well as managerial and practical implications for the future development of new aquaculture products.