Finding the Best Children's Menus for Your Family Pub Walk

New site launched to identity good, healthy food for the kids

10 January 2008 - A new accreditation scheme has been launched that seeks to raise the standards of children's menus in our pubs and this could create another excellent source of information on healthy eating out with the kids.

According to The Publican, and as we all know, pubs either seem to love or hate kids. Even supposedly children-friendly pubs frequently have a children’s menu that is both uninspired and unhealthy.

However recent research shows that the family pound is an ideal target for pubs trying to make up their takings after the smoking ban, higher costs and a generally tough 2007. Maybe this can help the quality of kids' meals in pubs to reach centre stage.

The research shows we families are a free-spending bunch and families who visit pubs spend an average £5 more per person than the average pub customer, according to him!, the market research specialists.

Yet him! also found that just nine per cent of pub-goers actually visit pubs with their families.

Coupled with The Publican's own recent research with Britvic, carried out by CGA Strategy (The Publican, October 29), which suggests few pubs are currently targeting the family market, all the statistics indicate that neither publicans nor consumers are making enough of the opportunity for family dining in pubs.

Perfecting the offer

These are the market forces that have led to the launch of a major new scheme that aims to help pubs perfect their offer for families ­ and to make it easier for families to find pubs that meet their needs.

Led by Carl May, the business development expert behind The Publican’s Sell More, Save More project, Catered4thekids is setting a new mark for pubs to aim for.

Carl explains: "I'm constantly hearing families asking things like 'where do I go, where do I eat out?' ­ and they end up eating in places where the food is rubbish, and parents have to sit out of the way with their kids.

"After a number of years working in this industry, that's a problem that has never gone away, and something no-one has really sorted out."

Launched in association with thepublican.com, the scheme will ask pubs to ensure their children's meals meet a set of criteria ranging from the sourcing of the meat to a healthier soft drinks range.

Pubs will be able to shout from the rooftops that they have truly 'Catered4thekids' via a new website, and in-pub promotional material.

It's a project aimed not only at giving pubs a set of standards they can prove they already meet, but also at giving others something to aim for as they look to more closely target the family spend.

Mystery visit

Any scheme of this nature will stand or fall by its assessment ­ how can consumers be sure that the pubs meet the standards? The scheme has linked up with mystery shopping agency Marketpublic.com to ensure that every pub meets the criteria.

All pubs logging on to www.catered4thekids.co.uk and claiming to meet the standards will be mystery visited, for an application fee of £59.50. In return, they receive a full report along with either notification that they have passed the standards, or feedback pinpointing areas in which they have failed.

Businesses are also asked to provide details of their meat suppliers, which will be checked out by the Catered4thekids team. Pubs that pass the assessment will then receive the promotional material, including a certificate and door stickers, as well as the chance to achieve a full listing, including pictures, on the Catered4thekids website at a cost of £99 ­ although the first 100 licensees signing up will receive the first six months' listing free.

"There are four stages to this," says Carl.

* "Pubs tick the box on the website and apply"

* "We acknowledge the application and send out a mystery visitor"

* "If they are successful, we send them an email and say congratulations"

* "Once we've done that, we push the button and they go live on the website."

Carl believes that in time the Catered4thekids mark will become recognised in pubs as a sign of reassurance in children's food.

"This doesn't apply to all pubs, and it doesn't apply to all people with children," he says. "But it's to do with the chameleon nature of the pub, and the growing number of occasions and opportunities for people to go to look at pubs after the smoking ban. If people like the way they are treated as a family they will go back."