Mealtime Magic: Mindful Choices at Culver's

If you've eaten at Culver's recently, you may have noticed the Mindful Choices program. I had a chance to interview Culver's executive chef Jim Doak. Although the information he gives is specific to Culver's, the ideas can be applied to eating at any fast food restaurant (he uses the acronym QSR for quick-serve restaurant).

Can you tell me a little bit about the Mindful Choices program - why and how it started? We have always had menu items and options that could be part of a healthful approach to eating at Culver’s. Mindful choices is more a n approach or philosophy of unlocking the goodness in our menu. It is about calling out the ease with which you can combine a side, entrée( sandwich) and a beverage to deliver a complete meal around 600 calories. This continues to support our overall menu strategy of providing choice and variety – not just on price but on nutritional values. Culver’s has made it easy for our guest to determine the dietary impact of their meal for over ten years by using our nutrition calculator on our website. What we did with Mindful Choices was add the convenience of calculating and easily calling out meals that fit is this 600 calorie range – it is about empowering the guest to make choices – in this case Mindful choices – not about telling or mandating to them what they need to eat to have a healthy life style. For Culver’s menu it is about showing that Culver’s everyday menu and food that tastes great can be part of a healthful lifestyle not that we have “healthy” food.

What tips do you have for making healthy choices at fast food restaurants in general? At Culver’s we don’t cook it until you order it so you can customize your meal to meet any dietary needs. You should have this expectation in any QSR – simple things is leaving off the mayo, not butter, selecting portions sizes that fit what you want. At Culver’s we offer a range of sizes to fit each person need on any dining occasion. Sometimes what appears to be the most calorie friendly item may not be – take a turkey sandwich with lettuce , tomato, bacon and cheese – it is about 550 calories but on the other hand four fried chicken tenders is about 330 calories. The best thing a guest can do is know the menu before the arrive – know the calories of your favorites items so you can balance your calorie load throughout the day – and then sometimes the occasion is to indulge and treat oneself. That is a good approach for most folks instead of deprivation of their favorite things.

Can customers expect to see more options added to Mindful Choices? Yes, the combinations of current menu items and sides with a fresh brewed tea that deliver 600 calories is pretty unlimited. We will call out new combinations and add more new items as we grow our main menu. We still believe that the guest ultimately creates their Mindful Choice when they choose what is right for them today. At this meal. At this time.

One other thing I was happy about was that I made a suggestion at the end of the interview about the possibility of adding more fruit options, since right now the only thing is the applesauce in the kids' meal, and was told that they are currently exploring the idea of adding more fruit and veggie options.