On April 11, in a "weightless restaurant" in Xi'an, rail food delivery attracted many parents to take their children to check in and experience.
Reporter Yang Xiaoling/Photo
"Adult meals are generally heavy in oil and salt, is there a restaurant that can satisfy the tastes of the whole family, especially children?", "When you don't want to cook, is there a restaurant that can make your children eat delicious and nutritious?" and other questions have puzzled many parents. In recent years, in response to the needs of parents, many catering companies have focused on the track of "children's catering", and complementary food restaurants, parent-child restaurants, and family restaurants have sprung up. What is the difference between the food and beverage in these restaurants? What is the feedback from parents? With these questions, this reporter recently visited them.
A wide variety of children's meals
"Meng Mengda" cartoon image dishes, delicate and cute children's tableware, fresh and eye-catching macaron-colored tables and chairs...... I believe that many children can't refuse such a restaurant. On April 12, in a restaurant in Xi'an Xincheng District, which sells children's supplementary food, four or five children were "feasting" in the company of their parents.
According to the different age groups of children, the restaurant offers risotto, porridge, noodle soup, rice crackers and other delicacies, with prices ranging from more than 10 yuan to more than 40 yuan. Zinc-supplemented pumpkin cake, yam spleen-strengthening porridge, steamed cod with nootropic ...... Each dish has a different selling point, firmly grasping the consumption psychology of parents.
"My family lives nearby, so when I don't want to cook, I bring my kids here for a meal. I feel that the children's meals here are more nutritious, and they look clean and hygienic. There are many children who dine here, and it has a sense of atmosphere, and the children will soon be able to 'disc', which makes me feel a lot more relaxed. Wei Lan, the "mother" who brought her 2-year-old daughter to dinner, told reporters.
The reporter noticed that each table here is equipped with a children's dining chair, and the four corners of the table are equipped with anti-collision corners. Inside the plate are bibs, disinfectant wipes, and a small fan to help cool down the dishes. In the restaurant, there are also cartoon-shaped children's sinks and building block tables, which are full of atmosphere.
"We mainly make nutritious meals for children between the ages of 8 months and 6 years, and more for children under the age of 3. In addition to providing dine-in, we also have takeaways to better meet the needs of our customers. The restaurant salesperson said.
At present, in addition to this kind of specialized "supplementary food restaurant", the parent-child restaurant of the "amusement park + catering" model and the "weightless restaurant" full of science and technology have also won the favor of many small customers. In a "weightless restaurant" in Yanta District, Xi'an, although only a small number of children's meals are provided, the novel and interesting food delivery method of rail food delivery still attracts many parents to bring their children to check in and experience.
During the visit, the reporter learned that from the Western-style catering brands KFC, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut, to the Chinese-style catering brands Xibei, Huang Jihuang, and Xiaoliu soup dumplings...... A wide variety of children's meals are available. Some children's menus include a variety of staple foods, as well as seasonal vegetables, fruits, and desserts. Some restaurants also give away toys to children. Some restaurants even give away children's meals to attract customers.
How difficult it is to choose the right children's meal
Although more and more catering companies have begun to deploy children's meal business, there are not many that really satisfy parents. On the one hand, there are very few restaurants in the market that specialize in children's meals. On the other hand, many children's meals are nutritionally unbalanced and not suitable for children.
Judging from the reporter's recent visit, many children's meals are more formal than content, paying too much attention to appearance and ignoring nutritional value. Many parents admit that they are willing to pay a higher economic cost to choose a higher quality children's meal, rather than a children's meal that caters to children through cute shapes and gifts.
"When I take my children to eat out, the first thing I have to consider is food safety and environmental hygiene, so my first choice for dining is a restaurant in the mall, which has both food and play. In a restaurant in the Joy City shopping mall in Xi'an, Du Xinrui, who eats with children, said, "There are a lot of children's meals in the mall now, but they are not very selective, and the menu of children's meals is rarely updated." ”
For some parents of younger children, choosing the right restaurant is even more difficult. "The children are small, the gastrointestinal function is weak, and the chewing ability is also poor, so I especially hope to have restaurants suitable for children of different ages, but there are too few such restaurants. Zhou Xin, a mother of two children, said with emotion, "Many children's meals will choose broccoli and carrots as side dishes in order to be nutritious and good-looking." But some broccoli stalks are cut very large, and carrots are cut very thickly, and they are served on the table. ”
In order to attract customers, some businesses have launched a "reduced version" of adult meals with ingenuity. In a bibimbap chain restaurant in Xi'an, children's bibimbap has removed the spicy sauce but also reduced the side dishes compared to adult bibimbap. "I would prefer to let my children eat more food. One parent said.
Make children's meals safer and more nutritious
Not only offline, but also online children's meal market is also considerable. According to Meituan's 2023 Children's Meal Online Consumption Insight Report, the number of children's meal takeaway orders in 2022 increased by 300% year-on-year. 46% of customers choose to order separately from adults and children. 54% of parents pay great attention to the variety of ingredients and the availability of fruits and vegetables when choosing healthy foods for their children.
Children's meals meet the rigid needs of consumers to a certain extent, but there are many problems exposed at present, and there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Yan Feng, director of the Clinical Nutrition Department of Xi'an Third Hospital, said in an interview with reporters that parents should pay attention to nutritional matching when taking their children out to eat. On the basis of considering children's preferences and eating habits, it is best to have vegetables, meat, eggs, and staple foods, and the proportion of each food should be appropriate. In terms of food selection, one is to choose more steamed food, fried food, barbecue food is not suitable for children. Your child's digestive function is generally weak, and eating too much high-oil, high-calorie food may cause indigestion or abdominal discomfort. The second is to try to choose light foods, which can not only reduce the intake of salt and sugar, but also help improve children's acceptance of different flavors of natural foods. Third, fresh legumes, vegetables and less common fungi should be eaten as little as possible, if you want to eat, parents should first taste whether the ingredients are fully processed and whether they are soft and rotten. In addition, when choosing a restaurant for your child, you can pay attention to whether the restaurant has a catering service license and a food hygiene license, and these certificates are valid.
Some people in the industry said that since it is a children's meal, it should reflect the characteristics of children and meet the needs of children from multiple links such as dietary structure, nutritional matching, and food production.
Source: Shaanxi Daily