OPERATIONS
HOW SODEXO’S UPDATED MINDFUL PROGRAM IS EMBRACING A NEW ERA OF WELLNESS
OVER A YEAR IN THE MAKING, THE FOOD MANAGEMENT COMPANY’S NEW AND IMPROVED WELLNESS PROGRAM AIMS TO TAKE A MORE HOLISTIC APPROACH TO HEALTH.
T he concept of health and wellness has seen many changes in the past couple of years, so when it was time for Sodexo to update its well- ness-focused Mindful program, the team knew it had to go make sure it was involving all aspects of health and nutrition that are top of mind for today’s consumer. The program’s update, which took over a year to complete, in- volved the work of several different stakeholders throughout the com- pany including dietitians, chefs, fit- ness professionals and more. “We [got] everyone together to make sure that we were aligned with the most up to date science nu- tritionally and be up to date with the best practices in all of these differ- ent areas that actually touch health and wellness,” says Registered Di- etician and Senior Manager for Cu- linary Systems at Sodexo Micheline Cormier. BY BENITA GINGERELLA
dishes based on the consumer feed- back. Each dish follows a variety of nutrition requirements including having limited added sugars and calories, enough protein and fiber, and more. The Sodexo team also considers how complicated the rec- ipes are and aims to ensure they are as simple as possible so that they may be easily replicated across dif- ferent locations. Finally, a “formal cutting” takes place where the dishes are further scrutinized by the brand director and other stakeholders in the com- pany. “We bring in the dishes one at a time and we talk about the dish and how it performs,” says Cormi- er. “We talk about why we think this would be a great addition to this program, and how we meet helps meet our program goals, and then we determine which dishes make the cut.” Those that do survive the chop- ping block are then released on menus across the country. Each
The new and improved Mind- ful not only offers guests a variety of new recipes intended to reflect the most recent dietary guidelines for Americans, but it also provides Sodexo teams and their customers with a more holistic approach to health. FROM IDEA TO FULL-FLEDGED RECIPE The updated Mindful program in- troduced a variety of new dishes to Sodexo menus, including buffa- lo chicken quesadillas, fall harvest falafel wraps, pulled beef and spicy pepper relish paninis and pumpkin pancakes. Each dish passed a rigor- ous development process to make it to diners’ plates. The multi-step process begins with market insights that reveal current food trends and ingredients and flavors that are popular with diners. Once the team analyzes the insights, they go to a consumer pan- el with names and descriptions of potential recipes to get their take. From there, the team creates
PHOTO COURTESY OF SODEXO
FSD QUARTERLY
Q4 2024
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