JW Lees has 156 tenanted and managed pubs across the North West. Director of catering Christina Lees-Jones was keen to revamp the kids¹ menu to include healthier options and add a point of difference.
The existing menus feature a range of staple kids¹ dishes such as soup, chicken fillet, cheese and tomato pizza and ice-cream.
Christina says: "I want to make sure kids have an enjoyable time in our pubs. I've already implemented a number of initiatives for example, we've teamed up with the Early Learning Centre to supply 100 of our pubs with magazines to keep the kids occupied but I wanted to do more.
"I looked at the menu to see where we could add more fruit and vegetables to increase children¹s five-a-day uptake. I want children to choose the healthier options and enjoy them."
JW Lees called in Antony Bennett, development chef with RHM Foodservice, to run an experienced eye over the menu. He advised keeping the existing dishes, which sell well, but adding some new options to create a better mix.
Antony says: "Kids need a level of fat in their diet to help them develop properly ideally a mix of 40 per cent protein and 60 per cent complex carbohydrates. I suggested to Christina she concentrate on complex carbohydrates and proteins from fish and lean cuts of meat, and incorporate some pulses where possible.
"It¹s not easy to execute this kind of menu. Our ready-to-use products such as Sharwood's Sacla' and, alongside fresh ingredients, should give a nice, child-friendly flavour, be pleasing to the eye and still deliver an ideal mix of health parameters. All the recipes are easy to prepare and deliver to the customer."
Among the many recipes Antony has developed for JW Lees are:
chicken, tomato and mascarpone risotto bowl
tomato and basil pasta
chicken and cashew stir-fry
three bean chilli and rice
sarnie and crisps
jelly and ice-cream
peach and strawberry knickerbocker glory.
Antony says: "The risotto and pasta are both plain, simple and great for the veggies, while my reason for adding a stir-fry is that kids are now familiar with them. They see their parents eating this from the local Chinese and they provide a great, fun way to get kids to eat veg.
"I've recommended the chilli because sometimes it can be difficult to get vegetarian kids to eat the right amount of protein, especially if they don't eat eggs or dairy.
"So a great way to ensure they do is to use pulses, which have high protein content. This is an easy recipe based on kidney beans, white beans and cannelloni beans.
"And yes, I¹ve included sandwiches and crisps. It¹s a popular choice for kids everywhere and it¹s so easy to put together, using bread and vegetable crisps served with a little side salad of chopped tomatoes, cucumber and grated carrot."
Fillings recommended by Antony incude:
fishy paté: smoked mackerel mixed with Sacla¹ tomato & basil sauce
tuna crunch: tuna, red and yellow diced peppers and diced cucumber
smoked chicken in sweet red pepper and light mayonnaise
ham and two cheeses in light mayo.
Christina says: "I love the jelly and ice-cream idea as it's so child-friendly and we can have them ready-made and waiting. I think it will work really well, especially as McDougalls offers a jelly that is suitable for vegetarians, so it caters for those customers too.
"The stir-fry is also a great idea, as it¹s quick and easy to prepare and we already offer a pasta dish, so switching to a tomato and basil sauce will be quite a simple step."
The best of the dishes are being trialled in selected JW Lees pubs with a view to rolling out new-look menus in May.
How will the revamped kids' offer perform? We willl be revisiting JW Lees in a few months' time to find out.