Ideaworks’ Creative Support Helps Program Win the Menu Development Category in First-Ever Innovator of the Year Awards
Sodexo’s Future Chefs program, a national initiative that encourages students to learn about good nutrition by creating their own fun, creative and healthy recipes, won the Innovator of the Year Award in the Menu Development category in the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) inaugural Operator Innovations Awards. The Future Chefs National Challenge was formally recognized recently at the NRA Show 2012 in Chicago.
Through the Future Chefs National Challenge, students at Sodexo served schools learn about the importance of making healthy food choices by creating and submitting their own recipes to Sodexo’s student nutrition experts. Following district-wide events across the country, five national finalists are selected to create videos of their recipes. These videos are then posted online and the public is encouraged to view them and vote for their favorite.
In addition to crowning a national champion, Sodexo takes the best 12 recipes from the challenge each year and features them on school meal menus in the nearly 500 school districts the company serves nationally. This “For Kids, By Kids” approach to menu development has helped encourage reluctant students to try new things while also increasing overall school meal participation in schools.
“We’re thrilled to be a part of such a worthwhile and award-winning endeavor,” stated Donna Hansbury, president of Ideaworks Food Marketing. “Our clients at Sodexo are simply fabulous people to work with, and they give us the necessary direction and creative freedom to help them achieve their goals.”
Along with winning the Menu Development category, Sodexo also earned Operator Innovations Award recognition for two other programs including the company’s Did You Know Cafe, which Ideaworks created. Did You Know Café is a concept designed to make the cafeteria an extension of the classroom specifically for middle and junior high school students, and was selected as a finalist in the Health and Nutrition category.
