Healthy Food Alternatives for Your Concession Stand

How many customers are ignoring your concession stand because you do not have any healthy options for them? Many people love hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage and peppers, and other great tasting food. Of course, those delicious morsels may not be the right choice for the health conscious out there. If you start offering some healthy options on your menu though, it is easier to snag those customers and to provide them with something they feel comfortable eating. Healthy Food Alternatives for Your Concession StandHere are some of the simple and easy healthy options many concession stands are trying today. A few of these might be right for your own stand.

Salads and Vegetable Sticks

You could make and sell some nice salads at your stand. Get up early and make the individually wrapped salad bowls each morning to ensure their freshness. Try to keep the salads relatively simple. You could have a couple of different options though, such as a tossed salad with chicken breast, a Cobb salad, and a chef salad.

Another option is to have individual veggie stick bags and some ranch or blue cheese dip. Carrots and celery sticks work well. Offer these as a side instead of chips or fries. You could charge the same, or even a bit less, for the vegetable sticks.

Healthy Snacks

In addition to the veggie sticks, some of the other good options for snack items include unsalted pretzels and popcorn. Energy bars and granola bars can work quite well too for a quick and healthy item for your customers.

Protein Burgers

If you already sell burgers at your stand, this is an easy one to add. Use low fat beef to make the patties and serve it without a bun. Instead, wrap the burger in a piece of lettuce. These types of burgers are actually growing very popular, and they are nice and simple to add to your stand. You can charge the same, or a bit less, for this burger.

Healthy Meat

You can look into adding some turkey and chicken options to your stand as well. Depending on the type of stand you have, it could be easy to add some smoked turkey breast sandwiches, turkey legs, chicken salad, and more. These meats are quite healthy when you do not slather them in grease and sauces.

Water

This is another simple one, and it might be one you’ve already added. While soda is still a major seller, those who want to remain healthy will appreciate some bottled water. It is a much healthier alternative than diet soda, which is what many people turn to when the only other option is regular, sugary soda.

Consider “Lite” Portions

You always want to give your customers a good experience and want them to feel nice and full with their purchase. However, you could cater to the healthy crowd with the same menu you have now. Simply offer smaller portions and call them the “lite” version. This cuts down on the calories the customer eats. It also gives customers who feel they can’t finish your regular portions an option so they do not feel as though they’ve wasted their money on food they have to throw away.

Do Not Go Overboard

When some start looking at the healthy alternatives for their concession stands, they make the mistake of trying to do too much too soon. Instead of reshaping your entire menu, start small with just one or two healthy alternatives to see how well they sell. If they do well, you can add another item or two. You do not want to jump in too quickly though and spend money on food you have a difficult time selling.

Resource:

http://www.classicfoods.biz/blog/post/Healthy-Concession-Stand-Food-Ideas.aspx