Restaurant Industry Practices to Promote Healthy Sustainable Eating: A Content Analysis of Restaurant Websites Using the Value Chain Approach

Borham Yoon, Yeasun Chung and Kyungyul Jun
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Borham Yoon: Department of Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Yeasun Chung: School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Kyungyul Jun: Department of Food and Nutritional Science, Kosin University, Busan 49104, Korea

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-16

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to help researchers and restaurant owners gain an understanding of healthy sustainable initiatives within restaurant businesses. This study applied a content analysis of 93 restaurant chains’ websites with a systematic coding procedure. The study identified fifteen healthy sustainable initiatives under a value chain framework, four of which follow value chain dimensions: sourcing, production, marketing, and service. The most frequently mentioned healthy sustainable practice was presenting nutrition-related information, followed by providing healthy menu options and using organic/natural produce. Sit-down restaurants were more likely to engage in healthy sustainable eating initiatives than were fast-food restaurants (e.g., increasing the availability of healthy options, smaller/reduced portion sizes, using fresh and local food, and using healthy cooking methods). This study contributes to the restaurant/foodservice management and food marketing literature by showing a comprehensive picture of what U.S. restaurant chains are doing to promote healthy sustainable eating. The findings can be used as a benchmark tool for practitioners to evaluate and develop healthy sustainable restaurant initiatives and as the foundation of measurement items for scholars.

Keywords: healthy food; sustainable food; healthy eating; sustainability; restaurant; content analysis; value chain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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