InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced an exclusive partnership with Nutrition Australia – a non-profit organisation inspiring healthy eating through nutrition education, information and advisory services – to develop a new, revamped kids’ menu featuring healthier food options for its Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts brand.
Launching in 2015 at Holiday Inn hotels across the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region, a core menu will be developed with the aim of providing nutritious, fun and delicious meals for children that will enhance the travel appeal for holidaying families. In total, Nutrition Australia will develop 26 appetiser and main meal dish options, ten dessert options and ten drink options.
The menu will also include regionally relevant dishes that cater to a variety of tastes across AMEA. Nutrition Australia will actively consult with chefs from Holiday Inn hotels across the region to review local additions designed for kids. These will be based on criteria developed by Nutrition Australia Victorian Division’s Accredited Practising Dietitians, ensuring that all meals served are nutritious options, based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
All the main meals in the menu will provide a nutritious balance of vegetables, meat and wholegrain foods, plus fruit or dairy where relevant. Importantly, the menu will provide a variety of colours, flavours and textures to help kids have fun and enjoy healthy eating.
Phil Broad, Vice President of Food & Beverage, IHG said: “A big part of any family holiday is the food your kids eat. With this new partnership, we’ll be able to provide a wider variety of healthy options for kids – much more than just the standard burgers, pastas and chips – options which are going to be more nutritious, whilst presented in a fun way. It’s also important that what we serve caters for regional tastes too, so working with a partner like Nutrition Australia will be key in ensuring that local additions are delicious and good for the little ones.
“Mealtimes can sometimes be stressful from a parent’s point of view so we also want kids to have fun during their meals by engaging them in the entire dining experience – from how they are greeted when they enter the restaurant, to how the menu looks and what utensils they use at our Holiday Inn hotels.”
Lucinda Hancock, Executive Officer, Nutrition Australia Victorian Division said: “Good nutrition is essential for good health at all ages. For children, it is particularly important because healthy eating habits are often formed during childhood.
“It’s great to see Holiday Inn taking the initiative to ensure there are nutritious, delicious and fun foods available for kids to enjoy when holidaying, and we are thrilled to be a part of this exciting collaboration.”
