Au Bon Pain: Putting Nutrition Facts Front and Center
Once Au Bon Pain executives learned the facts about trans fats and health, the bakery-café chain knew it had to act. "Trans fats increase your bad cholesterol and decrease your good cholesterol. There's nothing good about them," says Jim Fisher, the Boston-based chain's vice president of marketing.
It took two years of testing, but the chain has now eliminated trans fats from all its muffins, cookies and bagels. Others companies might have chosen to launch a separate line of trans fat-free items, but Au Bon Pain executives believed it made little sense to say trans fats were bad and not get rid of them.
Four months after introducing Zero Grams Trans Fat Muffins, muffin sales had soared 20 percent. Bagels are a declining category in general, says Fisher, but eliminating trans fats in their toppings has helped slow their decline at Au Bon Pain. Introduced at the end of 2004, the trans fat-free cookies haven't gotten a report card yet.
The company raised its cookie price 20 percent to cover the higher costs associated with eliminating trans fats. Bagel and muffin prices remain unchanged. "We swallowed a little bit of profit," admits Fisher, "but it's the right thing to do in the long run."
With a corporate mission statement that says customers' nutrition concerns should be addressed, not ignored, Au Bon Pain rejects the strategy of making nutrition facts available but easily avoidable. Among its earliest nutrition initiatives, introduced in mid-2003, were in-store kiosks that provide the nutritional breakdown and ingredient list for every menu item. What's more, customers with specific dietary needs can ask at the kiosk for a list of items that are lower in sodium, calories, saturated fat, or the like. A children's kiosk at some locations uses games to help teach youngsters about nutrition and healthful food choices.
"We weren't afraid to say our pecan roll has a lot of calories," says Fisher. "Our responsibility is to provide our customers the information they need to make the decision that's right for them." Did customers abandon the pecan roll? Of course not, says Fisher. The item's nutrition stats were no surprise.
Au Bon Pain has a nutrition advisory board, and executives listen to it. After nutrition advisors dismissed low-carb diets as unwise, the chain decided against pursuing the low-carb customer. Instead, bucking the trend, Au Bon Pain launched a line of artisan breads made with organic flour. In the aftermath of all these nutrition-motivated changes, says Fisher, "We've had nothing but double-digit sales increases."