Investigating Strategies for Promoting Healthy Eating Habits in London Restaurants: A Case Study of Nando's in Barking

This research proposal aims to investigate and review the strategies employed by restaurants in London to promote healthy eating habits. It will focus on a case study of Nando's, a popular Afro-Portuguese restaurant chain, in the Barking borough. The study will explore the rationale behind promoting healthy eating, identify the specific strategies implemented by Nando's, and analyze their impact on customer satisfaction and well-being. The research will utilize a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of the role of restaurants in promoting healthy eating habits and provide valuable insights for future research and industry practices.

Research Proposal
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Rationale/Background of research...............................................................................................................4
Aims and objectives....................................................................................................................................4
Research question........................................................................................................................................5
Literature review.........................................................................................................................................6
Methodologies...........................................................................................................................................10
Timescale..................................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................14
References.................................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Research refers to the systematic investigation of the subject with in-depth analysis with an
objective to obtain solutions or conclusions for a particular problem. The study aims to present a
research study for a specific title ‘to investigate and review strategies employed by restaurants in
London to promote healthy eating and Habit: A case of study of Nando’. The research study will
disclose the background of the problem, aims and objectives, and methodologies which will be
used in the research for undertaking the study. A preliminary literature review will be entailed in
the proposal so as to gather information from the previous researches associated with the
research problem. In the end, Gantt chart will be drawn so as to segment the activities of the
research in a proper and systematic time.
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Title: To investigate and review strategies employed by restaurants in London to promote
healthy eating and habit. A case of study of Nando ’s in Barking.
Rationale/Background of research
Hospitality industry constitutes a major portion in the growth and development of the economies
in the world. The main focus of the industry is on the creation of experiences and relationships
with the customers with an objective to inspire the loyalty and commitment of the customers.
Customer loyalty and commitment is an essential factor that leads to the success of the
organisations in the hospitality sector. The aim of the present research is to develop an
investigation on the strategies used by the restaurants for the promotion of healthy eating and
habit. It is an important and discussing matter of concern these days due to the growing needs
and demands of the health-conscious customers. Successful restaurants and hoteliers are the ones
that adopt effective strategies in order to offer a quality experience to the customers by offering
them healthy and hygienic products. Nando’s is an Afro-Portuguese chain of restaurants offering
delicious and quality food to the customers at the London Borough of Barking, UK. The overall
research will aim to reflect on the strategies adopted by the restaurant in order to promote healthy
eating and habit in London.
Aims and objectives
Aims
1. The aim of the research is to deeply and critically investigate the strategies used by the Nando’s
restaurants for the promotion of healthy eating and habit.
2. To identify the importance of healthy eating habits and its implimentation.
3. To investigate into the different strategies that are applied by restaurants for promoting healthy
eating habits.
Objectives
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1. To explore how the implementation of different strategies lead to the promotion of healthy eating
and habit.
2. To develop better insight for the future researches.
3. To analyse the impact of the strategies on customer satisfaction and well being in the restaurant.
4. To develop sound conclusion and recommendations for the readers.
Research question
Question – What are the strategies used by the Nando’s Restaurant, London for the promotion of
healthy eating and habit?
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Literature review
As per Bender (2014), healthy eating habits are the needs of the hour for the contemporary eating
lifestyles and habits all over the globe. With developments and progressions in the lifestyles and
mannerism of living and eating, health issues and complexities are increasing rapidly. Healthily
eating and habits can be termed as initiatives undertaken by the consumers, government and the
food industry to promote wellbeing and health of the consumers of the industry. The food
industry of London today is one of the most revenue generating sector of the economy. Several
health and safety regulations and rules have been employed by restaurants in London to promote
healthy eating and habits. The strategies employed by restaurants and consumers have impacted
upon the consumer satisfaction level of the consumers as well. The increase in health and food
safety along with healthy eating habits has enforced greater health implication on the consumers.
The initiatives undertaken by restaurants to improvise the healthy eating and habits have been
recognised by the consumers. The consumer preferences have been modified and now the
consumers have inclined towards restaurants imparting greater and healthier food habits and
initiatives on their own. The consumers are more interested in visiting and investing in the
restaurants that provide with maximum health benefits and advantages to them and their families.
According to the research and findings of PTO Today (2018), it was analysed that restaurants in
London have started and imposed various cookery and food habits to improvise healthy and
eating habits for consumers. The restaurants are more focused towards reducing the salt intake
and composition of various salts in food and meals prepared. Lesser salt consumptions enable to
instill healthier food habits. It is analysed that reducing the intake of sodium in any form fosters
the reducing the high blood pressure and associated problems of high sodium intake. Reduction
in sodium intake also enables to promote lesser swelling of pancreas and extremities of swelling
observed in other body parts such as legs, feet, intestines etc. Lower intake of sodium has been
initiated by restaurants in London. The practice has been implied in the three-course meals
provided such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The intermediary meals such as brunch and other
carvings have also been incorporated into the strategies of reducing the amount of sodium and
subsidiary forms of sodium in the healthy and eating habits for the population of London.
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As per the findings and research undertaken by Jones, et. al., (2014), it is analysed that imparting
greater knowledge and educating the consumers on the values of nutrition in taken by them as
per the healthy and eating habits can motivate and increase the concerns of consumers towards
healthy habits. The restaurants in London have initiated a policy or strategies to educate the
consumers on the intake of nutrition value of the food ordered by them. It has been identified that
educating the consumers for the nutrition values has fostered and promoted altering the orders
and choices of food empirically.it was identified that exposing children specifically towards
nutrition education has enabled to make a shift from unhealthy eating habits to health-conscious
eating habits. It was identified that children who have educated about the nutrition education an
increase in the fruit and vegetable intake were observed. Another strategy adopted by restaurants
in London is preparing various food items and meals through the application of genetically
modified food crops and vegetables. Genetically Modified food crops or items can be termed as
alterations made in the genetic material which is undertaken by natural recombination. It is
identified by genetically modified food items provide with greater levels of nutrition and energy
intake for the consumers. Genetically modified foods enable to fight the malnutrition and fulfill
the requirements of nutrition in enhanced capacities.
According to the insights and in-depth research conducted by Food.gov.uk. (2018), the
restaurants in London have also fostered for altering the food preparation techniques and
ingredients of various meals to promote healthy eating and habits. There various types of
strategies imposed which includes Mandates, Restriction, Economic Incentives, Marketing
Limits, and Information Provisions and Environmental defaults. Under the strategy of
environmental defaults, the restaurants and fast food chains in London dropped soft drinks and
French fries from children’s menu and replaced them with a healthier drink or a healthier
beverage. This strategy promoted healthier opting for drinks and eating habits for children in the
United Kingdom and London. These policies are aimed at reducing the intake of soft drinks and
fast food snacks in children to promote healthier eating habits. The strategies also involved
focused towards implementing greater access to the restaurants with the farmers market and
framers directly. This has increased the access for the restaurants to the farmers directly and has
fostered low-cost meals and diets. The direct link to the restaurants with the farmers has enabled
to increase the knowledge of restaurants of various types of vegetables and fruits available in the
market. This enables to increase the healthy foods through farmers markets and mobile vendors.
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The restaurants have also nudged for accommodating smaller plat sizes and incorporating pre-
committing healthier food choices. The alterations in meals and types of food in the preparation
levels have enabled to reduce the intake of sugar and reduction in calorie consumption for the
consumers at restaurants. It has been analysed that lesser intake of sugar and calories proves to
provide with empirical health benefits and results for the consumers in restaurants. The
restaurants have applied policies and strategies of modified cooking skills. The restaurants are
adopting strategic cooking techniques and skills to reduce the amount of sugar and calories. A
balance between the healthy cooking skills and options available at restaurants will enable to
promote healthy eating habits. The restaurants are also focusing towards imparting substitutes of
choices of fast foods and snacks with healthier options and choices to promote healthy eating
habits in restaurants located in London.
According to the words of Weichselbaum, et. al. (2013), it is significant to have the changes in
the diet to a healthy diet for the day to day physical activities of individuals. It is observed that
most of the children and adults are exposed to the junk food and unhealthy diet system which is
not good for their immune system. Many of the restaurants and hotels are coming up with
promoting and marketing of social message i.e. eat healthy and stay healthy and for such
purpose, the restaurants use of various strategies to promote that. From the study, it is also
analysed that not only the restaurants but the government of London and other cities are also
taking initiatives to promote the healthy behaviour among the general public (Weichselbaum, et.
al., 2013). For example – In the United Kingdom, the government has been organising a variety
of events and campaigns to improve the health of population and also imposing the restaurant
owners to frame their services, products and strategies in such a way that it leads to changing the
behaviour of adults, children and others towards good eating habits. Another example –
Change4Life which is social marketing campaign has been promoted across various cities having
aimed at directing families and children for promoting healthy eating and Habit (De
Bourdeaudhuij, et. al., 2011).
As prescribed by Chan and Melina (2011), there are several ways to promote healthy eating
habits among kids and others. Firstly, initiatives are taken for promoting through encouraging the
population, especially the kids to eat smart at the school only so that they can have a good eating
habit starting from their nurturing stage. Second, the strategy adopted is educating the population
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and also the staff members about the nutrition and other vitamins included in the healthy diet. In
addition to this, the restaurants may offer of low-fat entrees and thereby provide of the nutrition
information to the customers walk-in into the store. Moreover, the restaurant industry establishes
quality and health norms which have to abide by all of the restaurants. Another strategy can be
changing in the marketing practices by the restaurant it is so because the marketing plays a very
crucial role in making a purchase decision and manipulating the minds of customers (Chan and
Melina, 2011). Most of the population believe on what the company market and consume their
services accordingly.
Through changing marketing practices and focusing on delivering the healthy eating habits
message among public can also result in the effective and efficient promotion (De
Bourdeaudhuij, et. al., 2011). Nando’s in Barking is a chicken restaurant which is also using such
strategies and activities for promoting the healthy eating and habits within their customers. The
company also uses some basic health strategies such as hygienic eating environment,
environmentally friendly place, and others so that people feel refreshed and relaxed when they
come for eating in the restaurant.
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Methodologies
Research methodologies present the set of methods and tools which are used in the research in
order to execute the research activities and stages in an efficient way. There is a number of
research methodologies used in the research projects and studies for different purposes such as
data collection, data analysis, interpretation etc. With the application of the research
methodologies, the research activities are executed in the proper direction and the end
conclusions can be drawn with greater ease and flexibility. The below discussion will reflect on
the methods and techniques which will be used in this research for analysing and examining the
research problem up to great extent (Marshall and Rossman, 2014).
Research approaches
According to the words of Bryman and Bell (2015), the research approaches reflect on the
procedure and steps involves in the different research activities such as data collection, analysis,
and interpretation etc. Mainly two types of research approaches are used in the research;
inductive and deductive. Inductive approach is used for the generation of new ideas and theories
by investigating the previous studies and researches associated with the research problem while
on the contrary deductive approach aims to test the theory and uses the research questions to
narrow down the study. This research will put inductive research approach into practice for the
systematic examination and investigation of the research topic by reviewing the previous studies
and researches in a structured way (Bryman and Bell, 2015).
Research methods
Qualitative
This method of research is associated with the theories and philosophies that are collected,
presented and analysed in qualitative or theoretical terms. In this research method, data and
information from different sources are collected and analysed in the form of theories. No data in
this method can be interpreted in statistical and mathematical terms (Smith, 2015).
Quantitative
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As per the words of O'Leary (2017), quantitative research method is the empirical and systematic
investigation of the relevant data and knowledge with the use of the statistical and mathematical
tools. The more emphasis of this research method is on the measurement of the observations and
data collected via a number of tools and techniques (O'Leary, 2017).
Mixed
It is more specific and effective method of research as it integrates both the quantitative and
qualitative method of research and develops conclusions on the basis of a combined study by
employing both the methods into action (Sinkovics, et. al., 2016). In order to obtain quality and
relevant results and findings, the mixed research method is employed in the research that in
results ensures productive and desired results and leads to the successful accomplishment of the
research aims and objectives. The findings and outcomes obtained from this method of research
will offer strong evidence for the conclusion (Fellows and Liu, 2015).
Data collection methods
Primary
Primary sources of data collection in research offers first-hand information about the research
problem which is highly accurate and reliable. As the research is mixed in nature, the primary
sources of data collection include survey questionnaire which will be distributed to the customers
of Nando’s Restaurant in order to learn about their views and perspectives on healthy eating and
habits.
Instrument
A structure and well-defined questionnaire will be developed that presents 20 questions which
are only associated with the subject of the research. The responses will be collected with the help
of the software Survey Monkey. All the questions will be written in simple and plain language so
that it would be easy for the respondents to understand and analyse the questions.
Secondary
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Secondary sources offer the data which has been already used and analysed earlier. The
secondary sources of data collection in this research consists of articles, journals, restaurant
magazines, newspapers, books, and internet sources. The data will be systematically collected
and analysed in order to obtain valuable and reliable information about the research problem
(O'Leary, 2017).
Sampling
In order to conduct primary research efficiently, the questionnaire will be distributed to the
population of 100 customers of Nando’s Restaurant among them 10 samples will be randomly
selected with the help of the random sampling technique. It is a sampling technique where
responses are randomly selected from the large population. The technique will be employed in
the research as it provides the unbiased and common information of a population as a whole.
Data analysis methods
For the analysis and interpretation of the qualitative information and data collected from
secondary sources, the qualitative analysis will be used while on the other hand quantitative
analysis tools will analyse and interpret the qualitative information. The qualitative information
will be presented in the form of literature review and the quantitative information will be
reflected in the form of graphs, tables, and charts (Holloway and Galvin, 2016).
Ethical considerations
It is also important to follow the ethical considerations while conducting the research so as to
complete the research in an ethical manner. All the ethical standards and procedures will be
followed in the research in order to avoid the ethical issues and complications. The
confidentiality of the responses obtained from the respondents will be maintained and their
personal information will not be revealed for any purpose. There is no chance of discrepancy in
this research projects.
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Timescale
S.NO Activities Duration (two months)
1 Research Design/Plan 1 week
2 Data collection 2 weeks
3 Data analysis 3 weeks
4 Findings and discussion 1week
5 Conclusion and recommendations 1 week
Sr. No. Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Research Design/Plan
2 Data collection
3 Data analysis
4
Findings and discussion
5
Conclusion and recommendations
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Conclusion
The research proposal highlights the research problem, aims, and objectives, research questions,
preliminary literature review and methodologies of the research project. It aims to offer direction
in which the entire research will be executed. All the activities in the research will be
implemented in compliance with the research proposal. The time scale and Gantt chart presented
in the proposal will be helpful in the timely and successful accomplishment of the research in a
structured way.
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References
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livescience. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/35876-kids-healthy-eating-tips.html
[Accessed: 24 April 2018]
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Van Lenthe, F., Lobstein, T. and Maes, L., 2011. School‐based interventions promoting both
physical activity and healthy eating in Europe: a systematic review within the HOPE
project. Obesity Reviews, 12(3), pp.205-216.
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Available at: https://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/guidancenotes/hygguid. [Accessed 24
Apr. 2018].
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& Sons.
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more and less healthy foods: analysis of a novel longitudinal UK dataset. PLoS One, 9(10),
p.e109343.
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11. O'Leary, Z., 2017. The essential guide to doing your research project. Sage.
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12. PTO Today., 2018. 10 Ways To Promote Healthy Eating - PTO Today. [Online] Available at:
https://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/895-10-ways-to-promote-healthy-eating.
[Accessed 24 Apr. 2018].
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15. Weichselbaum, E., Hooper, B., Buttriss, J., Theobald, C., Sgarabottolo, V., Combris, P., Strigler,
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pp.85-99.
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