Taste of Childhood : Food Makers Zeroing In on Young Palates

When a single piece of broccoli is tossed into an otherwise innocuous bowl of chopped lettuce, what’s left is nothing short of a sabotaged salad. Just ask any salad-wise kid.

But give that same kid a chance to decide what gets glopped onto the lettuce--a pizza-flavored dressing, say--and suddenly that salad has a prayer of passing the kid test. Just ask any kid-wise marketer.

In the mounting battle for the estimated $132 billion in annual product purchases that children influence, the country’s big food makers are trying to entice youngsters to nag their folks for groceries that few kids have cared much about--such as salad dressings, yogurt and luncheon meats. The rub is that some marketers are accomplishing this by adding ingredients that kids love but which few parents want their children to eat: sugar, fat and salt.

For years, cereal makers have tried this kids-directed marketing with great success, but now it’s fast-descending to foods rarely targeted to children. Yet there are trade-offs. While the pizza and nacho-cheese-flavored salad dressings are fatty, they can coax kids into eating more salad. Several big yogurt makers are adding colorful, sugary toppings--packaged separately and displayed so kids can’t miss them--in order to get children to at least consider swallowing yogurt. And to attract kids to its newest “lunch kit” of sliced meats and cheeses, one food firm recently began slipping in very visible packets of candy.

The food giants say they are simply selling quality products that appeal to children. But some marketing experts believe that the food makers may be taking the low road to profits.

“You can turn anything into a junk food if you work on it,” said Alex Molnar, professor of education at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. “All these marketers ask themselves is this: ‘Will it sell?’ I’m still waiting for one to come out with chocolate-covered broccoli.”

Ironically, all of this comes when many food companies are increasingly making healthier foods for grown-ups who are concerned about more fiber and less fat in their diets.

“What you have are food products getting healthier for adults but less healthy for kids,” said Jayne Hurley, nutritionist at the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest. “I don’t know why the trend toward healthier eating has excluded kids.”

It is one thing to try to attract children by putting cartoon characters on the product label, “but if you’re making a product less nutritional in order to sell it to kids, I call that manipulation,” said Dan Acuff, president of Glendale-based Youth Market Systems Consulting.

The companies marketing the new products say they are merely selling what consumers tell them they want.

The maker of the new salad dressings, Hidden Valley Ranch, retained a youth marketing expert who went to shopping malls in four cities--including Los Angeles--and asked 300 children and parents their opinions on salads.

Late last week, Hidden Valley, a division of Clorox Co., set up a huge salad bar in front of 200 students at a San Francisco elementary school to see which of its new dressing flavors--pizza, nacho cheese or taco--kids preferred. On that day, Pizza Ranch reigned.

Admitted Kenneth Phan, an 11-year-old who was very careful to keep any trace of cabbage out of his salad bowl oozing with dressing: “I like the dressing more than the salad.”

As for the high fat content of its new dressings--some 90% of the calories come from fat, according to the label--executives at Hidden Valley say that’s beside the point.

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“They encourage kids to eat more salads and vegetables,” said Sandy Sullivan, brand manager at Hidden Valley, whose new dressings begin national distribution this month. “Besides, kids need a certain amount of fat in their diets.”

Concerned about the high fat content of the dressings, Samuel Gidding, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, suggests that children use only one tablespoon instead of the recommended two per serving.

Some food makers are using packaging as a way to attract kids to products they might not otherwise consider eating. Several yogurt makers are attempting that by packaging sugary toppings in see-through containers atop the carton. Among the most successful is Dannon’s, with its Sprinkl’ins brand yogurt with rainbow-colored sugar sprinkles.

“It’s a great way to get kids who would not eat yogurt to at least try it,” said Diana Allwein, associate product manager at Dannon, who said the yogurt is aimed primarily at children 6 to 12 years old.

As for the added sugar, the company says that’s no big deal. “Four grams of sugar per package isn’t all that much,” said Becky Ryan, a Dannon spokeswoman.

Gidding, who also serves on the American Heart Assn.’s nutrition committee, said it’s far better to add fruit than sugar to yogurt. Most important, he said, is to eat low-fat yogurt.

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Executives at Oscar Mayer Foods recently decided their “Lunchable Funpacks”--featuring separately wrapped meats, cheeses and crackers--weren’t attracting enough business. So they decided to add M&Ms; candy. Sales have picked up steadily since then, company executives say.

Gidding has serious reservations about the Lunchables: “It sounds like a nutritional disaster,” primarily because of the high fat and high salt content, he said.

Oscar Mayer executives scoff at that notion. “This is not some big corporate plot to fatten up kids. This is what kids want,” company spokeswoman Jean Cowden said. “There are very few kids out there who will eat rice cakes and tofu.”

Briefly . . .

There were smiles all around at Creative Artists Agency on Monday when Coca-Cola introduced its 1994 TV ad campaign. Some 25 of 28 new TV spots for the soft drink company were created by the Beverly Hills talent firm. Today Coke is expected to announce a global marketing agreement with the National Basketball Assn. . . .Ketchum Advertising/Los Angeles has picked up two new pieces of business: the estimated $15-million account for Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems and the $8-million account for KFC Southern California Co-Op. PacifiCare was formerly handled by Baxter Stone; KFC was handled by Lord Dentsu/Los Angeles.

Los Angeles-based Davis, Ball & Colombatto has won back the estimated $6-million Knott’s Berry Farm ad account that has been handled by Santa Monica-based Suissa Miller. . . . The creative portion of the advertising for health club chain Bally’s Health & Tennis Corp.--formerly handled by Suissa Miller--has been handed to the Chicago office of Hal Riney & Partners.

Catering to Kids

Food product makers are paying increased attention to children. The numbers tell why.

* $132 billion in annual purchases are influenced by children.

* 650 children’s products were introduced into grocery stores in the last five years.

* 52% of boys and 64% of girls say they sometimes or always accompany parents to the grocery store.

* 62% of children visit supermarkets each week.

* 50% of children participate in food or brand selection.

* 50% of children say they prefer a different salad dressing than their mothers’.

* 81% of children prepare their own food at least twice a week.

* 78% of children say they influence family selection of cold cereal.

* Fewer than 20% of 6-to-14-year-olds say they never shop with their parents.

* There are 50 million children ages 5 to 19 in the United States.

* A “lifetime” customer can be worth up to $100,000 to a retailer.

Sources: Census Bureau, Yankelovich Youth Monitor, Food Business, “Kids as Consumers”