ABSTRACT
Out-of-home (OH) eating amongst South Africans and globally is on a significant increase. Individuals are increasingly becoming more reliant on meals consumed in restaurants. However, the foodservice industry faces challenges due the perceived nature of poor diet quality of meals they serve, said to be contributing to the prevalence of non-communicable diseases that are related to diet, particularly overweight and obesity. The purpose of this paper was to understand the challenges faced by the food-service industry regarding the nature of meals offered and the perceived poor diet quality thereof. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to examine how knowledgeable foodservice employees are on healthy meals, as well as to evaluate managers’ rationale regarding the inclusion of healthier meals on their menus. A mixed method approach was adopted to collect data for this study. Wherein self-administered questionnaires were distributed to waiter while structured interviews were conducted with their managers. The quantitative findings showed that only 29.03% of waiters were knowledgeable about healthier meals as an alternative, and were able to efficiently assist guests with such meal requests. Qualitative findings 64revealed that managers indeed considered the incorporation of healthier meal alternatives and all managers were influenced by similar factors. From this study, it could be recommended that a considerable amount of training is needed in the foodservice sector, particularly regarding waiters’ knowledge on healthier alternative meals. This would be crucial as consumers/guests are increasingly preferring such type of meals, even when dining out.
