Monday, May 31, 2010
(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - One northwestern burger chain is taking nutritional transparency to the next level.
Burgerville will begin providing every customer with a personalized receipt showing detailed nutritional breakouts for the items that they just purchased.
Burgerville last week announced the rollout of the pilot program in all 39 of its outlets throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Burgerville reps are apparently not worried that their initiative will give their customers nutritional sticker shock, saying they hope it will help them make healthy food choices.
"We want our guests to know exactly what they are getting when they order from us," said Jeff Harvey, president and CEO of the nearly 50-year-old burger chain, said in a release .
The chain has set up its registers to print a customized calorie count of orders on receipts. The information comes courtesy of Nutricate , a system from a company called SmartReceipt.
Nutritional information, including calorie, fiber, fat and carbohydrate counts, is prominently featured on the front of all receipts.
And the nutritional info is detailed. The receipts not only show the calories and grams of fat, protein and carbohydrates for each item purchased, but breakouts of the percentages of the recommended daily values for calories and fat that each item represents. Mediapost posted a sample receipt .
The info also takes into account customized orders, as well as helpful hints like holding chipotle mayo will save 180 calories and 18g of fat.
The SmartReceipt is not the first progressive innovation Burgerville has adopted in its restaurants.According to The Baltimore Sun , Burgerville restaurants also tap into wind power, recycle cooking oil into biofuel, compost kitchen waste, and use local, sustainable, seasonal ingredients.
The Wall Street Journal notes on its health blog that restaurant chains will soon have to disclose these types of nutrition info on their menus under the recently passed healthcare overhaul legislation.