What Businesses Need to Know About Portion Sizes
Businesses in the food industry should always cater to the wants and needs of their customers. Countless amounts of people are concerned about what they eat, when they eat it, and how much they should be having. If you are a business looking to sell frozen or microwavable meals on a larger scale, you should always be looking to diversify not only your meal selection, but your portion sizes as well. Even if you operate a restaurant business, you could offer various portions of meals on a menu from which your customers can choose. Here are some need to know facts about portion sizes that your business should consider.
Portion Size Vs Serving Size
These terms are often confused for one another, yet there is a major difference between the two. Whenever you read a label on a food item or beverage, you’re likely going to see “serving size.” In addition to the label would be the calorie count and nutritional value of the item. In many cases, a single serving size is not equivalent to the portion a person should eat. Portion size refers to the amount of food a person regularly consumes in one meal. Businesses should understand that different people require different portions of food. Therefore, it’s a good idea to capitalize on varying the portions to sell to fit the needs of more customers. You can find out more about size differences on this blog. To package smaller portions of food, you might like this stand up bag. The bottom gusset allows the bag to sit upright for better display. To also store larger portions of food, you might be interested in our 22x30cm double sided bag. This bag offers a food safe metallic film material and preserves food for longer durations!
Weight a Minute
Did you know that weight makes a difference in a person’s standard portion size? Well, according to an article from The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, it does. Depending on how much you weigh, the amount of food you need to consume per meal will differ from someone who weighs more or less than you. Other factors like a person’s age or metabolism speed can play a significant role in how much they should be eating per meal. Since you probably have customers of all ages and sizes, the food you sell should reflect that overall.
Physical Activity
Physical activity plays a role in a person’s ideal portion size as well. If you compare two people of similar age and weight, the person who does more physical activity will typically eat a larger portion. Calories could be a good measurement of how much goes into someone’s typical food portion. For instance, two 25-year old men who both weigh 170 pounds would eat different portions of food. The less active person might consume a 2500 calorie meal as opposed to the 3000 calorie meal for the more active man. If you are directly targeting a more active demographic of eaters, it’s probably a good idea to sell food in larger portions. Find out more about the physical activity factor here. For food storage before serving, you might like our meal-prep packaging page. We offer food safe materials and various design packaging that will stand out anywhere!
What You Should Serve
While the overall portion size is relevant, so is what goes into it. Meals should consist of well-balanced smaller portions of multiple food groups to combine into one perfect meal portion size. As a food business, the main course meals that you sell should have a somewhat even distribution of different food with different nutritional values such as vitamins, fiber, protein, etc. For example, the National Institute on Aging noted that people over the age of 50 typically choose 2-3 cups of vegetables and 5-8 ounces of grains per day. Although this is only 2 of several other average requirements, you can see how being versatile with what you serve is an additional necessity alongside with portion size. Learn more about what food portions people prefer here.
Final Thoughts
As a food business, you should try to target as many people as possible and show customers that you have dishes that perfectly fit what they need. Depending on a person’s age, weight, and level of daily physical activity, ideal portion sizes can vary tremendously. Therefore, the desired food portions per person will have a broad range of sizes. Your menu to offer multiple size selections could be the change you need to give your business an edge. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to ensure that all the meals you serve are somewhat balanced with different food groups. If you like this blog, you might like our other blog on how to make rice balls. Just be sure to serve the right portion sizes!