Re: LA Times: A sinking feeling on 'Small World'
The point is that the effect bad food at high prices has on the main gate, the hotels, and the rest of the system is not being taken into account. The restaurants inside the parks are being operated as separate businesses when they should be subsidized by the main gate in the same way Disney's cost centers are. Walt Disney effectively said exactly that.
Certain guests are discriminating about the food they eat, and others are more price-sensitive. Disney should be serving the demands of both. Consumers need to be directed to differentiated menus with premium prices, though; the guests can't continue to assume that all Disney restaurants and menu items are alike.
As for the actual costs of healthy food, whole grain is potentially as inexpensive as refined grain, excepting for the fact that the latter may have economies of scale due to the higher consumption rates. Cheese and other dairy products can be expensive, as can meat and eggs, especially compared to vegetarian sources of protein and fat. And, instead of unhealthy oils, Disney can simply avoid relying on added oil, in general, to provide good flavor and mouthfeel. The challenges of healthy cooking are more a matter of a lack of will and creativity. Some of the best-tasting food in the world comes from the poorest countries.
Additionally, Disney has been formulating taste profiles based on averages meaning that no one is satisfied with the food; everyone merely finds it edible. Several years ago, Lee Iacoca rejected the same strategy and stated that Chrysler was going to, instead, build cars that people either love or hate. The company has been using that strategy ever since. Disney should assume the same mindset with regards to the park food and stop trying to have every menu item in every restaurant be all things to all people.
Originally posted by rgrant999
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Certain guests are discriminating about the food they eat, and others are more price-sensitive. Disney should be serving the demands of both. Consumers need to be directed to differentiated menus with premium prices, though; the guests can't continue to assume that all Disney restaurants and menu items are alike.
As for the actual costs of healthy food, whole grain is potentially as inexpensive as refined grain, excepting for the fact that the latter may have economies of scale due to the higher consumption rates. Cheese and other dairy products can be expensive, as can meat and eggs, especially compared to vegetarian sources of protein and fat. And, instead of unhealthy oils, Disney can simply avoid relying on added oil, in general, to provide good flavor and mouthfeel. The challenges of healthy cooking are more a matter of a lack of will and creativity. Some of the best-tasting food in the world comes from the poorest countries.
Additionally, Disney has been formulating taste profiles based on averages meaning that no one is satisfied with the food; everyone merely finds it edible. Several years ago, Lee Iacoca rejected the same strategy and stated that Chrysler was going to, instead, build cars that people either love or hate. The company has been using that strategy ever since. Disney should assume the same mindset with regards to the park food and stop trying to have every menu item in every restaurant be all things to all people.
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