Parkhurst Dining has put health and wellness at the forefront within the three corporate office locations of its client Highmark. During a 10-year period, Parkhurst has evolved the offerings at Highmark’s request, gradually implementing healthier options. “Gradual change was well received by our guests,” the company’s nomination states. “If our approach is too strong and too radical, employees feel like they are being forced to eat healthy and they will likely go somewhere else. If our approach is too soft or lacks commitment, the end result will be little or no change.”

Today, several initiatives focused on the overall health and well-being of Highmark employees combine to deliver fresh, flavorful options across all Highmark dining operations, including:

• Through Walk the Talk, a Highmark corporate initiative started in 2014, only healthy snack options are available from vending operations. “Walk the Talk is all encompassing,” explains Lenny DeMartino, general manager with Parkhurst at Highmark Pittsburgh. “It’s not just foodservice, but it promotes employees’ lifestyles all the way through—so their exercise, their well-being at home and at work and so on, and one of these areas is eating better.”

• The Smart Pick program serves as “a guideline that we use when choosing recipes and items to serve for the day,” explains Cameron Clegg, executive chef with Parkhurst at Highmark Pittsburgh. At any Highmark location, customers know that Smart Pick labeled items will have no more than 375 calories, 500 milligrams of sodium, 12 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat and 30% of calories from fat. • By Design allows guests to take ownership of the ingredients in their meal. At a manned station, sushi, salads, pasta and soups are among the dishes that guests can create themselves. Informed Parkhurst employees guide guests through the build, offering healthful suggestions. Healthy options such as vegetables and lean proteins are brought to the forefront, while less healthy items such as full-fat dressings are moved to the back.

In addition, healthy ingredients are the basis for menu development, including incorporation of global flavors and seasonings. The Chef’s Table program (see March 2014 issue) brings preparation of healthy dishes in front of the customer through chef demonstrations and recipe sharing. Catering menus also have been revamped to include only items deemed to be healthy.

In addition to employee education and training, marketing has played an important role in this new, healthy approach. Within the servery, easy-to-read nutrition signage guides healthy choices, healthy options are listed first on digital marketing boards and Healthy Interruption Points featuring nutritious snack options are strategically placed throughout the café to divert unhealthy impulse purchases.

Parkhurst Dining Named One of the "Healthy 15"Editors of Foodservice Director name Parkhurst Dining at Highmark, Pittsburgh, Camp Hill, Pa., and Delaware one of the “Healthy 15” in June 9th, 2014 issue.

Healthy15

AUTHENTIC CULINARY EXPERIENCESAt Parkhurst Dining, we believe in authenticity and enriching the lives of our guests; whether it’s in the use of ingredients or the sincerity of our relationships. Our philosophy of local, from scratch, fresh foods, drives our standards and is the key to delivering the greatest number of healthy options.

parkhurstdining.comwww.facebook.com/dineatparkhurst

At your convenience, I would like to meet with you to learn more about your needs and share more about our business model and services. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Building personal relationships throughauthentic culinary experiences.

Our areas of expertise include:

• Catering• Corporate Dining• Museums and Institutions• Private Restaurants• Retail Venues

HEALTHY INSPIRATION POINTS (HIP)

Strategically placed healthy foods and nutritional information guides our guests to make healthy dining and lifestyle choices. With Healthy Inspiration Points, it’s easy for our guests to eat better and feel better about themselves.

WHOLE BODY CUISINE

Whole Body Cuisine is a line of well-balanced dishes that enable our guests to make sound eating choices to fit their lifestyle goals. Many of our menus are collected from the Cooking Light magazine database. Integrated into each of our menus and concepts, Whole Body Cuisine dishes balance fat, calories and sodium, creating naturally nourishing and fabulous tasting meals. Each item follows recommended nutritional guidelines, without sacrificing rich taste, to help make managing one’s daily diet an easy and enjoyable experience.

FOCUS ON FRESH

Our scratch cooking methods focus on fresh, non-processed ingredients. On the plate, that means incredibly flavorful and more nutritious meals. Food is prepared-to-order, or cooked in small batches as close to service as possible. We’ll be serving up fresh, organic, cage-free shelled eggs daily, pizza dough that is made fresh from scratch, fried entrées that are hand-breaded (and not from a package), and cookies and muffins baked fresh in our kitchens every day!