Making Concessions

Moviegoers of a certain vintage undoubtedly recall this musical ditty, which accompanied an animated invitation to patrons:

"Let's all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat! Delicious things to eat! The popcorn can't be beat! The sparkling drinks are just dandy, the chocolate bars and the candy, so let's all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat!"

More than 50 years later, musical styles have changed -- yet snack bar habits haven't.

But current calls for healthier concession stand offerings -- and more options for audiences -- may be changing the snack bar picture.

In a cola and lemon-lime world, new soft drink choices range from frozen fruit juice slushies to a machine that custom-blends 106 flavors. (Anyone for peach soda? Grape lemonade?)

One company has developed a canola oil topping that tastes like butter. (At least that's what they claim.) Another touts gummy candies sweetened with fruit juice instead of high-fructose corn syrup.

Theater owners recently checked out these alternatives -- and hundreds more -- at ShoWest 2010, an annual convention and trade show focusing on upcoming movies, industry trends and products.

At the trade show, surrounded by projectors, plush rocking-chair seats and digital projectors, concession companies offered an array of traditional treats, along with offerings that reflect increasing interest in healthier snacks.

At PepsiCo Foodservice , the soft drink giant's concession arm, representatives touted frozen Dole Fruit Refreshers sweetened with fruit juice.

"Most of the others are just sugar," said Shawn Hamilton, PepsiCo national account manager.

While frozen beverages "are a relatively small piece" of the soft drink pie at concession stands, "it's one of the fastest-growing segments," Hamilton noted, especially with patrons in their teens and 20s -- the group that attends movies most frequently.

And f'REAL! Foods removed the high-fructose corn syrup -- and changed the packaging -- for its low-calorie frozen smoothies, which now carry "Daily Wellness," "Antioxidant" and "Vitamin C" designations.

Of course, there's not much they can do to make their milkshakes lower in calories.

"They're indulgent," admitted a company salesman who asked not to be quoted by name.

But even the most indulgent snacks can have a more nutritious angle, suggested Scott Samet, co-president of Taste of Nature Inc., which has been "selling healthy snack foods to movie theaters" for 18 years.

Of course, "healthy snacks" is a relative term when your best-seller is Cookie Dough Bites.

"We're always trying to come up with innovative new candies," he said. Those innovations include Simpsons-branded gummy candies sweetened with fruit juice, providing a daily dose of Vitamin C. "There's a trend toward healthier snacking," Samet acknowledged.

Even sweet 'n' salty kettle corn has a healthy selling point: It's gluten-free, said Dave Brisbois, "brand sheriff" of Popcornopolis , which offers variations on traditional popcorn from its dark and white chocolate Zebra flavor to a new cinnamon bun variety that "tastes like a churro with a white-chocolate drizzle."

As for the traditional hot dog, "We don't profess to be a health food, but we're a natural food," Ed Weinshenker of Kelly-Eisenberg deli products explained, citing his company's latest introduction: toddler-sized Black Angus sirloin minifranks, designed for kids who can't manage full-size frankfurters.

Kids were the primary focus of a call by ShoWest's opening-day speaker, Sony Pictures chairman Michael Lynton , for healthier snack bar alternatives.

"Adding healthier options to your existing menu is the right thing to do for our industry, for audiences and for our country," Lynton told theater owners. Although he acknowledged that audiences love the traditional popcorn, soda and candy, "I'm just talking about adding some healthier items to what you already sell."

In a videotaped message to theater owners, TV's Dr. Mehmet Oz echoed Lynton's call, noting that "with so many children and teens going to movies so often these days, I think we've all got to be mindful about what they're eating and drinking, and giving them the chance to choose healthier food makes a lot of sense."

According to a poll commissioned by Sony Pictures, two-thirds of moviegoers and three-quarters of parents are likely to buy healthier options if offered -- even at prices similar to what's currently sold," Lynton stated.

In addition, "42 percent of parents said they would buy concessions more often if healthier choices are available," he reported.

Although "nobody wants to eat cauliflower while watching 'Spider-Man,' or drink a 40-ounce cup of prune juice," Lynton said, survey respondents cited such options as fresh fruit, fruit cups, apples and vegetables with dip, granola bars and trail mix and unbuttered, air-popped popcorn.

Unbuttered, air-popped popcorn?

Some snack bar professionals remember the first time they tried that -- back in 1994, when the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest ran full-page newspaper ads decrying high saturated fat in movie popcorn.

At the time, "the theaters changed, they did without the oils," and moviegoers responded that the popcorn "tastes like cardboard," recalled Charles Winans, executive director of the National Association of Concessionaires, the trade group that represents snack bar operators at theaters, stadiums, theme parks and other entertainment venues. "So the theaters went back to coconut oil."

At Richard Oilseed's Canola Harvest booth, food service sales manager Bill Schroer served up samples of popcorn popped with the company's new popping oil that has "the same quality that coconut oil" does -- a "clean-mouth feel" without cholesterol-raising trans fats coconut oil contains.

"Everyone's going to zero trans fats," Schroer noted.

Even Odell's, a Reno-based popcorn topping company, introduced a margarine product to go along with its real butter topping, noted president Arthur Anderson.

"But it's still oil with fat," he acknowledged, noting that moviegoers always can opt for plain popcorn if they want to avoid the extra calories.

After all, "the food is part of that entertainment experience," argued Susan Cross, NAC's director of communications.

And when it comes to that food, "we are going to sell you what you want to buy," she said. "If people want healthy items, we'll sell them." And at the snack bar, "if it sells, it stays. It's not that complicated."

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.