Hyatt Announces Groundbreaking Children’s Menu “For Kids By Kids” and Three-Course Organic Menu Developed by Alice Waters

Developed for Kids, by Kids, Hyatt’s New, Healthier Menu Offers Fun, Fresh and Flavorful items

Hyatt announces new "For Kids By Kids" menu in U.S., Canada and Caribbean (Photo: Business Wire)

CHICAGO--()--Hyatt Corporation today announced the launch of a new, innovative menu, “For Kids By Kids,” which provides more nutritious, fresh and interactive offerings for the three million children served annually in all full-service Hyatt hotels and resorts throughout the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. The menu is grounded in Hyatt’s industry-leading philosophy Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served. – promoting healthy people, a healthy planet and healthy communities – and has been developed in association with the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA). As part of the roll out, separate from its PHA commitment, Hyatt hotels will offer a three-course organic meal for children developed exclusively for the brand by renowned food pioneer and chef, Alice Waters.

With nearly one in three children diagnosed as overweight or obese in the United States1, Hyatt is leading the industry in making children’s health a priority and has worked to make the healthy choice the easy choice for guests. In addition to the new menu, kids also have the option of ordering a half portion off the regular menu at half the price.

Hyatt worked with Alice Waters, known for her culinary philosophy that maintains cooking should be based on the finest, freshest, seasonal ingredients that are produced sustainably and locally, to develop a full organic meal offering including a salad, chicken entrée and a dessert.

“All children deserve to eat real food – fresh, seasonal, organic, and delicious,” said Alice Waters. “I wanted to do a small, three course meal, within the context of Hyatt’s initiative, that could be sourced exclusively from organic farms across the country. Of course it’s about taste and ripeness and seasonality—but it’s bigger than that, too: it’s about supporting the people who are taking care of the land for our future generations.”

The “For Kids By Kids” menu was tasted, tested and approved by kids, including 11-year-old Haile Thomas, who is spearheading a campaign for healthy eating through her online cooking show, Kids Can Cook. Hyatt’s food and beverage team worked with Haile and her peers to ensure new menu offerings not only meet the brand’s standards for nutrition and quality, and are also fun. Through their research, Hyatt learned that kids today have a greater level of sophistication in their taste preferences, but also enjoy items with which they can interact. To that end, new menu offerings will present a creative way for kids to engage with their food, such as customizing their own pasta dish and “shaking” their own salad.

“We have made an industry-leading commitment to serving food and beverages that are good for our people, our planet and our communities. That is why we have transformed our children’s menu and looked to experts such as Alice Waters, to help guide our offerings,” said Susan Santiago, vice president of food and beverage, North America operations, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. “The new menu is just one of the ways we will be looking to impact health and wellness of the children that stay with us. We hope that this critical step forward will change the way that our guests and the industry think about kids menus.”

“For Kids By Kids” further illustrates Hyatt’s commitment to Partnership for a Healthier America, which will hold Hyatt accountable for continuously improving the nutritional profile of food menus at full-service Hyatt properties across the U.S. over the next ten years. Through this commitment, Hyatt’s “For Kids By Kids” will offer fruits or vegetables as the default side item, make low-fat milk available with free refills, meet the most recent U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, MyPlate and PHA’s standards and ensure food illustrations depict healthier options.

Select menu items include:

  • Breakfast: Top Your Own Taco, a whole wheat tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, cheese and fun toppings; Waffle Dipping Sticks with peanut butter, maple syrup and fruit sauces.
  • Lunch: Shaken Chopped Salad with roasted chicken, vegetables, brown rice and yogurt basil dressing; Build Your Own Whole Wheat Sub Sandwich with turkey, lettuce, tomato, cheese on a whole wheat mini-sub. (These offerings are also available during dinner hours).
  • Dinner: Natural Beef grilled and served with potatoes, roasted vegetables and garden salad; Vegetable and Sesame Rice Noodles with marinated tofu, corn, green beans, basil and cherry tomatoes.

To add another layer of fun to mealtime, Hyatt will launch HyattFlavorJourney in September where kids and parents can learn more about “For Kids By Kids” and enjoy games and activities. Guests can use a QR code on their menu to link to the site.

About Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company with proud heritage of making guests feel more than welcome. Thousands of members of the Hyatt family strive to make a difference in the lives of the guests they encounter every day by providing authentic hospitality. The Company's subsidiaries manage, franchise, own and develop hotels and resorts under the Hyatt®, Park Hyatt®, Andaz®, Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt Place® and Hyatt HouseTM brands. Hyatt House is changing its brand identity from Hyatt Summerfield Suites®. Hyatt Residential Group, Inc., a Hyatt Hotels Corporation subsidiary, develops, operates, markets or licenses Hyatt ResidencesTM and Hyatt Vacation Club®, which is changing its name to Hyatt Residence ClubTM. As of March 31, 2012, the Company's worldwide portfolio consisted of 488 properties in 45 countries. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include statements about our plans, strategies, occupancy and ADR trends, market share, the number of properties we expect to open in the future, our expected capital expenditures, depreciation and amortization expense, interest expense and effective tax rate, estimates, financial performance, prospects or future events and involve known and unknown risks that are difficult to predict. As a result, our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “likely,” “will,” “would” and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, general economic uncertainty in key global markets, the rate and pace of economic recovery following economic downturns; levels of spending in business an leisure segments as well as consumer confidence; declines in occupancy and average daily rate; our ability to successfully execute and implement our organizational realignment and the costs associated with such organizational realignment; loss of key personnel, including as a result of our organizational realignment; hostilities, including future terrorist attacks, or fear of hostilities that affect travel; travel-related accidents; changes in the tastes and preferences of our customers; relationships with associates and labor unions and changes in labor law; the financial condition of, and our relationships with, third-party property owners, franchisees and hospitality venture partners; if our third-party owners, franchisees or development partners are unable to access the capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth; risk associated with potential acquisitions and dispositions and the introduction of new brand concepts; changes in the competitive environment in our industry and the markets where we operate; outcomes of legal proceedings; changes in federal, state, local or foreign tax law; foreign exchange rate fluctuations or currency restructurings; general volatility of the capital markets; our ability to access the capital markets; and other risks discussed in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which filings are available from the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

1Glickman, Dan, Shalala, Donna E., Leavitt, Mike, Veneman, Ann M., “Lots to Lose: How America’s Health and Obesity Crisis Threatens Our Economic Future.” Bipartisanpolicy.org. Bipartisan Policy Center, June 5, 2012.

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Contacts

Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Lori Alexander, +1-312-780-5709
lori.alexander@hyatt.com

Release Summary

Hyatt announces groundbreaking children’s menu “For Kids by Kids," which is grounded in Hyatt’s industry-leading philosophy Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served.

Contacts

Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Lori Alexander, +1-312-780-5709
lori.alexander@hyatt.com