New Survey Reveals that Moms Want Home-Packed Lunches for their Children and They Want Them Flavorful; Win Big with Glory Foods Soulful Lunches Recipe Contest

(BLACK PR WIRE) --COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In a new survey commissioned by Glory Foods, Inc. (Glory) -- the leader in authentic, Southern-style seasoned greens and canned vegetables moms not only said that they prefer to send their kids off to school with a home-packed lunch (63.4%), but nearly 72 percent said they prefer flavor and taste over ease and convenience when preparing it. Less than one-fourth (23%) of respondents selected ease and convenience over flavor and taste. As the experts, Glory is helping families get the flavor they want with quick and easy resources to turn any ordinary lunch into a Southern-style experience.

“In terms of daily meals, lunch tends to get put on auto-pilot due to time constraints and other lifestyle priorities,” said Lisa Cliff, vice president of sales for Glory Foods. “We want families to enjoy a tasty meal every time they sit down to eat, especially during lunchtime, when they’re in the throes of the day and typically in different places,” Cliff added.

SURVEY DEBUNKS SOUTHERN FOOD MYTHS

While misperceptions still persist about Southern-style cooking, the survey shows that a majority of moms are interested in preparing soul food lunches for their children. Not surprisingly, almost one-third (29%) said that they believe soulful lunches could be a lot of work. However, 25 percent said that they have prepared a soul food lunch for their child before, and 82 percent said that they WOULD. Nearly half (45.8%) thought that soul food lunches add Variety and only 10 percent thought they were less healthy.

“The Southern lifestyle in general is becoming such a hot button across the U.S. and in American pop culture with the rise in popular reality shows, the Internet and social media influences, and the food is a BIG part of it all,” said Cliff. “It doesn’t surprise us one bit that people are seeking out Southern-style cooking products and trends everywhere from their local grocery store specialty aisles to our Web site.”

More Survey Highlights:

• When asked what creative things they’ve done for their children’s lunchtime experience, a ‘Surprise Snack’ topped the list at a 71 percent.
Also ‘Unique Sandwiches (56.3%),’ ‘Tasty Spreads and Dipping Sauces (37.4%)’ and ‘Cool Lunch Boxes (42%).’ ‘All-Veggie (13.4%)’ options came in last.

• Nearly 90 percent of the respondents ranked flavor and taste as VERY important for their own lunches. And 86 percent said ease and convenience are VERY important for their own lunch.

• Only 4.2 percent said they would never prepare a soul food lunch for their child.

• For a summary of survey data, contact Christina Crawford at ccrawford@taylorcommunicationsgroup.com.


GLORY FOODS’ ‘SOULFUL LUNCH’ TIPS

As more families send their kids to school with home-packed lunches, Glory Foods wants to make sure they don’t bring them back home. Chef David Francis, Glory Foods Southern-style Cooking Expert, offers the following quick and easy tips for turning any lunch into a “Soulful Lunch:”

1. ‘DIP’ity Do. Flavorful dips can be a soulful companion to kids favorite lunch items such as chicken fingers, chips and veggies. Authentic southern-flavored dips like Sensibly Seasoned Black Bean Hummus and Black-eyed Peas & Mango Salsa can do the trick (recipes at Gloryfoods.com).

2. Put the “Bread” in Cornbread. Cornbread is a Southern cooking mainstay. Use a leftover square in the place of bread with peanut butter and jelly or even their favorite meats to create your very own Southern-style mini-sliders.

3. Sweet Scoops. Kick the cookie to the curb and scoop a tablespoon of Sweet Potato Casserole or Fried Apples for the perfect dessert. And the best part is that there’s still plenty left in the can to heat-and-serve for dinner!

4. Spread the Soul. Use a little spinach dip, barbeque sauce or honey mustard in the place of your ordinary sandwich spreads and savor all the rave reviews.

5. Win the Glory Foods Soulful Lunches Recipe Contest. Throughout September 2011, people can visit The Glory Blog at www.blog.gloryfoods.com to take part in the ‘Glory Foods Soulful Lunches Recipe Contest’ to win a variety of prizes, product gift baskets and other promotional items. People can also join in the Soulful Lunches discussion at The Glory Blog or at Facebook.com/gloryfoods and Twitter.com/gloryfoods.

Survey Methodology

Glory Foods’ Soulful Lunches Survey was an online poll conducted by a third-party research company. The survey randomly sampled 400 females aged 25 and above with at least one school-aged child in the household. The survey used a national baseline with a margin of error of �4.5%.

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