Today, at the Velamar restaurant in Lloret de Mar, Lloret Turisme and the Alícia Foundation awarded the seal for good, healthy and sustainable children’s restaurants to a total of 20 establishments, 14 hotels and 6 restaurants. This certification certifies that the establishments that have passed the audit guarantee a balanced diet for children during their holiday stay. The manager of Lloret Turisme, Elizabeth Keegan, explains that “traditionally, children’s food during the holiday period has been linked to unhealthy and repetitive menus, but nowadays families are also demanding that healthy food can be guaranteed for their children during their holidays”.
Before starting the project, a survey was carried out among catering establishments. The main data highlighted that 33% are already accredited with the Family Tourist Destination certification awarded by the Government of Catalonia; 97.4% are family-friendly and 56% offer a buffet or children’s menu (of which half of them have a differentiated space for children with little variety on offer). Ninety per cent of respondents also reported that they had not received any training in children’s food and, in conclusion, 95% said that they felt they could improve their children’s offer and were willing to do so.
The audit, which is based on the plate method, establishes that children’s menus should contain 50% vegetables, 25% carbohydrates and 25% protein foods. It was carried out by professionals from the Alícia Foundation, who assessed different criteria according to the following blocks:
- Safe: compliant with regulations and adapted to allergies and/or intolerances and safely presented (the more separated, cut and peeled the better).
- Sufficient: rations should be adjusted to children.
- Balanced: ensuring the presence of vegetables, wholemeal foods and the use of olive oil, among others.
- Ecological: that strives for the presence of fresh, seasonal and local food, as well as having a recycling and waste separation system, among others.
- Economic: the price should be adapted to the quantities served to children and water should be offered as the first choice.
- Practical: to provide a service that promotes the autonomy of the child.
- Ethics: that the child is considered as an equal partner and that the basic rights of families are guaranteed.
- Significant: ensuring the presence of dishes from the territory.
- Stimulating: offering attractive dishes and encouraging gastronomic discovery.
The Mayor of Lloret, Jaume Dulsat, and the Councillor for Bars, Restaurants and Cafeterias, Lara Torres, presented the certification to the following accredited establishments: Costa Encantada aparthotel, Evenia Olympic Garden hotel, Evenia Olympic Palace hotel, Evenia Olympic Park hotel, Evenia Olympic Suites hotel, Guitart Central Park Aqua Resort, Acapulco hotel, Anabel hotel, Marsol hotel, Rosamar Garden hotel, Rosamar Marítim hotel, Samba hotel, Surf Mar hotel, Xaine Park hotel, and the restaurants Can Bolet, Can Guidet, El Trull , Mas Romeu, La Rambla and Velamar.
Apart from awarding the diplomas to the establishments, the Little Foodies brand was also presented during the presentation, which gives visibility to all this commitment to healthy children’s food and which includes a new graphic image, the seal, different physical and digital supports, a landing page (littlefoodies.lloretdemar.org) in four different languages, several promotional videos and a specific image bank.
The Mayor of Lloret, Jaume Dulsat, explained that “this accreditation combines our commitment to gastronomy and family tourism, which is a product that has become firmly established in Lloret over the last few years”. He added that “the success of these projects depends on this public-private partnership”.
In 2018, Lloret Turisme launched the Strategy to boost the gastronomy sector in Lloret de Mar 2018-2022 in collaboration with the Alícia Foundation and with the support of the Lloret de Mar Bars, Restaurants and Cafeterias Guild and the Lloret de Mar Hotel Guild. During this time it has carried out different actions in the two strategic lines of the project. In the health area, all kinds of training courses have been organised for kitchen teams (allergies and intolerances, veganism and vegetarianism) and the destination currently has more than 15 gluten-free establishments accredited by the Coeliac Association of Catalonia and 21 with the AMED seal of the Public Health Agency of Catalonia, in the promotion of Mediterranean food. In terms of identity, the Americanos Cuisine recipe booklet was created.
