Monday, October 12, 2009

The Best Fast Food Receipt

I'm not a real "fast food" guy. I don't really love burgers, and I don't really love super fried or greasy things, and I realize that by making both of these statements it's very possible that the Department of Bro-land Security will revoke my man-certificate.

That said, I've always admired Burgerville, Oregon (and Southern Washington's) home-grown fast food chain.

Burgerville goes out of their way to feature seasonal , local ingredients in monthly menu items. When a cyclist was denied drive-through service and caused a Twitter PR ruckus, they re-trained staff, put up "bicycle in lane" signs, and offered free milkshakes to cyclists. When they opened a box of Gardenburgers and "became concerned about the look and texture of the product" (!), this caused Kelloggs to shut down Gardenburger production for six months, and they switched to a locally-made product.

So, I was happy to see that Burgerville is now testing the coolest receipt ever. (Pictured at left.)

They're from company called Nutricate (tip: if you have to put a pronunciation guide next to your name, you need a new name). And, as you can see, they provide highly accurate nutritional info for your meal.

I mean, it's not surprising that tartar sauce is high on calories. But it was slightly surprising that Sweet Potato Fries were so much "worse" than regular fries.

Sure, there is some irony that you get this receipt after you've paid for your meal. But I say any nutritional education is better than none at all!

(Oh, and confidential to Burgerville: the only thing left to do? It's time to fix your interior design and remodel your stores. The sock-hoppy, jukeboxy theme of your restaurants is total disconnect from your modern, local, fresh message. You designed a great interior with Noodlin' (R.I.P.) — get those guys fixing Burgerville!)

Next Time: The Disneyland Scammer

97 comments:

  1. Interesting. I just posted a link on my blog to another receipt concept:
    http://www.jwgreynolds.co.uk/index.php?/far-foods/

    While not in actual production, it shows you how far the food has traveled to reach your mouth. I'd love to see Nutricate add distance into their receipts, but could imagine that being a much trickier set of data to deal with.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Man, that guy is going crazy on those fries.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is brilliant! I really hope Europe (especially UK) picks this up EVERYWHERE. I'm talking everywhere from Starbucks to Restaurants to fast food shops of all kind!

    ReplyDelete
  4. And then NeatReceipts can develop another product for getting your nutrition information into some sort of desktop database. Maybe with one of those body image projection things to predict what your body will look like based on the trends. That would be some serious motivation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can't believe I respected you.

    Doesn't love burgers... pshaw.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hmm, it's interesting technically but as a customer.. I'd just not look at the receipt if they were like this. I'm buying a burger/whatever because I want to eat a burger - not because I want to be told how much of a pig I am by eating XXX calories.

    I can't believe the fast food joints are even volunteering to get into this sort of thing - especially the "calories on the menu" stuff. Once I can't order without seeing calorie listings everywhere, I'll probably stop eating out as it'll just serve to make me feel bad - and that's not why I eat out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Peter: That's the thing: nobody's saying you're a pig, just that you've consumed XXX calories. If you want to eat 2,000 calories in a day, and you want to blow that in one giant, crazy, joyful meal, why not? Go for it!

    But eating a burger, or seeing the calories in a burger, should in no way make you feel bad — unless you're going way over the number of calories you should be consuming in a day (whatever that is), or you know you're being unhealthy. If that's the case, then maybe the sadness of the inarguable printed receipt might be a good thing, right? Helpful towards meeting your goals? :)

    It's just information, after all... the interpretation, and what it means in your life, is literally up to you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cabel, that's a great find - I wonder how long it will be before it takes off elsewhere? Certainly it provides the same sort of information that we have come to expect on our packaged foods in Australia - I'd like to see the inclusion of sodium but apart from that is is pretty good.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Burgerville has a "concept restaurant" in northwest Vancouver that ditches the 50s-diner vibe... for something sort of generically modern (and "green", I suppose) but not really inspiring. That location also has bus service and serves local beers & wines. You know, for if you'd like a nice Cabernet with your onion rings.

    Also of note: it's not just the seasonal featured ingredients that are local -- just about everything they serve is sourced from socially & environmentally responsible producers. The trash bins in almost every restaurant are sorted for recycling & composting, and they buy wind power credits for all of their electricity usage (even though most of it is hydro anyway).

    No, I don't work for Burgerville, I just think they're the Portland area's best kept secret.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is interesting, but I fear the teaser for "The Disneyland Scammer" has completely overwhelmed my interest in this note.

    ReplyDelete
  11. In case you didn't see it, your Burgerville receipt was posted in the "A Hamburger Today" blog, along with a link back:

    Nutritional Information Being Printed on Burgerville's Receipts

    ReplyDelete
  12. They have the same style receipts at Silvergreens in Santa Barbara, CA (Isla Vista for those local).

    I always thought it was a great idea and fairly well executed.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am fortunate enough to be local to Burgerville, but generally not the MLK location (which is the only one they currently are using Nutricate at), but when in the area a couple months ago and got my receipt that included a kids sized chocolate shake (a tiny thing at 4" tall or so) and saw it's calorie count and then it suggested a chocolate smoothy (made with yogurt instead of ice cream) was about half the calories I since have opted to order a smoothy instead of a shake.
    IMO, the suggestions for more healthy options are the best part of the receipt, but too bad the cashier doesn't have a way to make these suggestions as you order.

    ReplyDelete
  14. There really has to be a way to subscribe to the feed via email :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Fact: 70 percent of Burgerville's total food budget is spent with LOCAL producers. Sustainability is delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  16. YES YES YES

    Thanks for pimping Burgerville, but also blasting their interior design.

    I'm not a big fast foodie either, but once a month I end up in a Burgerville and every time I end up agitated as I'm yelling "Redo the interiors! These make no sense in context with your message!" I've told my wife many times the place needs to look like a freaking Jamba Juice inside to match all their wind/solar/local/sustainable mantras. Turn the lights up, all wood should be maple or birch veneers, put some wood floors in, and make the furniture modern. And ditch the jukebox and instead play Sigor Rios and Hotel Costes tracks non-stop.

    I'd rather mistake the place for a yoga studio than a Happy Day's set.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Nobody gives a crap about calories at a fast food store.

    ReplyDelete
  18. If there were more restaurants doing that here in the states it might slim down the population a bit. Kinda weird though about the sweet potato vs. regular fries. I never would have thought it to be a culprit. We eat them raw all the time, so hopefully it's in the cooking.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Why are so many people afraid to see the nutritional value (or not) of what they eat?

    ReplyDelete
  20. I can't believe this guy ate two whole meals and a smoothie. No wonder he needs to know this information.

    ReplyDelete
  21. that info should have been present in menu itself... don't you think that would have been better for customers... harmful for the restaurant i think ... bcoz no1 will eat if they find it before eating....

    ReplyDelete
  22. @Blazerdamus:

    Fun fact: some people have, like, friends, and spouses, and families. They're known to eat together with these other individuals!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'm afraid to see how many calories are actually in an order of Walla Walla Onion Rings when they are back in season.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Cute comment about the Nutricate guys needing a new name if they have to tell you how to say it. But if you think about it, the pronunciation guide is only there to complete the pseudo-dictionary definition, which they apparently included to beat people over the head with their clever coinage. Just as precious.

    ReplyDelete
  25. FWIW, the "regular"sweet potato fries are obviously(judging from the carb content) a bigger portion than the "regular" regular fries.....

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sweet potato fries are very good for health as it contains more fibre than any other breakfast. I think this breakfast is the cool one.

    ReplyDelete
  27. These days, most of the UK chains are pretty good with nutritional information, displaying it in the stores, although the food still sucks. We just don't do fast food well - we import the worst and even screw that up. It's amazing to see the clean, spacious KFC restaurants in, say, Iceland, and compare them to the awful, cramped counter-only equivalent in the UK, which have much worse food. Burgerville looks good, and I rather liked Chick-fil-A last time I was in the US, but I'd bet both would be worse than McDonald's on landing in this country!

    Oh well - at least we still have fish 'n' chips (until the fish runs out or becomes too pricey - just the fish alone's running to around $6.50 here these days).

    ReplyDelete
  28. Now what about the Disneyland Scammer? Don't keep us waiting any longer!

    ReplyDelete
  29. It was a great post to go through.Even I will support the though of eating healthy and nutritive food rather then opting for fast food.
    ration packs

    ReplyDelete
  30. oh thank god for calorie counters. once upon a time, grown up educated adults were able to navigate the oh-so tricky waters of understanding when it came to puzzling things like, how much high fat foods to consume. now of course, our development is so arrested we applaud the obvious. perhaps soon i'll be able to get a receipt with handy tips for proper hydration. like: 'bring cup of liquid to mouth and swallow. do this until you are no longer thirsty."

    ReplyDelete
  31. The reason Sweet Potato Fries contain more calories than regular fries is simple - the length of the starch compounds. Under heat, some starch breaks down back into maltodextrose and glucose molecules, which leads to a more porous product that takes a) longer in heat to become a fry and b) unlike the higher water content regular fry, does not expel as much steam, effectively pushing out the cooking fat. Well done fries contain no internal cooking fat, sweet potato fries always do.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hope everything’s fine, miss your postings.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Well that blog is really interesting. I come from Germany and i really like reading american blogs.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Wow, what a fantastic idea! Even more curiouswholesale wedding dress that it disappeared so soon after your experience. Perhaps it moved to a different location?

    ReplyDelete
  35. Where are you, Cabel? Is everything OK? Hopefully you are just really busy working on the iPad version of Coda. : )

    ReplyDelete
  36. Thanks for the info! Please continue posting such incredible reads!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Indeed, this is a very cool receipt. Thank you for the entertaining post!
    paleo desserts paleo diet meal plan paleo diet shopping list

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thank you for this post..

    ReplyDelete
  39. I mean, it's not surprising that tartar sauce is high on calories. But it was slightly surprising that Sweet Potato Fries were so much "worse" than regular fries.peninggi badan

    ReplyDelete
  40. This is a great inspiring article.I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post.

    health news

    ReplyDelete
  41. this is a great inspiring article.I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post.

    health news

    ReplyDelete
  42. And to top it off, their food is damn good.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Would love tosee this everywhere. So much better to know, rather than bury your head in the sand after fast food.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Thanks for the info. This is much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Did anybody say Oregon burgers? wow! their burger rocks, bro. I am a webmaster of Power4home Greendiyenergy and Prostacet I hope we could meet each other soon.

    ReplyDelete
  46. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Wow! Juicy burgers! I am a webmaster of Frontierville Cheats

    ReplyDelete
  48. the higher water content regular fry, does not expel as much steam, effectively pushing out the cooking fat. Well done fries contain no internal cooking fat, sweet potato fries always do. tava tea error fix save fuel jump higher Electronic Cigarette

    ReplyDelete
  49. That is the most detailed receipt I have ever seen, but I would say that's one expensive burger.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Very useful, better than McDonald Lol! realizzazione siti web

    ReplyDelete
  51. I want a BURGER NOW!!! Pity is just 9am! hotel abano terme

    ReplyDelete
  52. gd...i like it...its good

    ReplyDelete
  53. Very smart marketing strategy

    ReplyDelete
  54. I really like this beat maker receipt, at least you know sonic producer what you have eaten.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Ha Ha, that a funny how to lose belly fat receipt.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Really have to love this he totally pigged out on the fries too! lol hey someone should knock him silly with a cordless impact wrench that would be great.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Gotta love those fries a whole lot! lol not to mention drafting chair

    ReplyDelete
  58. Looks like it's been a while since you updated, eh? Also, nice spam comments.

    ReplyDelete
  59. I agree that there are many spam comments here.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Hi. This is a wonderful article. Thank you for sharing all these ideas with us. very useful, indeed! :) keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  61. I think it's a great idea. You can track your expenses using financial vouchers, why not your expenditure of calories as well? The people that do not Watch calories may ignore calorie counts - just like people who do not budget their money just throw away their receipts.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Hi. This is a wonderful article. Thank you for sharing all these ideas with us. very useful, indeed! :) keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  63. I gave up fast food ages ago. Every now and then I will break down and have something, but its typically Subway instead. how to lose 10 pounds in a week

    ReplyDelete
  64. I hope I have my own website. I am looking for sources of information and research. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  65. I hope I have my own website. I am looking for sources of information and research. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Fresh Healthy Vending is the only vending franchise company that offers locations 100% juices, fresh vegetables and fruits, smoothies, and yogurts in every one of its healthy vending machines. potato chips and low fat popcorn like Pirate's Booty.

    ReplyDelete
  67. The Best Fast Food Receipt >>>>>great info, keep sharing it
    Fat Burning Furnace | Health Product Reviews

    ReplyDelete
  68. Nice to meet you.
    Most what i read online is trash and copy paste
    but i think you offer something different. Keep it like this.

    ReplyDelete
  69. I don’t know what to say. This blog is fantastic. That’s not really a really huge statement, but it’s all I could come up with after reading mercedes turbo . You know so much about this subject. So much so that you made me want to learn more about it. Your blog is my stepping stone, my friend. Thanks for the heads up on this subject.

    ReplyDelete
  70. You have become like a guiding light to me. When I started a project
    on similar topic I could not get enough information to carry further.
    But as soon as I read your article, my project is doing great and
    I hope to get an A+ this time. thanks

    ReplyDelete
  71. Great information! I've been looking for this. THanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  72. Wow, cool receipts. Just the thought of eating a real halibut fish sandwich has me wanting to go to Oregon and check the place out even though I'm trying to lose weight on fat burning furnace. I have a buddy up in Washington state, so might have to make the trip and visit him.

    ReplyDelete
  73. That's great, i like it ;)

    ReplyDelete
  74. Cool but little expensive for me. THanks

    ReplyDelete
  75. Thanks for sharing such a nice information about daily eating...

    ReplyDelete
  76. it's not just the seasonal featured ingredients that are local -- just about everything they serve is sourced from socially & environmentally responsible producers.

    ReplyDelete
  77. payday loan
    Really trustworthy blog. Please keep updating with great posts like this one. I have booked marked your site and am about to email it to a few friends of mine that I know would enjoy reading..

    ReplyDelete
  78. Thats a brilliant idea!
    Stop eating fried food!

    ReplyDelete
  79. Thanks for sharing this great post ,i like your blog and im sharing it with my friends.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Propriety is the English rendition of the Chinese li. This is a word that also has a wide spectrum of meaning in Classical Chinese thought, and is difficult to translate by a single word. Its most basic meaning is that of "ritual" or "ceremony," referring to all sorts of rituals that permeated early East Asian society. The most significant of course, would be wedding ceremonies and funerals. But there were also various agricultural rituals, coming-of-age rituals, coronations, etc. Confucius was an expert on the proper handling of all sorts of rituals.

    ReplyDelete
  81. I usually don't check receipt...only to check the amount that's all but this?what?very informative

    ReplyDelete
  82. That is just fantastic! I love that they are putting the nutritional value on the receipt. The only problem is that most people do not bother to look at the receipt, so I worry that all of the value may be lost. home construction loan

    ReplyDelete
  83. Fine post. I think will be enjoyable to everyone.Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Pertinent post. Needs to be available. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  85. Beautiful compilation. Useful and relevant. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete