How Three Food with Purpose Change Makers are Helping Guests Make Better Nutrition Choices

Somone’s wellbeing journey might start with something simple: pausing at a station in our marketplaces to ponder a choice for lunch, sampling a new-to-them bean salad they didn’t expect to like or blending a custom tea designed to help them reset during a busy day.

Across our locations, our Food with Purpose Change Makers are shaping guest experiences to help better nutrition choices be more approachable and appealing, so the decision to eat well is easy.

Cassie Whiddon Powers the Workday through Better Nutrition

At an electric utility company in Michigan, thousands of people work to keep communities powered, and Eurest Wellbeing Manager Cassie Whiddon focuses on how those employees fuel themselves. Cassie leads nutrition strategy across the client company’s dining spaces. She focuses on creating environments where healthier choices are easier to navigate and more compelling to select.

Her impact has been measurable. Sales of healthier items have increased from 29 percent to 48 percent.

Cassie’s influence on helping people live better goes beyond a single account. As President-Elect of the Michigan Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, she is helping elevate the role of registered dietitians and strengthen the profession statewide.

“At a time when nutrition advice is everywhere, the role of the registered dietitian is more important than ever,” said Cassie. “People are looking for guidance given in a way they understand and can be applied to their daily lives.”

Molly Bray Yunek Brings the Farmers Market into the Marketplace

In Minneapolis, Marketing and Wellbeing Manager Molly Bray Yunek is helping guests experience fresh foods differently, by connecting them to where it comes from.  Over the past two years, Molly has worked to build strong relationships with a local farmer’s co-op that now supplies three Eurest marketplaces in the Minneapolis market.

Molly uses that connection as a foundation for nutrition education, creating opportunities for guests to see and taste what is grown close to home.

She regularly travels across the Twin Cities market to host events, answering questions through her “Ask the Dietitian” table series and introducing guests to ingredients they may not have ever tried.

“I get to do what I’ve always wanted to do,” Molly says.

Nicole Csorgo Brews a More Personal Wellness Experience

For District Marketing & Project Manager Nicole Csorgo, a growing guest interest in tea signaled something bigger: a desire for a more personalized, elevated wellbeing experience. She transformed that insight into Tea Tailor; an Inspired Kitchen concept developed through Eurest’s Eastern Division Creative Current Innovation competition.

The experience invites guests to create their own blends using loose-leaf teas and botanicals like jasmine, hibiscus, Japanese sencha, lemongrass, and spearmint, selecting ingredients based on how they want to feel.

The experience also introduces them to how those ingredients may support overall wellbeing, from aiding digestion and relaxation to focus and immune health.

“I think tea is such a great wellbeing ritual that you are creating just for you,” Nicole shared.

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