Evaluating healthy food trends in cafe menu’s of ahmedabad and business strategies

Abstract

In Ahmedabad, where food is such a big part of daily life, eating healthy isn’t just some trend — it’s changing how cafés plan their menus, run their spaces, and connect with people.his capstone project explores how cafés across the city are responding to this shift, focusing at how customer psychology, menu aesthetics, pricing and local culture intersects. We have used a mixed methods approach- including interviews with café owners, consumer surveys and a game “make a menu” to understand the psychology behind this by stimulating real- life choices. Our study aims to understand how ideas of health are being marketed, understood and monetized. We found out that people are leaning heavily toward vegetarian and flexitarian choices, and there’s a clear rise in hybrid health terms like “non-fried + high-protein.” Social media is also playing a big role in shaping what’s seen as “healthy.” But cafés aren’t having it easy. They’re struggling with things like finding clean ingredients, keeping prices in check, and convincing customers that “healthy” isn’t just a marketing word. Smaller, independent cafés especially feel the heat — trying to meet growing expectations while still making it all work behind the scenes. We also built a simple but powerful tool — an interactive menu simulator — to help cafés test and tweak their menus based on how people actually behave, not just what they say. By connecting the dots between what drives people’s food choices, how gender can influence eating habits, and the everyday realities of running a café, this project brings together insights that café owners, marketers, and even policymakers can actually use. It wraps up with practical recommendations for how cafés can offer healthier options in ways that feel real and sustainable — turning Ahmedabad’s food scene into a window for understanding bigger shifts happening across urban India.