Picnic x Vegemi – Finland’s Smartest Kids’ Meal

Together with the iconic restaurant chain Picnic, we are launching a new kids’ meal that combines great taste with good nutrition. The meal has been developed as a well-balanced whole, designed with flavor first while still taking children’s nutrition recommendations into account.

Finland’s Smartest Kids’ Meal (Suomen fiksuin lastenateria) will launch at the end of April in connection with the Lapsimessut. The meal provides up to half of a child’s recommended daily intake of vegetables, contains no added sugar, and is designed to support healthier eating habits for children in everyday life.

Children’s restaurant meals are often associated with nutritional challenges. Picnic, known for its loaded baked potatoes and delicious baguettes, wants to change that. That is why Picnic restaurants will introduce an option that makes healthier eating appealing, fun, and motivating for children. At Vegemi, we are incredibly happy to be part of this journey of change.

 

Supporting healthier eating habits for children

Our shared mission with Picnic is to bring encouraging food education into the restaurant experience. We want to have a long-term impact on children’s eating habits while also highlighting the role restaurants can play in shaping future food choices. We believe learning should be fun and inspiring – without guilt or blame.

We hope that children and parents will begin to see fast food in a new light: eating at a restaurant can be both delicious and nutritionally balanced. Healthy choices should not feel like restrictions, but opportunities.

Finland’s Smartest Kids’ Meal also addresses the low consumption of vegetables among children. According to a 2021 study by the University of Turku*, children’s vegetable intake almost always falls below recommendations. The study found that 99% of Finnish early childhood–aged children do not consume enough fruits, berries, and vegetables, and the overall quality of children’s diets is poor.

Everyday dietary choices are closely linked to the increasing prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases. That is why it is important that healthy and appealing options are easily available for children and families. Together with Picnic, we want to make making good everyday choices easier and more inspiring.

Parents play a key role in food education, but they are not responsible alone. Children eat in daycares, schools, and restaurants, which means restaurants also have an opportunity to influence the kinds of options available to children. Food education is a shared responsibility.

 

Food education at the heart of the kids’ meal

Finland’s Smartest Kids’ Meal provides around 50% of a child’s recommended daily vegetable intake, contains no added sugar, and is designed to taste good to children. In addition to a freely chosen main dish, every meal includes at least 200 grams of fruits and vegetables, and the juice included in the meal contains no added sugar.

The kids’ meal is served in a cardboard package that includes a Vegemi cardboard character as well as collectible Vegemi vegetable cards and “superpower” accessories that support food education. The same experience of play and learning can continue digitally in the free Vegemi app after the restaurant visit.

In selected Picnic restaurants, children can also enjoy the Vegemi game moment on-site using Vegemi tablets provided by Hublet, allowing them to play the Vegemi app directly in the restaurant.

 

Moving forward through small improvements

The goal is not to claim that fast food is perfect or that a single meal can solve children’s nutrition entirely. However, together with Picnic we want to demonstrate that restaurants can play an important role in encouraging healthier choices.

Even small improvements – more vegetables, less added sugar, and an appealing dining experience – can positively influence children’s eating habits over time. Change is built through repetition: when the better option is easily available and genuinely enjoyable for children, the threshold for choosing it becomes lower.

In the name Finland’s Smartest Kids’ Meal, the word smart refers above all to practical solutions that work in everyday life: more vegetables, balanced nutrition, and clean, natural flavors. When the healthier option is also delicious and easy to choose, it becomes a natural part of children’s eating habits.

Finland’s Smartest Kids’ Meal will be available in Picnic restaurants in Finland starting April 22, 2026. The meal will be officially launched at Lapsimessut from April 24–26, 2026.

* Turun yliopiston (2021) tekemä tutkimus

https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672%2821%2900414-7/fulltext 

www.picnic.fi

wwww.vegemi.fi

gethublet.com/fi/