Ex adman Jonathan Pangu uses creativity to make good food as interesting as Maccas

Former adman turned stay at home Dad, Jonathan Pangu, who has spent over 20 years in the advertising industry at agencies including Fallon, Dare and Clemenger, has recently launched ‘Death To Nuggets’, the monthly eating event that buries bad food for kids.

Experiencing the daily challenges at home around feeding kids and seeing the dominance of processed foods that have led to unprecedented levels of obesity, it helped him formulate a response.

Pangu launched Death to Nuggets in July. The goal is to improve the relationship kids have with food using challenger brand thinking and creating a new kind of kids’ food.

Naming and identity are designed to cut-through and be genuinely different, not a lecture from an adult. The food has been created by chef Laura Neville and combines imagination, great presentation, interaction and nutrition.

VIEW ‘THE EDIBLE GARDEN’ EVENT VIDEO

To date Death to Nuggets have run three events in Melbourne for kids and parents. The Edible Garden featured veg in every course, with a Jackson Pollock like plate of purees and Rainbow Spaghetti. Eating Nemo included Reverse Fish and Chips and a DIY Seashore with parmesan sand and succulents as garnish. Bugg Power was about the future of food – insects as an eco-friendly alternative to meat – and offered cricket fried rice and ant trifle.

The experience is kids-first too. A sign outside reads ‘Adults must be accompanied’ and kids can go into the kitchen to watch the chefs, or do craft if they’re bored at table.

The events have been a successful proof of concept, with happy child and adult diners and coverage from The ABC, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Herald Sun, Broadsheet, Time Out and others.

The long term plan is for a world-first kids-first restaurant for both kids’ and adults, as well as cookery classes, campaigning and giving back to aligned causes.

The next step is to find a sponsor to support more events, making them more accessible by lowering the kids’ ticket price and running a Sydney event.

Says Pangu (right): “Kids are highly creative, and so is food. Bringing them together is a natural thing. We want to increase our impact on food culture so a like-minded sponsor is a logical next step. It’s a great opportunity for a brand that supports positive change and wants impact and differentiation.”