Program Proves Customers Want & Need Nutrition Guidance
Posted by Universal Ad at Sunday, December 16, 2007 1:22 AM and is filed under Health,grocery,Consumers 
An article from Phil Lempert's Facts, Figures & The Future newsletter covers Hannaford Supermarkets' Guiding Stars program, which was
designed to help customers choose nutritious foods by grading the good,
better and best products with one, two and three stars, based on a proprietary nutritional algorithm.
The results - sales of many designated items have improved significantly. Some of the greatest improvements were seen in "starred" edible grocery items - such as cereal, commercial bakery, canned products, and snack foods - which grew at 2.5 times the growth rate of those that were not given any stars. Selection of breakfast cereals with Stars increased 3.5 times more than no-Star cereals, which increased only slightly.
While consumer interest in starred items has been across the board, there has been particular interest in three demographic segments - families with young children, older people with specific health issues, and people in their thirties, forties and fifties who have begun thinking about maintaining a higher standard of personal health. This proves that "when shoppers are given usable, credible (nutrition) information about the products they are buying, they will act on it." A conclusion that is relevant to all retailers, not just in the grocery vertical!
As reported by the New York Times, MorningNewsBeat and Supermarket News, Hannaford's Guiding Stars program is now available for licensing by retailers, manufacturers and even health care organizations. At the same time, another similar program has been released - the ONQI (Overall Nutritional Quality Index) which generates a single score on a scale of 1 to 100 representing overall nutritional quality for any food or recipe. You can find a more detailed look at the ONQI system in this article from the Boston Herald.
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The results - sales of many designated items have improved significantly. Some of the greatest improvements were seen in "starred" edible grocery items - such as cereal, commercial bakery, canned products, and snack foods - which grew at 2.5 times the growth rate of those that were not given any stars. Selection of breakfast cereals with Stars increased 3.5 times more than no-Star cereals, which increased only slightly.
While consumer interest in starred items has been across the board, there has been particular interest in three demographic segments - families with young children, older people with specific health issues, and people in their thirties, forties and fifties who have begun thinking about maintaining a higher standard of personal health. This proves that "when shoppers are given usable, credible (nutrition) information about the products they are buying, they will act on it." A conclusion that is relevant to all retailers, not just in the grocery vertical!
As reported by the New York Times, MorningNewsBeat and Supermarket News, Hannaford's Guiding Stars program is now available for licensing by retailers, manufacturers and even health care organizations. At the same time, another similar program has been released - the ONQI (Overall Nutritional Quality Index) which generates a single score on a scale of 1 to 100 representing overall nutritional quality for any food or recipe. You can find a more detailed look at the ONQI system in this article from the Boston Herald.
Posted by Universal Ad
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