What a difference a year makes.
While kids in San Francisco enjoy cheeseburger Happy Meals with a toy while they still can, lunch menus with more whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat milk are in the works for public schoolchildren nationwide.
The past 12 months have been marked by major change involving foods available for kids. But close attention has also been paid to what influences the choices their parents make at the supermarket.
Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration researched front-of-pack label types to see which will best serve consumers and ultimately improve public health.
Now the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association are putting finishing touches on a label set to appear on thousands of private-label and national-brand products beginning in the first quarter of 2011, as part of a voluntary program. Member companies played a role in crafting a template that will present basic caloric information, and other nutrients to limit, in an easy-to-understand way.
Americans have already become more attuned to product attributes and special offers thanks to advancements made with mobile messaging clubs, apps and promotions involving quick-response codes in 2010. Supermarket chains also began scaling the learning curve that comes with real-time marketing by gaining experience with Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. Wal-Mart even came up with its own social shopping concept. Called CrowdSaver, it features specially priced items advertised on Wal-Mart's Facebook page, but a deal is only good if the required number of Wal-Mart Facebook fans “like” the offer within a specified time period.
Getting Kids to a Healthy Weight
THE STAGGERING number of American children who are overweight or obese — nearly one in three — inspired legislation and community-based programs designed to change their sedentary lifestyles, oversized portions and unhealthy diets in 2010.
In February, First Lady Michelle Obama joined with the American Academy of Pediatrics to launch the “Let's Move!” campaign, which seeks to shrink those affected to about one in 20 kids by 2030. The hope is that a healthier generation will minimize those suffering from diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and other obesity-related conditions in adulthood.
The food industry got involved with Obama's effort in May when as part of an agreement with the Partnership for a Healthier America (the first lady is honorary chair), the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation's food and beverage company members pledged to cut 1.5 trillion calories from their collective portfolio by 2015.
Recipes are being changed to lower calorie content.
The commitment lends to the HWCF's overall objective of reducing obesity, especially in children, through a balance of calories in and calories out by 2015. Bringing together more than 125 retailers, food and beverage manufacturers and other groups, the HWCF aims to impact Americans in the marketplace, workplace and schools.
HWCF grants were used to fund school-based programs like the Healthy Schools Partnership that involved supermarket dietitians this year. The initiative integrates a nutrition curriculum with physical education for about 2,000 fourth- and sixth-graders in eight schools in the greater Des Moines, Iowa, and Kansas City, Mo., areas. Along with dietitians who work in hospitals, gyms and other places, the HSP uses seven Hy-Vee dietitians and one from Hen House Market to convey messages about healthy eating to children in the classroom. After running in pilot phase for two years, the HSP officially rolled out this fall as part of a two-year longitudinal study.
Supermarket dietitians gained a foothold in other classrooms too.
Nutritionists from Giant Food Stores and Martin's Food Markets developed “Passport to Nutrition” for teachers, parents and kids. An extension of kid-friendly nutrition classes held at six Giant/Martin's stores over the summer, the Web-based resource uses videos, songs, games and printable handouts to teach lessons about the Food Pyramid and physical activity, reading food labels, and healthy snacks and beverages.
Weis Markets, meanwhile, brought the learning in-store with its dietitian-developed Weis Mystery Tours designed for third- and fourth-graders. Little ones don a detective hat and badge and use clue pads and a magnifying glass to help crack the case of N.R. Getic George, a child who is weak, falling asleep in class and using his lunch money to buy snacks. Children are taught to read labels and stick to products such as dairy items containing 20% of the daily allowance of calcium during the tour.
The government is also influencing children's diets. Last month, legislation was passed that will ban McDonald's restaurants in San Francisco from including a free toy in Happy Meals that contain too much sugar, salt and fat. Kids will be able to get the toy, but they have to choose a better-for-you Happy Meal with fruits and veggies.
Daily exposure to healthier options at school is also on the horizon now that President Obama has signed the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010” into law. The measure, which will add $4.5 billion over 10 years to child nutrition programs, marks the most significant investment in the National School Lunch Program in over 30 years. It will allow more children to participate in their school lunch program, which will include more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and low-fat milk.
Shoppers, Retailers Join Social Clubs
AMERICANS MINGLED with family and friends via networking sites this year, as food retailers sought to make their acquaintance too.
According to the results of SN's 2010 Annual Survey of Center Store performance fielded in May, one-third of supermarkets had taken to Facebook; about one-quarter (24.1%) to Twitter; one in 10 (11.1%) to blogging; and 3.7% had tried Groupon. But 40.7% hadn't used social media at all.
Some approached these sounding boards with trepidation fearing negative consumer comments. But many embraced social media since it allowed them to reach thousands of customers at once. Careful attention was also paid to crafting individual shopper responses.
Supervalu assigned call center employees to monitor the Facebook pages of some of its retail banners to make sure comments got directed to the right people at the company.
Price Chopper had to untangle a snafu in this area when an unauthorized employee responded to a shopper's Twitter post about an out-of-stock item. The employee allegedly contacted the message writer's employer, requesting the individual be disciplined.
Chains like Hannaford saw Facebook as a valuable promotional tool, but looked to food bloggers to help promote its Hannaford store brand.
Each was given a $200 gift card and asked to substitute Hannaford-brand ingredients in their favorite recipes. “I am impressed to say that nearly every Hannaford product I have used was delicious,” was one comment posted online.
Meanwhile, socially engaged chains like Safeway kept their Facebook followers fed by granting them exclusive offers that could only be redeemed within a limited time frame. One deal was for a loaf of Safeway Select Artisan French bread for just 25 cents. The print-at-home coupon was limited to the first 20,000 customers and required a $10 minimum purchase. It could be redeemed between 3 and 7 p.m.
Then there were strategies that required the instant back and forth facilitated by Twitter. Whole Foods leveraged the vehicle for its first-ever Twitter Tasting in November featuring holiday wines. The chain's national wine buyers, Doug Bell and Geof Ryan, tweeted insights while shoppers sipped wine and provided feedback from home.
“Social shopping” also gained traction in 2010. Although a small group of food retailers got involved with the collective buying site Groupon, Wal-Mart established its own concept called CrowdSaver. As part of the program, specially priced items are advertised on Wal-Mart's Facebook page, but the deal is only good if the required number of Wal-Mart Facebook fans “like” the offer within a specified time period.
Location-based social media were another way to draw shoppers in. Safeway's Vons division recently tied the Foursquare platform to its loyalty program. Shoppers who connect their VonsClub Card to their Foursquare account can be automatically “checked in” to that location when they swipe the card at checkout. Doing so makes them eligible for special coupons and offers.
Mobile Messengers All the Rage
SMART PHONES answered the call of shoppers who sought to save money, compare prices and do a whole lot more in-store this year.
While digital coupon “shops” gained traction in 2009, mobile messaging clubs were all the rage in 2010. Instead of selecting coupons online for automatic loading to their loyalty card, shoppers received relevant deals via text and redeemed them in a number of ways.
Target debuted a program that ties multiple offers to a single bar code that's scanned at checkout and ShopRite's YourBucks combined text offers with rewards distributed via Catalina coupons.
Then there was A&P's “Text, Give, Save,” a first-of-its-kind cause marketing campaign to incorporate text messaging. Shoppers could send a $5 donation to the Children's Miracle Network by texting “KIDS” to 90999. In return, $10 in coupons were loaded to their club card.
Food Lion also relied on unique promotions to encourage enrollment in its mobile program. During July, shoppers who joined had the chance to win a $100 Food Lion gift card.
Mobile applications were another vehicle for experimentation. Meijer helped shoppers locate specific groceries and find the nearest restroom in-store with its “Find-It” app. It even helps users locate where they parked their car. Publix meanwhile introduced an app to help shoppers search for their nearest location and download weekly sales fliers. And ShopRite made its Weekly Specials app, which was previously exclusive to the iPhone, iTouch and iPad, compatible with fast-growing Android devices.
Marketers also realized that smart phones were capable of much more. Since 25% to 35% of mobile devices are able to read quick-response (QR) codes, Center Store brands used them to facilitate product comparison, meal planning and deliver nutrition information at the shelf. D'Agostino Supermarkets took part in a QR code pilot linked to the relaunch of Delverde Pasta. The codes appear on shelf talkers in 18 D'Agostino stores.
Price Chopper and trading partner Dole Food Co. are also experimenting with the two dimensional codes. Appearing on Price Chopper's Facebook page last week was an advertisement for the Dole Salad Mobile Club. Consumers can join by scanning the accompanying QR code. Once enrolled they receive four free holiday recipes and are entered to win a $500 Price Chopper gift card. Shoppers who don't have a mobile phone capable of reading QR codes can take part too. Both programs allow shoppers to text a specific message to a designated number for the same results.
Reading Between the Labels
FOOD AND DRUG Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg made a second appeal to food industry members early this year to remove the false or misleading claims that still appeared on some food labels.
After adopting as one of her top priorities, improving the scientific accuracy and usefulness of food labeling in 2009, Hamburg and the FDA worked toward crafting and gaining buy-in for a voluntary front-of-pack calorie and nutrient labeling system. The FDA began seeking comments about, and researching label types that would best serve consumers and ultimately improve public health as it prepared to issue draft guidance.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association lent its support by conducting new studies to understand the most effective ways to aid shoppers.
Supermarkets meanwhile continued to implement at-a-glance nutrition rating systems designed to help consumers easily spot the most nutritious options.
Big Y Foods, Hy-Vee Food Stores, Price Chopper, United Supermarkets and others supported the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System that assigns foods a score from 1 to 100. Meanwhile, Homeland Stores and Kings Super Markets opted for the Guiding Stars program, which rates foods with zero, one, two or three stars based on nutrition.
Hiller's Markets took a personalized approach to educating shoppers with its free health tours. Doctors and other health professionals were brought in to guide the free events, which focused on such themes as nut-free allergies, baby nutrition,Perhaps to help their products stand out amongst a sea of better-for-you options, manufacturers committed to reformulating for health across their portfolios.
Kraft Foods said it would cut the sodium in its North American products by an average of 10% over two years. It also rid its Wheat Thins and 100-calorie Nabisco cookies of high fructose corn syrup. The ingredient was likewise replaced with sugar and other sweeteners that consumers perceive as more natural in ConAgra's Hunts Tomato Ketchup and PepsiCo's Gatorade.
In October, the Food Marketing Institute announced that it had designed with the GMA, a front-of-pack label that would appear on thousands of private-label and national-brand products beginning in 2011.
FMI said the groups had done so at the request of the FDA, with input from members companies. The label is meant to present caloric information, and other nutrients to limit, in an easy-to-understand way as part of an effort to fight obesity.
To help consumers get up to speed, retailers will contribute to a $50 million education campaign that will accompany the label and promote its use. It will target parents who are primary household shoppers with print, radio and television ads, as well as in-store elements.
