WELL NOW, WHERE WERE WE?
It's been a year since our last WH Sourcebook, and a lot has happened in the health and wellness business since then. More retailers, more manufacturers, more products. It's an exciting, but confusing, time.
That's why we launched the Sourcebook in the first place. A special issue full of statistics, contact information, and readily accessible data is always in demand, particularly by supermarket retailers eager to learn more about a vibrant, fast-changing part of their business. All of the benchmark components are here again in 2007: The Fit 25 list, our WH Asks poll and the WH Green Pages.
New this year are proprietary industry stats, our own take on the Top 10 trends in health and wellness, and a Q&A photo spread that queries today's emerging generation of young shoppers about the ideals they bring with them when they walk into the supermarket.
Here are some specifics on each:
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The WH Green Pages. This updated directory of people, places and programs provides retailers with a quick-reference guide to organizations that have influence over the marketing of health and wellness in supermarkets. It includes entries for educational organizations, government agencies and marketing associations, among others.
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The third annual WH Asks poll. This year's survey of industry stakeholders explores top-of-mind issues like integration, pricing and program execution. New questions were added examining the use of websites, as well as emerging gateway categories.
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Category information from Nutrition Business Journal, a sister magazine within our Penton Media family, which offers subscribers industry insights using proprietary research. They were kind enough to share some of the data they've compiled over the past year, as it pertains to organics, health and beauty care and other categories growing in the supermarket channel. You won't find these numbers anywhere else.
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A Q&A pictorial where we asked young shoppers to share their opinions of food shopping today. The responses reveal the convictions and passions this powerful, emerging generation of supermarket customers brings with them when they walk through the doors of your store. Will you be ready with a response of your own?
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The new Fit 25 list. This compilation of companies — mostly retailers — acknowledges those businesses taking chances in an effort to move health and wellness one step closer to consumers. The finalists were chosen by the editors here, on criteria such as innovation, ethics, corporate responsibility and outreach. This year, we assigned each profile to a category in order to highlight the area of health and wellness each company is excelling in. The result is a more structured, readable list.
That said, please note that the Fit 25 is not a best-of list. There are many admirable operators in the industry today who deserve recognition, and we could easily fill a year's worth of issues just writing about interesting aspects of every company in the industry. While that's not possible, we invite you to reach out and tell us about yourselves and what you're doing so we can include you in future issues of SN Whole Health.
Now that we've had the chance to catch up, I hope you'll be intrigued by the newest WH Sourcebook that just landed on your desk. It's a year-round reference guide, and we hope you'll keep this updated edition at hand as a ready source of information and ideas. As always, we welcome your feedback. Feel free to contact me directly at (212) 204-4346 or at [email protected].
Happy reading!
